The Knicks have agreed to trade Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The pick headed to New York is the Bulls 2018 second-rounder. The Knicks are obviously giving up the best player in the deal without getting back anything close to equal value, but their leverage was limited by the fact that Melo had a no-trade clause. It will be fascinating to see how Anthony fits in alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George in OKC. All three players finished within the top-20 overall in Usage Rate last season and will now be forced to make sacrifices on the offensive end. Melo won't be able to match the numbers he posted as the focal point in New York.
The Knicks acquiring Kanter is about as Knicks as it gets. Lack of defense aside, Kanter finds himself in a big spot to produce offense for a team that lacks perimeter scoring, and he should be asked to post up a bunch on his new team. Kanter saw a hefty 4.7 usage rate bump when he wasn't with Russell Westbrook last season, so he should have ample opportunity to score in the teens. While he won't do much outside of score and hit the glass, Kanter finds himself back on the map in the later rounds.