Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Cavs Would Be Leading Contender If Knicks Buy Out SF

The Cleveland Cavaliers are considered "leading contenders" to sign Carmelo Anthony should he secure a buyout from the New York Knicks this offseason.

Marc Stein and Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reported the news. 

Anthony, 33, has two years and $54.2 million remaining on his contract. The Knicks could come to a buyout agreement with their former franchise face and then use the stretch provision to lessen the cap burden of his contract.

Anthony would be responsible for a little under $11 million of the Knicks' cap over the next five seasons should they choose to use the full provision. It's also possible they would be willing to ride out the two years remaining on Anthony's cap hold and take the hit for additional flexibility later.

Since the end of the regular season, Knicks president Phil Jackson has repeatedly said Anthony would be better off playing for a different franchise.

"We'd like him to have success," Jackson said in May, per Nick Friedell and Ian Begley of ESPN.com."The opportunity is narrowing. We'd just like him to have success somewhere. We're not going to be there. Hopefully, we'll be maybe a playoff team next year. It would be tough to consider us a possible champion.

"He has a no-trade contract. I think I expressed what I felt," Jackson added. "I can't express it any better. I thought it was well-said, even though a lot of you didn't feel quite that way."

Trading Anthony seems unlikely. Most contending teams know the situation in New York has soured to the point he may be bought out, and his cap hold makes deals unpalatable for teams over the cap. Anthony also has a no-trade clause in his contract, meaning he won't willingly go to a non-competing situation.

It's possible the Knicks find a trade with another team that would buy Anthony out in a salary dump in exchange for draft picks. But with an obvious youth movement coming, it might be best for the Knicks to do the buyout themselves and take the financial hit.