Carmelo Anthony Dishes on Breakup Process With OKC Thunder in 2018 Offseason

The Oklahoma City Thunder pushed all-in on the 2017 offseason which netted the Bricktown boys a pair of future hall of famers in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to retool their roster around franchise legend Russell Westbrook just one summer after Kevin Durant parted for Golden State in one of the more surprising moves in NBA history.

When the OKC Thunder made these trades to get a pair of high-level forwards, the buzz around Bricktown was palpable visions of contention danced in Thunder fans head’s as Westbrook was fresh off a historic MVP season where he willed Oklahoma City to the postseason on his own.

it is safe to say the partnership between the OKC Thunder and Anthony did not workout as the team only kept the Hall of Famer for one season where the team flamed out in the first round against the Utah Jazz, being sent home by Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell in a surprising upset.

Things started out rocky as at Media Day, Anthony scoffed at the notion of coming off the bench which in hindsight would’ve maximized his role and the team. However, according to the NBA legend himself on George’s podcast this week, heading into year two the Syracuse product was willing to take on a more reduced role.

However, after a phone call with then-head coach Billy Donovan, there was no second season in Oklahoma City after all for Anthony.

“I was working with Sam [Presti], we was about to figure a deal out….Billy Donovan called me in Paris and he was like ‘We want to start developing Jerami Grant into the lineup, he is younger’, and I was like ‘Okay cool..just tell me you want me to accept that role, I am willing to work with you’, he was like ‘Nah, we don’t think it is going to work here anymore’” Anthony recounted.

As the future Hall of Famer continued to tell the story he explained how he was willing to return to Oklahoma City in a bench role behind Grant and attempt to work things out with the franchise to improve the team alongside Westbrook and George.

“I was expecting, I am coming back, I forgone free agency…I am like okay, we building something here. We got a trio, we saw what it looks like, now we have a full training camp, that is what I thought,” George explained.

According to the forwards, this move caught them off guard despite publicly the writing feeling as though it was on the wall at the time once the Jazz series concluded.

Ultimately, Grant did bloom in Oklahoma City and has since carved out a really solid career in the league. Though, the results were the same during the following postseason as Portland ousted the Thunder in the opening round of the playoffs.

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