Carmelo Anthony has revealed the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers had a trade in the works before he was sent to the New York Knicks in 2011.
During an appearance on Dwayne Wade's podcast, The Why, the 10-time NBA All-Star explained how he ended up with the Knicks in 2011, which wasn't the intended destination. According to Melo, the Nuggets almost traded him to the Lakers instead.
"The deal was done with the Lakers," Anthony said. "Me and Nenê for Lamar Odom and (Andrew) Bynum. That deal was done. I never thought about New York."
According to Melo, the deal didn't work out because he felt the Nuggets didn't want to deal with him and the Bryant-led Lakers in the playoffs. In Melo's time with Denver, the team lost two playoff series to the Lakers, with the first being a first-round sweep in 2008 and the second an incredible six-game WCF series.
"Now it's like, y'all don't want me in the West," Anthony said. "Gonna send me to the East, get me to New York."
However, Melo added that he was supposed to be going to the New Jersey Nets, who were on their way to relocating to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"The deal never was with New York, the deal was with New Jersey Nets," Anthony said. "When it was All-Star Weekend, the deal was with the New Jersey Nets. George Karl had a deal with Utah behind the scenes for the young boy, Derrick Favors."
Karl's wanting Favors to be the next star power forward led to Melo going to New York in a trade for Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and various draft picks. The Knicks depleted their roster just to grab Melo, who spent over six seasons in New York and made only two playoff appearances.
Despite reaching the playoffs and never making it to the Eastern Conference Finals or even the NBA Finals, Melo did give the New York faithful several memorable moments. Some include hitting a game-tying three-pointer and eventual overtime game-winner against the Chicago Bulls in 2012 and his masterful career-high 62-point performance in Madison Square Garden in 2014.
