Carmelo Anthony to Cavs: LeBron James willing to trade Kevin Love for Knicks star

LeBron James is pushing for the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to pull the trigger on the Carmelo Anthony trade, even if it means surrendering All-Star forward Kevin Love, per fresh reports. Last month, the Cavs had reportedly rebuffed the potential trade due to their unwillingness to part with Love.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, James wants Cleveland to go through with the potential Anthony-for-Love swap. "LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it means trading Kevin Love, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing," Isola reported on Monday.

Anthony has US$54.2 million (AU$70.9 million) left on the five-year contract he signed with the Knicks ahead of the 2014-15 season. Since the 9-time All-Star owns a no-trade clause, the Knicks will require his consent before finalising a trade with the Cavaliers or any other interested suitor. Last month, Charley Rosen, a close ally of New York Knicks president Phil Jackson, wrote on his official blog that Anthony would welcome a trade to either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Los Angeles Clippers, primarily due to his closeness with LeBron James and Chris Paul. In recent weeks, the Boston Celtics emerged as the third possible team but the eastern conference team reportedly turned down a potential offer from New York.

Carmelo Anthony to Cavs: Will LeBron don his GM hat?

Over the last few years, LeBron James has often proxied as a general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers. At his behest, the Cavaliers signed the likes of Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to lucrative, long-term contracts that the trio would have likely struggled to find in the open market. Also, James had reportedly engineered the recent trade which saw Cavs acquire sharpshooter Kyle Korver from Atlanta Hawks. Clearly, James gets what he wants, contrary to ESPN's recent report that James was upset with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert for unwillingness to spend on a back-up point guard to Kyrie Irving.

While a Love-for-Anthony deal can be worked out due to the similar salaries, the Cavs would struggle to acquire LeBron James' good friend without giving up the stretch-4 power forward. "A deal involving Carmelo is complicated because of Anthony's salary. For the Cavs to acquire Anthony without including Love in the deal would require the Knicks to take back at least three role players in order to match salaries. And that's something the Knicks may be reluctant to do, anyway," Isola added in his report.

Last week, ESPN reported that the Cavs maintain interest in Carmelo Anthony. "Sources said the Cavaliers, meanwhile, do maintain an interest in Anthony -- which would pair him with Cleveland star and close friend LeBron James -- but only if a deal can be struck without the league's reigning champions surrendering Love." Anthony is averaging 23.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in his 14th season. Stay tuned for the latest updates on developing Carmelo Anthony trade situation. Will the Cavs and Knicks come to terms ahead of the Feb. 23 NBA Trade Deadline?