In one of the most drawn out sagas of this offseason, the future of New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is still up in the air. It's no secret that the veteran small forward is desperate to join the Houston Rockets this summer after agreeing to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade from the Knicks. Melo and the Knicks have a mutual interest in making a deal happen but so far, the two parties have been unable to put a good trade package together.The longer the negotiations between New York and Houston drag on, it'll open up possibilities for Carmelo to assess other options. One team keen to lure the 10-time All-Star is the Portland Trail Blazers. Their star duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have spent the summer trying to recruit Anthony to Portland and it appears their efforts may not be totally in vain. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the duo have done such a good job of recruiting Melo that he now has some interest in joining the Blazers.

The 32-year-old is only clearly willing to waive his no-trade clause for the Rockets but the Trail Blazers have now emerged as dark horses if Daryl Morey and the Houston front office are unable to get a deal done. 

As long as Anthony remains a Knick, McCollum and Lillard will continue to try and convince him to add Portland to his list of possible destinations. 

Speaking to The Oregonian last month about his efforts to recruit Carmelo, McCollum said: "I think he's interested. Obviously, I feel like he wants to play with friends, with Banana Boat friends. I know he wants to play with [Chris Paul] and LeBron [James]. Those are very good teams, very good options. But I feel like we're also a very good option."

The Blazers shooting guard has been very open about his desire to see Melo bring his talents to the Moda Center and even posted a photoshopped image of the three-time Olympic Gold Medalist in a Blazers uniform on his Instagram page. 

But a move to Houston still looks the likeliest scenario for the Knicks star and per Wojnarowski, the two teams have resumed trade talks over the past week in an effort to finally get it over the line. 

An opportunity to play with close friend CP3 and James Harden in Texas and compete for a championship is something Anthony does not want to see slip away at this stage of his career.