Carmelo Anthony trade to the Rockets "on hold," Woj reports

Rockets fans, we just got Knicks'd.

The New York Knickerbocker basketball club has been among the league leaders in team dysfunction going on close to two decades now. After months of openly discussing their desire to trade future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have changed their mind, according to ESPN.

The Rockets were "on the two-yard line" of a deal less than 24 hours ago, and now this. The buzz around the league has been pretty unanimous that a deal was close. Nene even Instagrammed a photoshop of Melo in a Rockets jersey in a hilarious, probably accidental callback.

So here we are again, where we thought we'd be two weeks ago when we thought what the Knicks front office probably found out for themselves. The Rockets would want Melo, but not if it meant giving up Clint Capela or Eric Gordon. Either one probably takes a deal across the finish line, but neither one would have been worth it.

Where is that? A team that has seriously improved on both ends from last year, one with two Hall of Famers in their prime, a recently signed defensive stopper in P.J. Tucker, a rapidly improving young center in Clint Capela, the reigning sixth man and coach of the year and a stretch four that bends NBA defenses until they break.

Do they have enough firepower to beat the Warriors? Probably not. There's no team in the NBA right now that can say to themselves they are every bit as good as Golden State. But Daryl Morey already has done enough to position the Rockets this year for a deep run, and a shot at something special, 'Melo or not.