Report: Chris Paul advocating for Rockets to land Melo

Chris Paul reportedly wants to see close friend Carmelo Anthony donning Houston Rockets red alongside him next season.

The nine-time All-Star point guard is advocating for Houston to land Anthony via a trade, or once he's bought out of his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a source close to Paul told Yahoo Sports' Jordan Schultz.

Anthony picked up his $27.9-million option with the Thunder, but the organization could save approximately $100 million in luxury tax if it was to part ways with him. How that occurs remains to be seen, but management and Anthony's representation are working together to come to a solution.

Prior to being traded to Oklahoma City last summer, Anthony was reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause with the New York Knicks as long as he was sent to either the Cleveland Cavaliers to pair with LeBron James or the Rockets.

He ultimately agreed to do so for the Thunder last September, with New York receiving Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second-round pick.

Houston has a slot open in its lineup at the three spot following the departure of wing Trevor Ariza to the Phoenix Suns. Now Anthony isn't the defender Ariza was, and his bread-and-butter offense took a massive hit as a third option behind Russell Westbrook and Paul George in 2017-18.

The now 34-year-old contributed a career-low player efficiency rating (12.7), true shooting percentage (50.3), value over replacement player (minus-1.1), and points per game (16.2) with Oklahoma City.