The Cavaliers are no longer interested in trading for Carmelo Anthony, are hoping for a buyout

Those Knicks fans still holding out hope that the front office could at least swing a trade for Carmelo Anthony before they cut him loose might be in for a rude awakening.

One of Melo’s most logical trade suitors, the Cleveland Cavaliers, is reportedly no longer interested in pursuing a trade. That doesn’t mean the Cavs have given up on acquiring the All-Star forward; they’re simply prepared to wait until Melo is bought out by New York, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Phil Jackson reiterated in an interview last week that Melo, who has a full no-trade clause, told the team he’d “just as soon stay” with the Knicks. Apparently this is irrelevant. Marc Berman of the Post even goes so far as to imply that it is a negotiating tactic: “That could be Anthony’s way of forcing Jackson to release him, though he’d lose the trade-kicker bonus.”

With the league currently in the midst of superteam fever, it almost seems inevitable that both Melo and Dwyane Wade—who will pick up his $23.8 million player option with the go-nowhere Bulls—will both be bought out and join their buddy LeBron James in Cleveland. How the hell did we come to such a pass?