Thunder trade Carmelo Anthony to the Hawks for Dennis Schroder, but Melo won’t be in Atlanta for long

The Rockets are still the frontrunner for Melo when he becomes a free agent.

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally traded Carmelo Anthony, along with a protected 2022 first-round pick, to the Atlanta Hawks for Dennis Schroder, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Anthony will be waived, and will not play for the Hawks next season.

Instead, he is expected to join the Houston Rockets and, according to The New York Times’ Marc Stein, he’ll sign a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum of $2.4 million

As part of a three-team trade, Mike Muscala has also been traded to the Sixers, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot will go to the Thunder and Justin Anderson will go to the Hawks, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania.

Anthony will get his entire buyout from Atlanta once he’s waived, according to Wojnarowski, and then he’ll become a free agent. The Rockets are still the frontrunner to land Anthony when those details are sorted out, which could take a few days.

The Thunder and Anthony were ready to part ways earlier in the summer, as Anthony’s production was less than satisfactory last season, and with Paul George’s new contract, OKC was well into the luxury tax. Keeping Anthony, who was already unhappy with his place in the rotation, would’ve been costly and didn’t make sense. This move saves money for the Thunder and adds a player of greater value to their rotation.

Why this makes sense for the Thunder

The Thunder were deciding whether to use the “stretch provision” to spread Anthony’s $27.9 million contract over the course of three years, and take a $9.3 million cap hit in each season or trade him for something else. They opted to trade for Schroder — who is a bit more costly than Melo’s stretched out contract — but will contribute to a title-hunting team, by dealing a 2022 lottery-protected pick. Clearly, OKC is interested in winning right now and isn’t afraid to pay a luxury tax if the pieces make sense. That’s exciting for the team’s fanbase.

Melo wasn’t the right fit in OKC. He basically said that in his exit interview and both sides weren’t happy and moved on.

In short: The Thunder traded for a player they can actually use next season and get to save some money in doing so at the cost of a protected pick in the future.

Why this makes sense for the Hawks

Atlanta is in tank mode, and will happily do anything for assets. They’ll build around their two first-round picks from this season, Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, their first-round pick from last year in John Collins and Taurean Prince. Paying Melo’s buyout is meaningless to them in a season they aren’t looking to spend money or add talent, and as a reward they get a first-round pick and a chance to try out Justin Anderson.

The Hawks also win because they had to find a suitor for Schroder, which would’ve been tough given the state of the NBA’s current overspent market. He’s owed nearly $47 million over the next three seasons.

The team added Jeremy Lin early in July and had a logjam at the point guard position with Schroder as the odd man out. Getting out from Schroder’s three-year, big-money deal was essential for their rebuild, and this was their move.

Why this makes sense for Carmelo Anthony

Anthony gets everything he wants here. He won’t spend a day in Atlanta, the Hawks are paying his full $27.9 million for him not to play, and he gets to decide his own future.

That will probably be as the starting small forward for the Houston Rockets.