NBA notebook: Anthony, Thunder will reportedly part ways

NBA notebook: Anthony, Thunder will reportedly part ways

With Carmelo Anthony's role with the club shrinking and the team payroll swelling to historic levels, the Oklahoma City Thunder will part ways with the 10-tiime All-Star this summer, ESPN reported Friday.

Anthony exercised his $27.9 million option for 2018-19 last month, a major burden to a Thunder tax bill that swelled further with the re-signings of Paul George and Jerami Grant and the addition of Nerlens Noel. Rather than paying a record $310 million between payroll and luxury tax, Oklahoma City could cut more than $100 million off that total by parting with Anthony.

Per the report, the Thunder could drop Anthony via trade, the stretch provision -- allowing the Thunder to stretch the remainder of his salary over three seasons -- or a combination of a buyout and stretch.

Anthony, 34, was acquired in September from the New York Knicks in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round pick. Among the reported potential suitors are the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat, though neither are likely to trade for Anthony, per reports.

--Tony Parker, the point guard of four San Antonio Spurs championship teams, is leaving the team after 17 seasons and signing with the Charlotte Hornets, according to multiple reports.

Parker, 36, will sign a two-year, $10 million contract with Charlotte, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported. Parker averaged just 7.7 points and 3.5 assists in 55 games last season, losing his starting spot to Dejounte Murray.

In Charlotte, Parker will play behind All-Star guard Kemba Walker but is expected to have a bigger role than he would have had with the Spurs. He reportedly had offers from the Spurs and Denver Nuggets.

--The Sacramento Kings have signed restricted free agent Zach LaVine to a four-year, $78 million offer sheet, The Undefeated reported. The Chicago Bulls have two days to match the offer sheet if they want to retain the 23-year-old guard.

According to ESPN, the Bulls did make an offer to LaVine, but "it's not nearly as strong as the Kings'." After coming over to Chicago in the Jimmy Butler trade last summer, LaVine averaged 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 24 games last season, missing much of the season because of lingering effects from a torn ACL suffered the previous season.

--The New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to re-sign point guard Ian Clark for one year at the veteran's minimum, according to multiple reports.

Clark, 27, played for the Pelicans last season after stints with Utah, Denver and Golden State. He averaged 7.4 points, 1.5 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 74 games last season, but upped those numbers to 10.5 points, 1.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds after DeMarcus Cousins ruptured his left Achilles tendon in January.

--Free-agent center Kyle O'Quinn agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. O'Quinn will back up Myles Turner while further bolstering Indiana's second unit. The Pacers also signed small forward Doug McDermott and shooting guard Tyreke Evans in free agency this month.

The Pacers also waived Alex Poythress -- whose contract was not guaranteed -- and renounced the free-agent rights to Trevor Booker and Joe Young to open up additional cap space.

--Gary Trent Jr., the 37th overall pick who played one season at Duke, signed a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, guaranteeing him more money overall than a handful of first rounders.

According to NBC Sports, he'll be guaranteed $3.919 million over the life of the deal, which is more than picks Nos. 25 to 30 will earn over their first two seasons.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)