During the lead up to the trade deadline, Jimmy Butler and Paul George were discussed by teams. Both the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers are in limbo between true contender status and rebuilding.

According to one front office source that spoke with The Ringer, Butler is "as good as gone."

Butler has a player option in which he can become a free agent in 2019, while George can opt for free agency in 2018.

There were a number of teams interested in both players at the deadline with the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets perhaps in the best place to make a blockbuster offer for either Butler or George without completely gutting their team.

Carmelo Anthony said he's "at peace" with playing a lesser role for the remainder of the season to allow the team to take a longer look at its younger players.

"I see the writing on the wall. I see what it is," Anthony said late Wednesday night. "I see what they're trying to do and it's just me accepting that. That's what puts me at peace. Just knowing and understanding how things work. I'm at peace with that."

The New York Knicks were eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday.

"I don't think me going out there, trying to score 30 and 40 every night and playing that way is going to help them out at this point. I think it's more about getting that experience, and letting them go out there and play through that right now," Anthony said after failing to score in double figures for just the third time all season. "It's challenging, but I think it's for the greater good for everybody on this team."

The Knicks are expected to revisit a trade involving Anthony this offseason but he also owns a full no-trade clause.

The Golden State Warriors had interest in trading with the Toronto Raptors for Kyle Lowry in 2013.

During the early part of Masai Ujiri's tenure with the Raptors, he shopped Lowry to the New York Knicks and other teams. Lowry was set to be a free agent that offseason.

The Warriors were unwilling to include Festus Ezeli with a pick in their offer for Lowry.

Lowry went on to lead the Raptors to a playoff berth and has become one of their best players in franchise history.

Lowry conceivably could have given the Warriors a two-point guard backcourt with Stephen Curry. The great unknown is whether the Warriors would have been more willing to include Klay Thompson in their trade offer that offseason for Kevin Love if they had traded for and re-signed Lowry.

James Harden reached out to Lou Williams two weeks before the deadline about joining the Houston Rockets.

“When James called, he asked me if I was interested in playing with them,” Williams told The Vertical. “I told him that I loved the Lakers, but James and them have a group that fit my personality, fit how I play. He said he was going to make it happen.”

Williams then laughed. “I’ve heard that before, so I didn’t really put stock into it,” Williams told The Vertical. “I guess James did put the word in, and the team made it happen.”

Houston, Utah and Washington reached out to Magic Johnson about a deal, with Williams’ agent, Wallace Prather, helping to facilitate negotiations.

Williams has averaged 14.5 points in 13 games with the Rockets.

“We needed one more guy that could create, and Lou is perfect,” Mike D’Antoni told The Vertical. “Lou is a professional scorer. In case someone is off, if someone is injured, Lou brings another 15 to 20 points. We still need to incorporate everything. You can never have enough shooters and playmakers, and he does both.”

Paul George heard some cheers when he was introduced as a visiting member of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night in Boston and was asked afterward about how the fans received him and his future with the Pacers.

“Yeah, I guess they were in on the rumors,” George said of how fans received him at TD Garden.

In the days leading up to February’s trade deadline the Celtics were reportedly one of a few teams to engage in talks with the Pacers on George.

“I didn't put no energy into it. It was out of my control,” George said of rumors that he might have been traded to the Celtics. "If I was here, I was here. If I remained a Pacer, I was a Pacer. I wasn’t going to put any unnecessary energy where I had no control over.”

George, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the 2017-18 season, was then asked if he wanted to remain with the Pacers.

“Yeah,” he replied. "If we have a great team, why not?”

George added that if Indiana didn’t have an improved roster, “then me and front office will talk.”

The Philadelphia 76ers offered a significant trade package at the deadline for Paul George.

The 76ers reportedly offered the Pacers their choice of Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel along with Robert Covington and at least two future first round picks for George.

The 76ers' preference was to keep their own future picks and move the draft rights of other teams like those of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings to protect themselves in case George left in 2018.

The 76ers were not turned off by George's preference to play for the Lakers. Philadelphia was confident in their ability to convince George to stay with their young core of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric.

The Indiana Pacers discussed a Paul George trade with at least the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets at the trade deadline.

The Pacers never appeared serious about actually trading George. According to sources, George has interest in playing with Gordon Hayward, who is from Indiana.

George wants to play for a contender and can be a free agent in 2018.

George has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers as the place he would like to play if he leaves Indiana.

The New York Knicks will miss the playoffs for the third straight season, which has made Carmelo Anthony grow reflective over his future.

“Nah, don’t start,’’ Anthony said when asked if he envisions making L.A. his workplace. “I haven’t thought about it. There was an opportunity during the deadline. There was always talk the last couple of seasons being connected to Clippers or Lakers. Somehow always been connected. First it was the Lakers. Now it’s the Clippers situation. I try not to think about it — especially now when I’m still playing with the New York Knicks and got to prepare to play against these guys.’’

The Knicks have been in Los Angeles since Saturday ahead of Monday's game.

“Sometimes you need to get in a new environment and feel a different type of energy and vibe,’’ Anthony said.

Anthony was referring to his team, but he probably could have been talking about his career, too.

“Over the years, I’ve grown to like it,’’ Anthony said. “I think as you get older, you start looking for places you can relax and enjoy and be good over the years. L.A. has been a place where my family feels comfortable at. We’ve been here for seven years now.’’

Anthony was asked about the Knicks not being a playoff team this season.

“I’ve come to grips with that,’’ Anthony said. “I had times to think about that over how many weeks it’s been, trying to utilize time to clear my mind and be at peace with it — our situation.”

Asked if he thinks if it will ever happen in L.A., Anthony said: “Honestly I think about it a lot. I try to put everything in perspective. I think about it all. I think about here. I think about it. The postseason. My teammates. I think about everything. I think about it a lot and put everything in perspective and hear other people’s take on it. At the end of the day, it’s on me.’’

The New York Knicks are committed to trading away Carmelo Anthony in the summer.

The Knicks explored trade scenarios involving Anthony leading up to the deadline.

Anthony has a full no-trade clause, which means he would have to formally approve any trade.

The Los Angeles Clippers privately expressed confidence they could trade for Anthony in the offseason. 

With the Knicks struggling over the past few seasons, they would like to rebuild entirely around Kristaps Porzingis.

Now that Dwight Howard has had a quiet and productive existence with the Atlanta Hawks, he talked about the end of his time with the Orlando Magic.

Howard claims the Magic agreed to trade him after the 2011 lockout before he could opt out in 2012. Howard ended up opting in with the Magic in March, which took away his free agency option and led to his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"After the situation in Orlando, I never really came out and said my side of the story about what was going on there while I was there and the reasons for me wanting to leave," said Howard. "After that, people just decided that, ‘He’s not going to talk about it, so we might as well come up with a narrative and what we think went on in L.A. and what went on with Kobe [Bryant] and what we think happened with James [Harden].’ I never had a personal vendetta with either one of those guys. People took it as me having a problem with them being on a team with another superstar.

"I’ve never been the one to say, ‘OK, I want to talk about this because it was an issue with me.’ But everyone else kind of made it a storyline. And here in Atlanta, there is no storyline."

Howard was asked about what really happened with Orlando.

"I really hate going back with it. There were a lot of different things that happened in Orlando that people never talked about. Before the season even started during the lockout, I asked them privately, I even talked to [teammate] Jameer [Nelson] and [then-general manager] Otis [Smith] and I said, ‘Hey, I just want a change in my life. It has nothing to do with [then-coach] Stan Van Gundy. This has nothing to do with the players here in Orlando. It has nothing to do with Orlando itself.’ I just felt I was too comfortable and I wanted more for myself and more for basketball.

"It had nothing to do with the team. They said they were going to try to move me. I thought it was going to happen. They came in and said, ‘We’re going to trade you.’ They shook my hand and said, ‘God bless you. You were here for eight years and you did a great job.’ They asked me to go shake my teammates’ hands. I went and shook their hands and told them that the team was going to trade me. I woke up the next day and they said, ‘We’re not going to trade you.’

"This was right after the [2011 NBA] lockout. I was supposed to get traded right before training camp. I had asked them to trade me to Brooklyn and I thought that was going to happen. They decided they weren’t going to trade me and that was when all hell broke loose. People said I was doing this in the locker room, doing that. But I’ve never been that kind of guy. I told my agent, ‘Listen, they want me here, so I will just stay here until the end of the season and I’ll make a decision after that. Let’s not fight it. Let’s not go back and forth. Let’s not talk about it.’

"And we did that. But every day in the media it was a different story. I was the type of person where I’m not going to focus on what is being said. I’m going to focus on winning and trying to win for this team while I’m here."