The NBA offseason saw a ton of player movement that provided its fans a whirlwind of an offseason. One of the bigger names moved was Carmelo Anthony, who finally was able to escape the New York Knicks and was sent to Oklahoma City. 

After better parts of seven seasons in the Big Apple, Melo waived his no-trade clause and joined forces with Paul George and teamed up with Russell Westbrook to form a big three that could do some damage in the Western Conference this season.

Anthony had a clause in his contract that said he could chose ten teams he wanted to be traded to, putting the ball in his court in and giving him all the leverage in terms of where he was going to play.

Making that type of life decision took some mulling over, but it was ultimately his 10-year-old son that played a big part in the decision of choosing Melo’s third NBA team.

According to an interview with The New York Times, the 33-year-old opened up about the choice he made to take his talents to Oklahoma City:

“My son has a basketball mind," Anthony told Stein. "So I will always throw little topics at him. He was like, ‘Dad, where you getting traded to?’ I told him, ‘I don’t know, where do you think I should go?’ He said: ‘You really want me to give you my opinion? I think you should go to O.K.C.’

“It worked out.”

To Kiyan’s credit, the trade is looking like a promising one for both sides. Not only did the Thunder get a star to compliment Westbrook and George, but the Knicks actually got a respectable return in the deal in the from of centre Enes Kanter, forward Doug MeDermott and a second-round pick that was originally owned by Chicago for the 2018 NBA Entry Draft.

Why is that significant? Well, Anthony also touched on a conversation he had with former Knicks president Phil Jackson, who reportedly told the 10-time NBA all-star star that he was considering trading him “for a bag of chips.”  Knicks GM Scott Perry, who pulled the trigger on moving Melo, was seeking “a steak in return” for Anthony’s services. The former Syracuse star also said in the interview that he and Jackson talked “maybe twice” during the 2016/17 season.

It’s safe to say that Melo is happy he’s now on a contending team in Oklahoma, while the Knicks can finally shift their focus on rebuilding their club the right way.

Melo and the Thunder will welcome his old club to the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday night in what will be both team’s season openers.

(h/t New York Times)