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Report: Carmelo Anthony officially plans to sign with Houston Rockets after buyout

Carmelo Anthony will try to do in Houston what he could not for Oklahoma City. (AP)
Carmelo Anthony will try to do in Houston what he could not for Oklahoma City. (AP)

As expected, 12-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony will join good friend Chris Paul on the Houston Rockets upon clearing waivers from the Atlanta Hawks, according to The New York Times’ Marc Stein.

The 34-year-old Anthony will reportedly sign a one-year deal at the $2.4 million veteran minimum.

Anthony may not officially join the Rockets until next week, according to Stein. The three-team trade that will send him to Atlanta is currently being held up by the Philadelphia 76ers, who are attempting to make another roster move before finalizing the deal. The Hawks agreed to trade Dennis Schröder to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Anthony and a lottery-protected 2022 first-round draft pick.

As part of the deal, Mike Muscala will go to Philadelphia from Atlanta, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot will head from the Sixers to the Thunder, and Justin Anderson will land on the Hawks from the 76ers.

More importantly for Anthony, he will receive the entirety of his $27.9 million salary for 2018-19 in a buyout by the Hawks upon completion of the deal, freeing him up to sign wherever he pleases. That, according to rumors over the past several weeks and made all but official by Stein, is in Houston.

Anthony must also clear waivers before joining the Rockets, a process that will further delay his signing by at least 48 hours. No team will assume his current salary even if one could create the cap space to do so. Anthony is nowhere near the top-five MVP candidate he was a handful of years ago.

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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!