Carmelo Anthony intends to sign with Rockets

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Carmelo Anthony ultimately plans to sign with Houston once he is traded, released and clears waivers, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Anthony's current team, Oklahoma City, and the Atlanta Hawks have agreed on a trade that will send Anthony to Atlanta. A third team -- Philadelphia -- also is part of the deal, which is expected to be made once the 76ers make another move. Cleveland's Kyle Korver is among the players the 76ers are said to be targeting in a trade before completing the transaction with Oklahoma City and Houston.

All of this is not expected to be done until next week at the earliest, Stein said.

It is anticipated the Thunder will send Anthony and a lottery-protected 2022 first-round draft choice to the Hawks for guard Dennis Schroder. Then, according to Stein, the 76ers likely will receive Atlanta forward Mike Muscala and trade two players -- Justin Anderson to Atlanta and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot to Oklahoma City.

The Rockets’ star guard James Harden told The Houston Chronicle that Anthony would be “a great acquisition”. /VCG Photo

The New York Times first reported on July 10 that the Rockets had emerged as the front-runner to sign Anthony once he becomes a free agent.

Anthony will earn the 27.9 million US dollars due to him next season under his existing contract, and then he can sign what is expected to be a one-year contract for the veteran's minimum of 2.4 million US dollars.

The Rockets and Anthony met earlier this month in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League.

(With input from agencies)