Cutting A Bit Of Slack For Old Mate Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony in 2018 and Carmelo Anthony’s perception of Carmelo Anthony in 2018 are very different things. He could have done some useful stuff coming off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder but, nah, he ain’t sacrificing no bench role. But now he’s on the verge of signing with the Houston Rockets and, what, he’s expecting to play all the clutch minutes there as well?
The Thunder mix was worth the risk but it didn’t work out the way it was planned. Melo’s defensive liabilities were exposed without Andre Roberson on the floor and his scoring, so mechanical at his peak, just couldn’t hold up as a spot-shooter and alternative option guy. The man still had 28 million reasons to accept his player option but the Thunder had just as many plus the luxury tax for trading him away. Paul George was the bloke they prioritised. Melo they’d have been happy to keep around but maybe not at that price.
So they somehow managed to flip him to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade that saw ATL take on Melo’s substantial but single-year salary, a heavily protected first rounder and Justin Anderson in exchange for getting out from under Dennis Schröder’s three remaining seasons. Also clearing that starting PG role for rookie Trae Young. Schröder’s a very good player but he isn’t on that level that you need your point guard to be at in today’s NBA. Dude’s a playmaker but a dodgy shooter from range who can’t defend. In OKC he’ll get to learn from the best possible incarnation of that archetype in Russell Westbrook but he’ll have to do it from the bench, which suits the Thunder great, bringing in a ball-handler for the second unit. As for Dennis, he’ll just have to live with it. This is the player he is. Can’t complain.
But we’re not here to talk about Dennis Schröder, we’re here to talk about Carmelo Anthony, who was waived by the Hawks and then released via buyout with Melo leaving only $2.4m on the table – the same veteran’s minimum he’s expected to now sign with Houston for. Not a dollar was lost and he’s now on a major contender. Count that as a win for him, one he wouldn’t have gotten without being so stubborn about it.
This feels like a risky move from the Rockets, who don’t forget have lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, two of their best defenders, and now replaced them with Melo. They don’t even need the offence, he’s just boys with Chris Paul is all. They’ve still got Ryan Anderson on the bench. Chuck in the Michael Carter-Williams gamble and this team looks kinda weird. The best news so far is that they’ve been able to re-sign Clint Capela to a five year and $90m extension (much less than what Steven Adams got, btw) so that’s one big boost while James Harden, Chris Paul, Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker are all coming back. But you have to have some serious misgivings about whether they’ve gotten worse without Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute. If they can finally get rid of Anderson and sign another wing defender then that helps but we’ll see if that happens or not.
And what of Carmelo Anthony’s fit here? A man whose affinity for post-up long twos is the exact opposite of the layups and threes only approach that the Rockets have pioneered these last few years. To be fair, Chris Paul loves a long two… but then he’s also a brilliant passer and can knockdown his triples. Anthony damn sure isn’t going to guard Kevin Durant in the playoffs. Coach Mike D’Antoni and Melo go way back to the New York Knicks days… although that wasn’t always the rosiest relationship at NYK and Melo ain’t winning that arm wrestle this time.
Lots of reason to panic. Melo’s not the most popular dude in NBA culture these days and he’s taking his critics wherever he goes now. Critics who’ll argue that his style of play doesn’t work in the modern league. Critics who’ll argue that he refuses to put his team ahead of himself. Critics who’ll argue that he’s all washed up.
But here’s where I step in and make the case for Carmelo Anthony as a Houston Rocket.
Melo’s problem with the Thunder was a fit one, not an ability one. In the playoffs he shot 37.5% from the field, making 6/28 from deep and was absolutely atrocious but that’s because he’s not a catch and shoot player. He’s a rhythm shooter, who needs to feel the ball in his hands, but the irony of all this is that he really did buy into the system. He made sacrifices, not just on the court but off the court moving away from his family for a better opportunity to win. What Billy Donovan asked him to do, he did. That’s kinda why he sucked so much – for doing the selfless thing they called him washed up.
The guy was pretty unhappy about it but he did what he was asked to do and it simply didn’t work. Coming off the bench was too much for him to accept when he was already sacrificing heaps for zero gain. But that’s been overblown too. The fact was that it was a bad fit for both sides so why should he be the one making all the concessions? What really needed to happen was that Melo and the Thunder needed to file for divorce… which is what they did. No hard feelings, it wasn’t working is all.
Yet did you ever hear any complaints from the Thunder crew? Russ never got frisky with him, he respected what the 10-time all-star was trying to do. Billy Donovan went out of his way to praise him. Part of that is man management but he also appreciated that Melo was trying. The guy was obviously a good teammate or we’d have heard all about it by now. Another reason to cut the dude some slack.
As for the fit on the Rockets, there’s still a concern there, sure. Houston aren’t going to be any more generous with his role than the Thunder were so catching and shooting remains a priority. But he’s had a year of preparing for that and with the Rockets he’s going to have more space to work in. CP3 and Harden are going to get him the ball in good positions. Guys like Harden, Paul, Gordon and friends are going to allow him to get open and stay open in a way that was never possible within the Russ-powered shooterless basketball of Oklahoma City. Because nobody ever doubted that Melo could shoot. Take away the late-clock middlers and see if things aren’t better.
Part of Melo’s negative aura is that he used to be great and now is not great. He can still be good though. Good is all the Rockets need from him (as long as a few others step up defensively). This is a future Hall of Famer that we’re talking about and he’s got something to prove now. The man ain’t washed. Not quite yet.
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