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Melo: Rockets trade was done, but didn't go through 'for some reason'

Tim Warner / Getty Images Sport / Getty

It appears Carmelo Anthony was very nearly a member of the Houston Rockets.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's newest star revealed this week that a deal with the Rockets was virtually complete, but fell apart for unknown reasons.

"I think it was within the last week, week-and-a-half before training camp,” the 10-time All-Star said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. "A deal was done with Houston early. Then for some reason, whatever happened behind the scenes, it didn’t go through, it didn’t fall through. Then we really had to pay attention and think about other options."

Rumors swirled throughout the summer that the Rockets and Knicks were close to a deal involving Anthony, but talks fell apart after New York was unwilling to take Ryan Anderson - and the roughly $60 million remaining on his contract - in return.

"Believe it or not, I felt like I was going to be back in training camp and show up at media day in New York." Anthony said. "Me and my team sat down Friday night and was like, 'Let’s prepare for going back to media day on Monday and training camp that week.'"

The 6-foot-8 forward also revealed he and Paul George were nearly traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in June before talks suddenly fell apart.

"Me and PG have a very close friendship," Anthony said, as transcribed by ESPN's Ian Begley. "Actually, it was funny because me and PG was supposed to be in Cleveland on draft night. we were communicating about that. The deal was actually done and it got called off on draft night, so me and PG stayed connected throughout the course of the season."

Anthony was ultimately traded to the Thunder last week in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and the Chicago Bulls' 2018 second-round pick.

The 33-year-old averaged 22.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 0.8 steals on 43.3 percent shooting last season.

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