Knicks trade Anthony to Thunder, ending a bittersweet tenure
NEW YORK — After scoring more than 10,000 points for five coaches over seven seasons without all that much to show for it, Carmelo Anthony is finally leaving New York.
The New York Knicks on Saturday agreed to trade Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star and one of the league’s great offensive players, to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round draft pick, according to a league official briefed on the negotiations.
The deal, completed just two days before the start of Knicks training camp, will allow the 33-year-old Anthony to join forces in Oklahoma City with two other marquee players — Russell Westbrook, the NBA’s reigning most valuable player, and Paul George, a four-time All-Star — as the Thunder begin an ambitious bid to challenge the supremacy of the Golden State Warriors, who have claimed two of the last three NBA championships and are the strong favorites to win another next season.
The Knicks can finally close the chapter on Anthony’s turbulent tenure in New York and try to move on without him. Anthony, who desperately wanted out of New York, had been determined to join the Houston Rockets. But as training camp neared, he agreed to waive his no-trade clause for a couple of more teams, including the Thunder. It will not take Anthony long to see his old team again: The Knicks are scheduled to play their season opener in Oklahoma City on Oct. 19.
The trade comes after a tumultuous summer for the Knicks, who fired Phil Jackson after a disastrous tenure as team president and hired Scott Perry as the new general manager.