Uh Oh, Is That Carmelo Anthony Music?!?
(The Athletic) – Carmelo Anthony’s NBA career might not be over after all.According to two sources with knowledge of Anthony’s situation, the exiled 10-time All-Star who remains on the Houston Rockets roster has multiple options available and is expected to pick one before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. There is no clarity as to whether he would be traded in these scenarios or waived and subsequently signed, but there are strong signs that he will play in the NBA again. Anthony signed with the Rockets on a $2.4 million, one-year minimum deal in mid-August.
Oh shit you guys remember Carmelo Anthony? You know the HOF talent that had a disappointing run in OKC only to find his way to play with his buddy Chris Paul and made it seem like he would be cool with coming off the bench only once the game started and it was clear he was every bit as washed up as the critics said and 10 games into the season made it clear that coming off the bench wasn’t going to work? Since then he sort of disappeared, nobody has heard from him since, there were rumblings months ago about LeBron coming to his rescue but that hasn’t happened yet, but this report from Sam Amick and Joe Vardon talks about how our national nightmare of Melo being unemployed might be coming to an end.
It’s was pretty clear watching him play that Melo is certainly at the end of his career, and back when this all first went down we had people like TMac basically telling the man that he was ruining his legacy by hanging on and he should just retire
Just how bad are things with Melo though? Well consider this, the team he still currently “plays” for in the Rockets are littered with injuries. They just lost the ability to play promising young wing Danuel House because they couldn’t come to an agreement on a new deal, kept him on his Two Way contract, and now he has to go back to the G-League. This is a team that had to play someone named James Nunnally 25 minutes off their bench in their last game against BKN because they literally do not have enough bodies. Gerald Green played 41 minutes! Granted that game went into OT but you get the point. Even in a situation where they desperately need a SF, currently have one under contract in Melo, Daryl Morey has basically said thanks but no thanks. This report talks about how it’s still unclear if they can trade him or if they will just release him, and honestly if Morey is able to get ANYTHING in return, even if it’s a protected 2nd round pick that’s obviously a win.
So with the line of thinking that we are only weeks away from seeing Melo back in the league, where do we think he ends up? Teams have now played half a season and some needs are more clear, and if we see a Woj bomb with any of these teams I will not be surprised one bit
Lakers
They need shooting, LeBron already talked about how he would love to play with Melo, and while they would obviously have to shuffle some things around in terms of their roster in order to fit Melo, I think once we see that LeBron isn’t able to trade for AD this deadline, he throws his pal a bone.
Sixers
Much like the Lakers, PHI needs shooting, and while everything suggests Melo can no longer shoot, we know the Sixers are going to be active in the buyout market to fill this void. They did it last season and I predict they are going to do it again. Obviously there is no place for Melo in this starting lineup so sadly he will have to come off the bench, but at least the Sixers would give him a team that has the potential to actually go on a decent playoff run.
Heat
I remember hearing or reading back earlier this summer before Melo ended up in HOU that there was interest in MIA but he ultimately wouldn’t call Pat Riley back. There’s also that whole thing about how if you play for MIA you actually have to try and accept their brutal workout requirements. Melo hates working hard so that could be a little bit of an issue, but remember, he’s buddies with Wade. Can’t rule that out.
Mavericks
OK, I’m only including this because it happened in my 2K franchise mode, and I’ve seen enough shit go down over the years to know that very rarely does 2K lie. They do have that roster spot with JJ Barea being injured, Carslisle loves vets, and again, 2K never lies.
Pelicans
We hear all the time about how NO needs to bring in help for AD. That in order to convince him to stay they need to bring in another star. Well, at one time Melo was a star player, he’s still pretty famous so technically he is a “star”. It’s not like the Pelicans play any defense anyways so that’s not a problem if you give Melo minutes, I think we may have a sneaky dark horse here.
Bulls
Why? Well there was that one time they actually were interested in Melo, but I’m including them for a different reason. They are in a big time tank race with the NYK/PHX/CLE of the world, what better way to ensure you get the highest pick possible than bringing in Melo in and telling him he can do whatever he wants? Shit even start him if you have to! We’re getting to crunch time in the race for Zion, and Melo could be one of these tanking teams secret weapon.
Either way, if you thought Melo was just going to disappear into retirement never to be seen or heard from again on the basketball court, it certainly doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I can’t wait until he lands somewhere so we can hear that fanbase talk about how their system is different. and THIS is the time Melo finally accepts his washed up-ness and all they need him to do is stand in the corner and make threes. OKC fans did it, HOU fans did it, and whoever the next team is their fans will do it too. Sad ending for a guy that was always one of the best pure scorers the league has ever seen
