Players have been doing this for years. It is nothing new. Wade is a bit different since he has 3 titles already, but for someone like Anthony a title will do a lot on how he is ultimately viewed, especially if he makes some big plays in the Finals and gets the Cavs past the Warriors.
The modern player just can't win, as we judge them by titles, but then get upset at them when they try to put themselves in a better position to win a title. It is quite simply a catch-22.
Surely you would admit this is a bit different than the kinds of players that have traditionally been bought out though right? Our buyouts over the year were Finley at 36, Cassel at 35, Troy Murphy, Shavlik Randolph, Ryan Hollins, Terrence Williams, Sasha Pavlovic, an old Stephon Marbury for his last 30 games in the league. Carmelo just turned 33 and averaged 22 points and 6 rebounds last year. He is a cut above the kinds of guys we have traditionally seen bought out and signed for the minimum right? Wade certainly fits the age profile more at 35 and with just one or two years left. However, even he was averaging 18 points last year and was just below all-star level.
Marbury was probably the highest stats guy of any of the buyout players we got in the last 20 years and he was averaging 13 points on 41% shooting for a lousy knicks team. All the other guys weren't even in the same discussion (and to that point Marbury couldn't get more than a minimum offer after the season whereas at least half the league would pay these guys the mid-level or more.
Edit: Found a pretty recent article on this and how little impact the kinds of guys that were traditional bought out had the last 10 years.
2009
Celtics sign Stephon Marbury
Cavaliers sign Joe Smith
Nuggets sign Jason Hart
Heat sign Luther Head
Suns sign Stromile Swift
Spurs sign Drew Gooden
2010
Blazers sign Travis Diener
Celtics sign Michael Finley
Bucks sign Jerry Stackhouse
Bobcats sign Larry Hughes
2011
Grizzlies sign Jason Williams
Knicks sign Jared Jeffries
Knicks sign Derrick Brown
Celtics sign Troy Murphy
Heat sign Mike Bibby
Bulls sign Rasual Butler
Celtics sign Sasha Pavlovic
Mavericks sign Corey Brewer
Warriors sign Al Thornton
Celtics sign Carlos Arroyo
Grizzlies sign Leon Powe
2012
Magic sign Ish Smith
Clippers sign Kenyon Martin (China)
Jazz sign DeMarre Carroll
Knicks sign J.R. Smith (China)
Spurs sign Patty Mills (China)
Nuggets sign Wilson Chandler (China)
Hornets sign Chris Johnson
Grizzlies sign Gilbert Arenas
Heat sign Ronny Turiaf
Thunder sign Derek Fisher
Celtics sign Ryan Hollins
Spurs sign Boris Diaw
2013
Heat sign Chris Andersen
Knicks sign Kenyon Martin
Thunder sign Derek Fisher
Celtics sign Terrence Williams
Hornets sign Lou Amundson
Celtics sign Shavlik Randolph (China/Puerto Rico)
Celtics sign D.J. White (China)
2014
Pacers sign Andrew Bynum
Pelicans sign Luke Babbitt (Russia)
Nets sign Jason Collins
Clippers sign Glen Davis
Grizzlies sign Beno Udrih
Wizards sign Drew Gooden
Clippers sign Danny Granger
Thunder sign Caron Butler
Bulls sign Jimmer Fredette
Knicks sign Shannon Brown
2015
Mavericks sign Amar’e Stoudemire
Cavaliers sign Kendrick Perkins
Heat sign Michael Beasley (China)
Timberwolves sign Justin Hamilton
76ers sign Glenn Robinson III
Pelicans sign Toney Douglas (China)
Nuggets sign Ian Clark
2016
Mavericks sign David Lee
Bucks sign Steve Novak
Nuggets sign JaKarr Sampson
Warriors sign Anderson Varejao
Wizards sign J.J. Hickson
Heat sign Joe Johnson
Hawks sign Kris Humphries
Raptors sign Jason Thompson
Grizzlies sign Ryan Hollins
Rockets sign Michael Beasley (China)
Thunder sign Nazr Mohammed
Pacers sign Ty Lawson
Spurs sign Andre Miller
Spurs sign Kevin Martin
Suns sign Chase Budinger
Wizards sign Marcus Thornton
Rockets sign Andrew Goudelock (China)
Clippers sign Jeff Ayres
I mean these guys are all at a MUCH different level than Anthony and Wade right now with perhaps 1 exception I am missing.