THUNDER STORM

OKC may be latest club interested in Anthony

It has been 104 days since the Knicks played their last regularseason game, officially ending their season.

It only seems like it has been 10,000 days and then some.

And that’s largely because of the Carmelo Anthony situation, which Monday saw a new team, the Thunder, identified as the latest suitor for the 10-time All-Star.

“OKC and Carmelo are officially circling each other,” Bill Simmons of The Ringer tweeted while citing the connection between the Knicks forward and Troy Weaver, the Thunder vice president and assistant general manager. Weaver recruited Anthony to Syracuse back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

All of this probably carries the weight of Portland’s All-Star backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum claiming last week that Anthony was interested in the Blazers.

Anthony wants Houston. He wants to go to the Rockets with buddy Chris Paul and MVP runner-up James Harden.

But the Thunder report could simply be a matter of daily business in the NBA.

A league source said there appeared to be no substance to the rumor, but did not discount conversation.

“When a high-caliber player becomes available, you have to do your due diligence on the situation,” the source said.

Figure there were a lot of diligent executives making calls to Cleveland about Kyrie Irving the past couple days.

Meanwhile, the Knicks and Rockets have settled into a waiting game. The Rockets survey the landscape and see a player, Anthony, who only wants to play for them. So they feel they can wait.

The Knicks survey the same landscape and see offers that are completely unappealing. So they feel they can wait. The Rockets have essentially offered forward Ryan Anderson, 29, with three years and $61 million left on his contract. The Knicks simply say no. They want young players and assets — draft picks. That is why, at the press conference officially naming Steve Mills president and Scott Perry general manager last week, Mills claimed they were ready “to move forward’’ with or without Anthony.

“We made a decision to slow things down, let us regroup and get together and make sure what’s best for the New York Knicks and at the same time we’ll do what’s best for Carmelo,” the new team president said at the time.

So if worst came to worst, the Knicks would start the season with Anthony and perhaps even wait for the trade deadline when they might fetch more in return. And Anthony, who has waived his notrade clause for Houston and Cleveland, might expand it to several other teams if he were to see an attractive playoff possibility. And with the ability to opt out of his contract next summer, such a rental proposition might be appealing.

So the Rockets wait. And the Knicks wait for Houston to perhaps find a third, even a fourth, team to facilitate a trade. After all, it’s only July, a little more than three months beyond season’s end.

It just feels like it’s July 2025.