Carmelo Anthony to the Rockets rumors heating up once again

Just yesterday, our own Max Croes laid out some reasoning why the New York Knicks, for their own benefit, shouldn’t wait any longer on dealing Carmelo to the Houston Rockets. Well, it appears the Knicks were listening, because the rumors have once again picked up recently, starting off with this report from the L.A. Daily News.

This saga’s already been dragging on a lot longer than expected, with several various stops and starts in the rumors from a multitude of sources. So the tendency would be to look at the return of the rumors with a little bit of hesitancy. But then things got even more interesting last night.

If one tweet wasn’t evidence enough, that was followed up by this one coming out of Portland:

So connecting the dots together, it’s starting to look some of the things we’ve all been speculating on are going to come to fruition.

The Knicks are realizing they have absolutely no leverage and have figured out it’s best to deal Melo now before they get into the season and formulate a serious rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis. The Portland Trail Blazers have realized that Anthony is never going to waive his no trade clause to head out out to the Pacific Northwest. And Rockets GM Daryl Morey continues to hold all the cards in getting what he wants due to that clause.

When the players have the power -- which is obviously the case here with Carmelo — they are the ones who essentially dictate the front office moves. Anthony wants to go to Houston, and it appears that’s exactly what’s in the works.

So after weeks of rumors, followed by setbacks, it may actually be coming to a close. And while all the individual moving parts of the deal have yet to be disclosed, they likely include Ryan Anderson, Meyers Leonard, draft picks and some other pieces.

Keep your eyes peeled, Houston. It appears that Carmelo Anthony joining James Harden and Chris Paul on the Rockets is closer than ever.