The Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a three-team trade that will send Carmelo Anthony, Justin Anderson and a protected 2022 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks, Dennis Schroder and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the Thunder, and Mike Muscala to the 76ers, according to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Here’s more from Wojnarowski on the deal:
The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to trade forward Carmelo Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks, where he will be waived and become a free agent, league sources said.
The Houston Rockets are the front-runners to sign Anthony, who also is considering the Miami Heat, league sources said.
The Hawks reportedly will buyout Anthony’s contract, which will make him an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers. The Rockets are the frontrunners to land Anthony, according to Wojnarowski. Anthony is also reportedly considering the Miami Heat. In making the move, the Thunder save on their luxury tax bill for next season, Wojnarowski reports:
The Thunder could have saved $107 million with the waive-and-stretch provision on Anthony’s $27.9 million contract but hunted a trade that allows them to save slightly less money and improve the roster. The stretch provision would have added $9 million-plus per year to the Thunder’s payroll for the next three years, dead money that could not be moved off the cap.
The Thunder’s projected luxury tax bill, meanwhile, will drop from $150 million to $88.8 million, saving them more than $61 million. The Thunder will save an additional $11 million with Schroder’s $15.5 million contract and the $1.5 million cap hit of Luwawu-Cabarrot. The Thunder’s payroll will stand at $148.7 million after the Anthony and Muscala deals.
The 34-year-old Anthony had been the headliner his entire career — he’s 19th in NBA history with 25,417 points — but he was more of a catch-and-shoot scorer last season instead of the isolation specialist he had always been. He averaged 16.2 points per game, but struggled at times in his new role. His playing time dwindled in the playoffs and he wasn’t happy. In Game 6 of the first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz that ended Oklahoma City’s season, he played fewer minutes than backup Jerami Grant.
* Aldridge: Anthony one step closer to Houston now
After the season, he said he prefers to play with the ball in his hands more and said coming off the bench is “out of the question.”
“So it’s something I really have to think about, if I really want to be this type of player, finish out my career as this type of player, knowing that I have so much left in the tank and I bring so much to the game of basketball,” he said.
In acquiring Schroder from Atlanta, the Thunder get a boost to their bench scoring, writes ESPN’s Royce Young (via Twitter):
The Thunder have been on the hunt for added bench scoring and playmaking this summer. Taking on Schroder carries some long term money, and some possible headaches, but solidifies the second unit.
Schroder, a 24-year-old guard from Germany, has played his entire five-year NBA career with the Hawks after they selected him with the No. 17 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. The Thunder are eager to add Schroder’s speed and ball-handling ability to the mix with All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Hawks wanted to move on from Schroder following the smattering of moves they made with their backcourt this summer:
The Hawks tried to trade Schroder for weeks, but couldn’t find a market for the former first-round draft pick. The need to trade Schroder became obvious when the Hawks obtained two other point guards – first selecting Young in the NBA Draft as the No. 5 overall pick and then trading for veteran Lin. General manager Travis Schlenk declined to comment on what the Lin acquisition meant for Schroder, but it was apparent all three point guards could not remain on the same roster.
Schroder, 24, faces possible felony charges for an assault arrest in September. He also said during a news conference in his native Germany that he would like to be traded, preferably to the Bucks or Pacers. He also was suspended several times over his five-year career with the Hawks for different violations, including not returning from an All-Star break trip to Germany after he forgot his visa.
Schroder has three years and $46.5 million remaining on a contract extension he signed at $15.5 million per season. He averaged 12.9 points and 4.8 assists in 352 career regular-season games with the Hawks, who selected him with the 17th overall pick in 2013. In the two seasons after he became the full-time starter, replacing the traded Jeff Teague, Schroder averaged 17.9 and 19.4 points, respectively.
The first-round pick being sent to the Hawks is lottery protected (1-14) for 2022 and becomes two second-round picks if it doesn’t convey, according to Royce Young of ESPN.
The pick the Thunder are sending the Hawks is 2022 lottery protected first rounder (1-14). If it doesn’t convey, it’ll become two second rounders.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 19, 2018
Muscala, also drafted by Atlanta in 2013, brings size and shooting to Philadelphia. The 6-foot-11 forward/center averaged 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.0 minutes and shot 37.1 percent from 3-point range last season. His presence could help replace the production of forward Ersan Ilyasova, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks during free agency.
Luwawu-Cabbarot is two years removed from being selected with the No. 24 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The lanky guard averaged 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 15.5 minutes for the 76ers last season.
Anderson is a four-year NBA veteran after two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and two with the 76ers. He played in just 38 games for Philadelphia last season. He was selected by the Mavericks with the No. 21 pick of the 2015 NBA Draft.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
