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Carmelo Anthony Is Making His Way To Chicago

The Houston Rockets agreed to trade Carmelo Anthony (along with some cash) to the Chicago Bulls on Monday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Though a trade to Chicago is surprising, the baller ending his run with Houston is a move almost everybody saw coming anyway.

Because Monday was Martin Luther King Day, the trade won’t yet be made official due to it being a holiday–but things are expected to be made final by Tuesday. Wojnarowski also clarified that the reason the Rockets wanted to make this move is that they were hoping to clear a roster spot for Kenneth Faried, a player who recently had his contract bought out by the Nets:

As we mentioned before, Carmelo Anthony making his way to the Chicago Bulls isn’t a move a lot of people were expecting. But even though his trade to the Windy City is expected to be made final today, ans shouldn’t expect him to actually play any games there. Woj later added that Melo will never play for Chicago because they’re expected to immediately release him.

If he clears waivers, he’ll become a free agent, which will hopefully intrigue other teams on the league looking for a new addition.

According to Woj, the Bulls may wait until the league’s trade deadline (February 7) to officially waive Anthony, but he isn’t going to be wearing a Chicago uniform regardless. Wojnarowski is putting his bets on the Lakers as a potential destination should they be able to clear space on their roster–which people have been heavily teasing since LeBron went West last year.

Though Melo was always highly regarded when he was a member of the Knicks, he has not played for his current team Houston since November of 2018.