NBA rumors: Carmelo Anthony trade slowed by Meyers Leonard?

Twitter user @JSports_ent, who has dropped NBA rumors (especially about Melo) the past couple weeks, now says Meyers may be holding up a trade.

NBA rumors involving Carmelo Anthony have been hot the past couple weeks. For Portland’s sake, especially so, since they may or may not be involved.

Now, @JSport_ent is saying the Melo trade is hinging on finding a suitor for Meyers Leonard:

NBA rumors involving the Blazers have been quiet, as that’s how the team likes to operate.

I like to point to the Evan Turner signing coming out of nowhere last offseason as an example; the Mason Plumlee trade is like Turner’s deal, with no signs of it coming before.

This certain Twitter user has been dropping Blazer-related NBA rumors, though.

We questioned the validity before when we first covered the beginning Blazer rumor.

But, Melo news has popped up: Rockets center Nene posted a Photoshop of Melo in a Houston jersey before deleting it; the deal is reported as on the “two-yard line”; Woj himself said a deal is progressing; Chris Paul seems under-the-radar confident Melo is coming, too.

The trade may or may not really happen. Maybe it’s being discussed today, maybe it’s not. But all it takes is one leak or one source to reveal the deal.

Is Meyers’ play that bad?

Getting into the specifics, it’s not surprising no one wants Meyers.

Once a budding bench piece, he’s struggled to justify being on the court. His shooting has dropped, and that’s supposed to be his NBA calling card.

But, even given his lack of basketball abilities, the trade is questionable.

Leonard is only owed about $31.8 million over the next three seasons. That’s not a bad contract at all. Yes he’s not the best shooter, or the best bench big.

But players like Timofey Mozgov, Tyson Chandler and Bismack Biyombo are owed $16+ million over the next three years, each. None of those players are worth that.

Portland could be paying that, and then some, if they took on Ryan Anderson.

Ryno is owed $60 million (all guaranteed) over the next three seasons. While Anderson is the superior player, paying Meyers less money should be the preferred route.

Portland’s problem is a bloated cap. This cap prevented them from signing any impact players this offseason, and held them back from using all three first rounders if they wanted to.

The fact that someone wouldn’t take a flyer on Meyers, if that really is what’s holding up a trade, is surprising.

Next: Zach Collins working to improve three-point shot

I do admit a change of scenery would probably benefit both parties. Still, the NBA is a business, and paying Meyers, even if he never lives up to his contract, is still much better than paying Ryan Anderson.

Ryno will never, ever live up to his massive contract, while Meyers could since it’s a fair bargain in this NBA’s contract landscape.