Carmelo Anthony Says 'Deal was Done' to Send Him to the Rockets

Carmelo Anthony revealed he was almost a Rocket.

Former New York Knick Carmelo Anthony was almost a Houston Rocket. The new Oklahoma City Thunder forward told SiriusXM NBA radio on Thursday a "deal was done with Houston" before adding, for "some reason...it didn't go through."

"At first, a deal was done with Houston early," Anthony explained. "Then for some reason, whatever happened behind the scenes, it didn’t go through, it didn’t fall through."

Anthony also said that there was a trade in place on draft night that would have landed him and Paul George with the Cavaliers. The Cavs, Pacers and Nuggets also came close to a deal that would have sent George to Cleveland and Kevin Love to Denver. 

Anthony, a 10-time All-Star, had been angling for a trade for the majority of the offseason, but a strict no-trade clause hindered the Knicks’ ability to move him. In July, Marc Berman of the New York Post reported Anthony made it clear to Knick management he would only waive his no-trade clause to join superstars Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston, saying it was "Rockets or bust." 

But as the whirlwind 2017 NBA offseason began to change the makeup of the league, Anthony decided to ease on his demands. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday that Anthony added the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder to his list of preferred destinations. Anthony confirmed in the interview Thursday that he began entertaining other options “within the last week, week-and-a-half before training camp.”

On Monday, Anthony was officially traded to OKC for center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott and the Chicago Bulls' 2018 second-round draft pick.

• Carmelo Anthony was a Steal for Thunder

Anthony did not expand on the details of a possible Houston move, but any trade involving the two parties was expected to include forward Ryan Anderson, who is in the second year of a four year, $80 million contract. It remains unclear why the trade fell through.

Anthony was an All-Star in each of his seven seasons in New York and was the 2012-2013 NBA scoring champion. The 33-year-old will now join fellow All-Star Paul George and current league MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, where he expects to start at power forward.

• Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and the Remaking of Oklahoma City

The Knicks travel to Oklahoma City on Oct. 19 for each team's first game of the season.