Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony revealed on Monday’s episode of “7PM in Brooklyn” about a failed trade to the New Orleans Pelicans. During the recent episode, Anthony welcomed four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins as the guest. Cousins said that a Big 3 of him, Melo and Anthony Davis almost happened.
After Anthony’s final season with the New York Knicks in 2017, he was traded to the OKC Thunder. He formed a star trio with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The former Knicks star said that the trade to the Thunder shouldn’t have happened.
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However, Sam Presti was eager to form a competitive team around Westbrook. The Pelicans, however, took a while to make a decision. Additionally, Anthony said that there were contract-related aspects that couldn’t make a deal work.
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“New Orleans was not guaranteed option,” Anthony said. “New Orleans couldn’t pull the trigger that fast.
The Hall of Fame forward also said that the organization gave him a Pelicans jersey throughout the process.
“I did have a Pelicans jersey, that was the recruiting pitch.
After the failed attempt to form a star trio, there were rumblings around the league. According to Carmelo Anthony, many believed the Pelicans would’ve ended the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty.
“Everybody at that time was saying, ‘Oh, they can beat Golden State because of them two.’ That was the conversation.”
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, that was the same time that Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon. The big man was doing well in his first full season in New Orleans, but sustained a season-ending injury.
Carmelo Anthony addresses Jayson Tatum’s potential return
There is no timetable for Jayson Tatum’s return from his season-ending torn Achilles tendon. However, the Boston Celtics star has hinted that he can return before the regular season ends.
Over the NBA All-Star Weekend, Carmelo Anthony was asked about his thoughts on Tatum’s return. Just like the rest of the league, Anthony has no clue when the Celtics star will return from injury. But he said that he feels as if the star forward will be back on the floor soon.
“And if JT could come back, I think it scares the league,” the Knicks star said (Timestamp at 2:46). “Because now you don’t have to really focus on implementing Jayson Tatum back into the actual lineup. He’s going to be on limited minutes, so you can play him and figure out how you really want to implement him into the grand scheme of things and still allow … Jaylen Brown to continue to lead that team for right now.”
But Carmelo Anthony also pointed out that it won’t be easy for Tatum and the Celtics once he’s back. The injured star will need some time to brush the rust off and be effective again.
Edited by Reign Amurao
