With nothing finalized on the Carmelo Anthony trade front, the Portland Trail Blazers reportedly tried to jump right into the fray in recent days.
The Blazers are reportedly one of the teams the Rockets and Knicks have recruited to try and facilitate a deal to send Carmelo to the Rockets. Instead, the Blazers were thinking that rather help get that deal done, they could trade for the All-Star forward themselves, as they apparently were hopeful he would add them to the list of teams he would waive his no-trade clause for. The list that currently still has just two teams: the Rockets and Cavaliers.
Unfortunately for Portland, that doesn't appear to be in Melo's plans, despite C.J. McCollum's best attempts on Instagram. On Monday afternoon, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was on The Jump, and said that joining the Trail Blazers is not something Carmelo is interested in right now.
"Portland's players are reaching out to Melo. Portland would love to get involved in this and become a team that Melo would consider. ... They would like for Carmelo to waive his no-trade and go to Portland, but right now, that's not something Melo's considering."
"Sources tell me New York and Houston tried to pull Portland into a three-way, potentially a four-way deal. Portland does not have any interest in helping Houston, a conference rival, get Carmelo Anthony."
This is really not surprising at all. While Portland has some talented young players, it isn't in a position to contend for a title, which is really what Carmelo is looking for in wherever he plays next.
