Carmelo Anthony is expected to land somewhere with the Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers saw it as a possible destination. With nothing finalized, some teams could enter the fray, regardless of how crazy and irrelevant it may seem.
The latest speculation is the Oklahoma City Thunder which already has Russell Westbrook and eventually Paul George. A familiar source (Bill Simmons) made the suggestion, allegedly because Melo and OKC have mutual interest.
Why it doesn’t make sense
Interest is good, but practicality rules over everything else. George is expected to fill in the small forward position, making an Anthony arrival irrelevant.
With the Indiana Pacers, PG13 was forced to play some power forward mainly because of the small-ball and fast-paced style of play that Larry Bird had wanted.
That obviously didn’t work out and may have potentially added to George deciding to check out other teams. Anthony plays the similar position, and the only way he could fit in is if he (or George) agree to play out other positions. Coming off the bench is possible, but both apparently want to be starters than relievers.
The move will be hard to consummate
Assuming that Anthony does show interest in joining the Thunder, there is another angle to consider. That would be the assets OKC would offer, something they apparently don’t have right now.
There are several players they could offer. That includes names like Jerami Grant, Doug McDermott, Alex Abrines or even Andre Roberson.
Enes Kanter or Steven Adams could be possible though giving up much personnel for one star who is in search of his old self may be too much for OKC to give up. Melo has the firepower and talent to beef up the offense, but somehow head coach Billy Donovan is unlikely to bite this one.
Aside from that, there is only one basketball to toss around. Most know how Westbrook controls the ball most of the time and such could be an issue to Anthony. Both want the ball in their hands most of the time hence igniting a possible conflict should they end up being teammates.
Right now, Anthony’s destination is more than likely limited to two teams – Cavs or Rockets.
Those teams need to be added scoring sock though the part of sharing the spheroid still brings up questions on chemistry.
Nevertheless, that would be up to the coach who inherits Melo (Cavs coach Tyronn Lue or Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni). The Rockets do have James Harden while the Cavs have Lebron James handling the ball for the majority of games. While ball sharing is something, defining what role Anthony will end up with would be best discussed before the all-star forward is asked to sign on the dotted line.
