Carmelo Anthony, Oklahoma City Thunder (early termination option)

Carmelo Anthony didn’t exactly endear himself to the Thunder’s long-term plans during his exit interview, per ESPN.com’s Royce Young:

“I think the player that they wanted me to be and needed me to be was for the sake of this season. As far as being effective as that type of player, I don’t think I can be effective as that type of player. I think I was willing to accept that challenge in that role, but I think I bring a little bit more to the game as far as being more knowledgeable and what I still can do as a basketball player.”

Neither Anthony nor the Thunder has a clear way out of this marriage. He’s not passing up the $27.9 million he’s owed next season. That would be absurd. It’ll take him three years to recoup that value in this summer’s market.

Finding a trade partner to take on his money is mostly out of the question. Expiring deals can always be rerouted, but no team is swallowing Anthony’s cap hit without sending back dead weight in return. Unless the Thunder are inexplicably interested in longer-team contracts for Ryan Anderson, Serge Ibaka or Evan Turner, they’re better off holding serve and hoping that coaxes Melo into surrendering a few bills during buyout talks.

Tobias Harris, Los Angeles Clippers

Giving head coach Doc Rivers an extension suggests the Clippers are against blowing their core to smithereens and rebuilding from scratch. But they could easily change cheap nfl jerseys wholesale their tune if both Avery Bradley and DeAndre Jordan (player option) bounce in free agency.

Whatever the prompt, steering into a reset would demand Los Angeles gauge Tobias Harris’ value. He turns 26 in July, so he’s young enough to survive the transition. But he enters free agency next summer, and that contract isn’t one a rebuilding squad should want to bankroll.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will hit restricted free agency in 2019 if he doesn’t hash out an extension with the Nets. Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell (restricted) nfl jerseys cheap wholesale will be up for raises as well. Brooklyn isn’t going to re-sign all three of them. It’ll cost too much.

Dinwiddie and Russell overlap with other skill sets on the roster more than Hollis-Jefferson, but the persisting absence of three-point range caps his offensive ceiling. If the Nets cannot work out a team-friendly extension or don’t see him expanding upon his mid-range game, it makes sense to shop him rather than chance an overpriced offer sheet next July.nfl jersey cheap wholesale

The caveat: They probably won’t kick around this idea until the lead-up to the February deadline, when they’ll have a better hold on Hollis-Jefferson’s development and potential price point.

Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors

Moving the two years and $45 million remaining on Ibaka’s contract was always going to be difficult. Trading him now, after he no-showed through his final six playoff tilts, feels impossible without attaching sweeteners the Raptors don’t have. wholesale cheap nfl jerseys