Carmelo Anthony joins James Harden and Chris Paul for a pickup game

Ready for the Melo rumors to heat up again?

Well, they’re about to, because James Harden, Chris Paul, and Camelo Anthony appeared this past Monday in a pickup game in NYC, and clips and photos were posted to social media afterward, dropping a little tease to Rockets fans, who have been waiting patiently since early summer to see Melo donning a Rockets jersey.

The trio were joined by slew of other NBA stars, including Russell Westbrook, Enes Kanter, Joakim Noah, Tim Hardway Jr., Victor Oladipo, Serge Ibaka, David Lee, Iman Shumpert, Dahntay Jones, Lance Thomas, and JaVale McGee. Here’s some of the highlights:

Natually, despite the veritable cornucopia of NBA talent getting some run, most of the focus was on seeing The Beard, CP3, and Melo taking the court together. The Melo carrot has been dangling over our head for quite some time now, so it’s only natural that any news putting him in the same building as Harden and Paul drums up plenty of interest, let alone playing on the same court and on the same pick up team.

But, at least for now, it appears the Knicks are content to roll into the year with an unhappy Carmelo Anthony on their hands, as most of the Melo/Rockets trade rumors have dissipated over the last month or so. The Knicks are said to be dead set against taking back Ryan Anderson’s salary in any type of deal, and the Rockets have yet to entice a third team (or even fourth team) into facilitating the move, only to watch the Rockets make out handsomely.

There’s even been some minor scuttlebutt about the Knicks engaging the Portland Trail Blazers in talks for Carmelo, though there’s been nothing of great significance to note on that front either, and it remains to be seen whether Melo would wave his no-trade clause to head out to the Pacific Northwest.

I still think the most likely scenario here is that the Rockets end up trading for Anthony anyway, just into the actual season, once the Knicks finally realize how little power they hold in this situation. They can basically either trade Anthony to a team of his choosing or watch him leave anyway and end up with nothing in return, as Anthony holds an early termination clause at the conclusion of this season. He’ll most certainly exercise it should he still be playing in the Garden come spring.

So in the meantime, all we have to lean on are when small snippets such as this come out. They’re fun to watch, and it’s cool to daydream on the offensive possibilities of Melo teaming up with the Rockets star duo.

Keep the faith, Rockets fans. I firmly believe patience is a virtue here in order for Daryl Morey to ultimately snag his target.