Buckle up, Knicks fans--those Carmelo Anthony-to-Cleveland trade rumors aren't buried yet.

According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers are still holding out some hope for a blockbuster deal to land Anthony from the Knicks before Thursday's NBA trade deadline.

The Cavs are trying to use a trade exception that expires Monday and also continue to explore the very slight possibility of acquiring Carmelo Anthony by Thursday's deadline.
The trade exception, left over from trading Anderson Varejao last season, is worth about $4.4 million. Anthony is a 12-time All-Star with a $24.6 million salary. So obviously one move would not be related to the other, and the way, way outside shot (we're talking like, say a 93-footer) of acquiring Anthony in a deadline deal with the New York Knicks would be the much bigger transaction of the two. But it's also the least likely.

While Vardon describes the chances at a deal as small (basement-level low from the Cavs' perspective), the desperation from Knicks president Phil Jackson is part of Cleveland's thinking. If New York simply wants to dump Anthony, the Cavs clearly still have interested.

Melo trade rumors

As the NBA season transitions from the All-Star break to the final stretch of the regular season, the banged up Cavs (injuries to Kevin Love and J.R. Smith) can use help to stay atop the conference.

Anthony, 32, is averaging 23.4 points per game this season.

Why Knicks should trade Carmelo Anthony

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.