Report: Carmelo Anthony Verbally Agrees to Sign With Rockets
The Houston Rockets will sign veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, Marc Stein of the New York Timesreports.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports Anthony has notified the Rockets of his intention to sign and will make it official when he returns from the NBPA's NBA Africa trip.
Anthony spent last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder after being traded from the New York Knicks.
On July 19, the Thunder traded Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal, and he was waived by Atlanta shortly after. Anthony officially cleared waivers on Aug 1., and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports he will sign a one-year, $2.4 million deal with Houston.
The 34-year-old Anthony opted in to a $27.9 million option earlier in the offseason prior to getting traded.
Oklahoma City explored trade possibilities with Anthony where he would be sent as an expiring contract and have his deal waived so he could hit free agency, according to Wojnarowski. This route relied on Anthony waiving his no-trade clause, which Wojnarowski reported Anthony agreed to do to facilitate his exit.
Wojnarowski also reported that before the trade, Oklahoma City allowed Anthony the chance to meet with perspective teams during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and he met with the Rockets and Heat.
The 10–time All–Star averaged a career-low 16.2 points a game and shot 40.4% percent from the floor, also the lowest in his career.
Anthony can provide a steady third scoring option for the explosive Houston offense, led by NBA MVP James Harden and perennial All–Star point guard Chris Paul.
In 15 seasons, Anthony has averaged 24.1 points a game, but has only reached the conference finals once in his career.
