Report: Carmelo won't opt out of final year of contract

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony won't opt out of the final year of his contract next season, according to The New York Times' Marc Stein.

Anthony was traded by the New York Knicks to the Thunder last summer after spending the previous six-and-a-half seasons in the Big Apple. The 10-time All-Star signed a five-year, $124-million deal with the Knicks in 2014, and $27.9 million of that is remaining.

The decision by the 34-year-old shouldn't be surprising, as the market is expected to be dry and Anthony is coming off arguably the worst campaign of his 15-year career. If Oklahoma decides not to trade Anthony, there's a chance the team will re-sign forward Paul George and bring back most of the core that was around superstar Russell Westbrook during the 2017-18 season.

Widely considered one of the best scorers in NBA history, Anthony never averaged less than 20.8 points in a season until his lone year in Oklahoma, when he averaged 16.2 points and 5.8 boards in 78 contests.

The Syracuse product failed to help the Thunder advance past the first round of the playoffs, averaging 11.8 points on 37.5 percent shooting in six postseason appearances.