The New York Knicks nearly traded Carmelo Anthony to the Houston Rockets in early July, but they ultimately decided to not take on the contract of Ryan Anderson.

Anthony preferred to be traded to the Rockets, but the Knicks' willingness to do so appeared to change after Scott Perry became general manager.

“Even though Scott and I battled over Houston I have to respect the fact that he inherited an extremely difficult situation and that he had to do what was best for the organization,” agent Leon Rose said. “Ultimately, he did right by Carmelo and made a deal. It all worked out for everybody.”

Anthony expanded his wish list beyond the Rockets once it became clear no deal would be made.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Arturo Galletti (@AmericanNumbers) continue their annual tradition of breaking down the over/under lines for the Western Conference.

They go through over/unders and other relevant odds for the Suns (1:56), Kings (8:25), Lakers (13:12), Mavericks (20:45), Grizzlies (30:49), Pelicans (34:59), Jazz (44:12), Trail Blazers (51:10), Clippers (55:19), Nuggets (1:02:12), Timberwolves (1:06:27), Thunder (1:15:28), Spurs (1:18:39), Rockets (1:26:09), Warriors (1:31:30) and their best bets in both conferences.

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Dwyane Wade has agreed upon a contract buyout with the Chicago Bulls.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat are considered the leaders for Wade once he clears waivers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Oklahoma City Thunder could also express interest in Wade.

Wade gave up $8 million of his $23.8 million salary to leave the Bulls.

Carmelo Anthony has expanded his list of teams he'd accept a trade to include the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Ian Begley, the Oklahoma City Thunder are also on Anthony's list.

Throughout the summer, Anthony was zeroed in exclusively on the Houston Rockets.

The Knicks and Rockets have been at a stalemate for several weeks as they've been unable to find a trade scenario to satisfy both teams. The Knicks insisted they were unable to complete a deal with the Rockets and needed more teams to work with.

Anthony has a full no-trade clause in his contract with the Knicks.

While the Rockets remain Anthony's preferred team, he's worked to accommodate the Knicks to find a trade before the start of the season.

The Houston Rockets have hired Sachin Gupta as a special advisor.

Gupta spent six seasons with the Rockets before joining Sam Hinkie with the Philadelphia 76ers as his No. 2.

While Daryl Morey was working for the Boston Celtics, he first met Gupta at a lecture he gave at MIT.

Gupta is credited with aiding the Rockets during this past season's trade deadline, draft and free agency periods, along with playing an important role in acquiring Chris Paul from the Clippers.

"Sachin's fingerprints are all over this time, from his first six seasons with the Rockets to contributions he's made this past year," said Morey. "Given what he brings to the table and how seamlessly he fits in with our group, we're excited to have him back into the fold."

The New York Knicks expect Carmelo Anthony to remain on their roster when training camp opens next week.

"Look, Carmelo's going to be back here," Perry said Friday at the team's training facility. "Carmelo has always been a professional. That's one thing I've always respected about him. I think he can set a good example for the young players. He's been a 10-time All-Star. If he's back here with the New York Knicks, we expect him to be the professional he's always exemplified throughout his career and move forward with him."

The Knicks have been unable to make progress on trade talks with the Houston Rockets centered on Anthony.

According to sources, both the Knicks and Anthony remain committed to finding a scenario where he ends up on another team.

"We've just been in constant contact with he and his representatives and I won't get into (the) weeds of the details of how far or how close we were to any type of deal," Perry said. "At the end of the day, what we set out and what we said (in July was), if there was something there that made sense both for him and the Knicks organization, then we would strongly consider it. Obviously, we sit here today and that did not happen as of yet."

The Houston Rockets will sign Chris Johnson to a one-year contract.

Johnson has played briefly in the NBA with the Grizzlies, 76ers, Jazz and Bucks. Johnson had an impressive Summer League with the Rockets.

In four seasons with the Vipers in the G-League, Johnson averaged 14.6 points on 48.2 percent shooting and 5.5 rebounds.

Andre Iguodala was disappointed by the Golden State Warriors' opening contract offer in free agency of $36 million over three years with a partial guarantee in the final year.

Rival teams believed Iguodala wanted a three-year deal close to $50 million that was fully guaranteed.

Iguodala felt as though he had already sacrificed financially when he signed with the Warriors on a four-year, $48 million deal and then accepted a lesser role when Steve Kerr became coach.

Bob Myers increased the Warriors' offer to $42 million over three years with a partial guarantee in the third year.

Iguodala ceased communication with the Warriors at that point.

When free agency began, Iguodala took a conference call with the Los Angeles Lakers and then met in person with representatives from the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio offered Iguodala a four-year deal that was fully guaranteed starting at the $8.4 million non-taxpayer midlevel.

The Sacramento Kings were the final team to meet with Iguodala on the opening night of free agency. They were committed to giving him the highest offer on the market but only if he accepted it on the spot.

The Houston Rockets' meeting lasted almost two hours and was termed as "the best recruiting presentation of all time," according to a source within Iguodala's camp. The Rockets offered a four-year, $32 million deal via their mid-level exception, but Daryl Morey also talked about various sign-and-trade scenarios that would be more lucrative. After the meeting, there was a strong sense Iguodala would end up with the Rockets.

Iguodala reopened communication with the Warriors later on July 1st and met in-person with Myers and Kerr. The objective from Iguodala's perspective was to personally say goodbye, according to sources. Iguodala wasn't budging from his request of at least $16 million per season and he was prepared to join the Rockets.

After the meeting, Iguodala's rep called Myers one last time to see if they could get a deal done. Myers then called Joe Lacob who approved a three-year, $48 million deal.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer (@JonathanTjarks) and Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated (@RobMahoney) go in-depth on the NBA’s Southwest Division.

They discuss how the Spurs, Rockets, Mavericks, Pelicans and Grizzlies fared in the off-season, including which teams improved and what moves stood out. The three also predict the season to come, including projected finish, breakout players and rookies they are most excited to see.

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The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors pursued a trade for Chris Paul in 2011 when he was put on the trade market by the New Orleans Pelicans.

Paul preferred a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers but ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"When Chris Paul was in New Orleans, there were two teams that wanted to be aggressive in trading for him and he said 'I will not re-sign with you,'" said Wojnarowski about the Celtics and Warriors.

The Celtics attempted to acquire Paul by trading Rajon Rondo to the Pelicans. The advanced age of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce was a significant reason why Paul didn't want to join the Celtics.