NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Carmelo Anthony, Reggie Jackson and More

The bulk of the NBA offseason has now passed. The draft has come and gone, the biggest names are off the free-agent market and most of the big-name players who are going to be traded before the regular season have already been moved.

However, this doesn't mean that teams are finished making deals—many of them just won't be of the blockbuster variety. The exception is the possible trade of Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks. Even if he isn't the dominant force on the court that he once was, Anthony is still a huge name in the basketball world.

We're here to examine the latest buzz surrounding Anthony and the rest of the dwindling NBA trade market.

Is Houston Really Close to Acquiring Anthony?

Why do the Knicks want to dump Anthony so badly? It's primarily because he's an aging star who's set to earn $54 million over the next two seasons. Yes, Anthony still has enough offensive prowess to help a team win now, but New York is headed toward another rebuild.

The problem with moving Anthony is the fact the no-trade clause in his contract means he'd have to sign off on any potential deal. So far, he's made it clear he'd accept a trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Houston Rockets.

According to ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski, Houston and New York are looking into a four-team deal that could get Anthony to Houston. According to ESPN's Ian Begley, Anthony himself believes that a Houston deal will get done.

"I'm told that Carmelo feels pretty confident that a deal will get done at this point to Houston," Begley said during a recent appearance on SportsCenter (h/t CBSSports.com). "But the teams, to date, are nowhere near the finish line."

If ESPN's Brian Windhorst is to be believed, the Rockets and Knicks are barely past the starting line. Windhorst recently appeared on the Rich Eisen Show and had the following to say:

"As of yesterday, I really don't think they had traction on this. I know there were reports out there that that wasn't true and that they did. From what I'm being told, there's no traction. There's a desire. The Rockets want to trade for Carmelo and that's interesting to me because Carmelo and Mike D'Antoni were not friends when he was head coach of the Knicks. And Carmelo wants to go to Houston which is relevant here because he has a no-trade clause. Not only is it granting permission, but he's got an $8 million that he gets if he's traded."

The bonus Windhorst is talking about hasn't been brought up a lot in conversations because Antony has the ability to waive part or all of it. However, it is there and it could cause even more complications for a team like Houston if Anthony decides he wants all the money he's entitled to. 

With all of the money that would be involved in adding Carmelo, the Rockets would almost certainly have to involve other teams to get a deal done. Houston recently traded for Chris Paul, who is due to earn $24.5 million this season. James Harden is set to earn $28.3 million in 2017. Adding Anthony at his current price without clearing some salary elsewhere just isn't going to happen.

This is why an Anthony-to-Houston deal may be more in the wish stage than the fulfillment stage.

According to Ramona Shelburne and Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Knicks are actually prepared to shelve trade talks for the time being:

"The New York Knicks are pausing trade talks centered on Carmelo Anthony and want to pursue a conversation with the 10-time NBA All-Star about possibly reincorporating him into the organization, league sources told ESPN. After talking with the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers for nearly a month to help engineer deals for Anthony, the Knicks told both teams that they're stepping back from trade talks for a short time, league sources said."

While Houston is probably the front-runner over Cleveland to acquire Anthony, the reality is that there may simply be too much salary management required for either team to make a deal. After publicly stating a desire to move him, though, bringing Anthony back into the fold may be equally difficult for New York.

Pelicans Could be Getting a Healthy Jackson

The other notable trade that has been discussed in recent days involves a trade between the Detroit Pistons and the New Orleans Pelicans. 

According to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, the deal would have the Pistons shipping point guard Reggie Jackson to New Orleans in exchange for E'Twaun Moore and Alexis Ajinca:

Moving Jackson would rid Detroit of the $51 million remaining on his current contract. Acquiring him would give New Orleans a backup point guard to play behind recently re-signed Jrue Holiday. This could be a smart move for the Pelicans if Jackson can return to form.

There's a reason why Detroit was willing to give Jackson a sizable contract in the first place—he's a solid player. The problem is that a knee injury hampered him this past season and cost him games. Overall, he averaged just 14.5 points per game and shot 41.9 percent from the floor.

New Orleans probably isn't getting the injury-hampered version of Jackson, though. According to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, Jackson's knee is back to normal:

Two seasons ago, Jackson averaged 18.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. If this is the version of Jackson the Pelicans can add, then this looks like a better deal. While Jackson would likely be a bench player, he's a perfect fit to lead the second unit in New Orleans—and that's a role that shouldn't be understated.

Paul George Could Have Been a Warrior?

We know how Paul George ended up with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He let the Indiana Pacers know he wasn't interested in returning after next season. The Pacers, in turn, looked to deal him while they could still get value in return.

In the end, George becomes Russell Westbrook's new running mate in OKC.

However, it appears that George could have ended up playing for Westbrook's rivals, the Golden State Warriors. George recently appeared on the podcast of ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and the topic of a George-for-Klay-Thompson deal came up.

"There were a lot of trade discussions," Wojnarowski said. "I think probably every team in the league checked in with Indiana about you in that window when you were available. One offer I was told was made was that Indiana offered you to Golden State for Klay Thompson, Golden State said no."

"Yeah, I think that would have been a Chris Paul to L.A. situation where they denied that trade," George responded. "Yeah, I was aware of it. I would've looked forward to it, of just being in a good situation and a chance to compete for a championship. But it didn't happen."

Would the NBA have really stepped in and stopped the deal? Possibly not. While George is an All-Star player, it's not as if Thompson isn't. Swapping out the two would have made Golden State a different team, but different doesn't always mean better.

In the end, George-to-Golden-State was just a fun little possibility that wasn't to be.