The Melo trade sweepstakes has a new contestant. The Houston Rockets are still the front runners for facilitating a Carmelo Anthony trade, with Cleveland close behind, and now Portland is entering the fray.
According to ESPN’s Woj, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have reached out to Carmelo to convince to come play for the Trailblazers. Portland was expected to be the 3rd team that Houston and New York would need to help facilitate a trade, but it appears Lillard and McCollum wants to go a step beyond and land Carmelo outright.
“Obviously, with that being out there and that being a real possibility, I don’t see why I wouldn’t reach out to him and let him know the interest is mutual, if he’s interested in us,” Lillard said, according to The Oregonian. “We had a conversation … so he knew that it wasn’t just the team — but it was myself and CJ — [that] would love to have him here.”
Obviously, I feel like he wants to play with friends, with Banana Boat friends,” McCollum said, according to The Oregonian. “I know he wants to play with [Chris Paul] and LeBron. Those are very good teams, very good options. But I feel like we’re also a very good option.”
This is some very wishful thinking by the duo, but they don’t have enough influence over Carmelo, as he is still dead set on being traded to Houston according to sources. In addition, Portland is only interested in being a 3rd team in a trade for Carmelo, if he waives his no trade clause to go to Portland. Carmelo Anthony is 33 years old, and his best change at winning a title is a trade to Houston or Cleveland. C.J. McCollum posted a photo of Carmelo in a Blazers jersey on Instagram, but flattering gestures alone are not going to produce a championship roster.
Flip the page for video of Lillard and McCollum talking about recruiting Carmelo.