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Carmelo Anthony Traded to Hawks, Then Waived

Anthony’s stay in Oklahoma City ends after just one season.

NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder at Atlanta Hawks Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The search for a Carmelo Anthony trade partner came to an end Thursday when the Thunder completed a multi-team deal with the Hawks and 76ers to end Anthony’s tenure in OKC after only one season — but his tenure in Atlanta will be even shorter, as the Hawks will waive Anthony immediately.

Since Anthony opted into his $27.9 million player option with the Thunder, Oklahoma City has transparently been looking at options to get that contract off of their cap sheet. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story:

Yahoo’s Shams Charania followed with full details on the trade:

And ESPN’s Royce Young followed with details on the pick headed to Atlanta:

So to recap:

Atlanta sends point guard Dennis Schroder to Oklahoma City, Mike Muscala to Philadelphia, and recieves Anthony who they then waive. For their troubles, they wind up with a protected first-round pick from Oklahoma City and Justin Anderson. This transaction will not only clear up future cap space for the Hawks, but it will free up a starting point guard role for rookie Trae Young.

Oklahoma City effectively uses a lottery-protected first-round pick to save over $73 million in luxury tax penalties and add a talented, young point guard in Schroder to back up Russell Westbrook.

Philadelphia grabs a big-man shooter in Mike Muscala that they’ve been looking for since since they lost Ersan Ilyasova and were spurned by Nemanja Bjelica.

Once Carmelo is officially waived by Atlanta, he will be free to sign with any team. The Heat and Rockets will pursue the forward, with the latter as the expected front-runners.