The Portland Trail Blazers are trying to sell Carmelo Anthony on their team. In a report from ESPN, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have reached out to Anthony about joining the Trail Blazers. McCollum went as far to tweeting a picture of Anthony in a Trail Blazers jersey. Currently, Anthony has said that he will waive his no trade-clause for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets but has not mentioned Portland.
Portland was believed to be a team that would help facilitate a trade with Houston and New York if Anthony expanded his teams he would waive his no trade-clause for, but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that this is not an option for Anthony.
Even if Anthony did want to go to Portland, this would be a huge mistake for the 34-year-old.
Defensive disaster
In terms of defensive efficiency last season, the Trail Blazers ranked 24th in the league. Can you imagine how much worse the team would be defensive if Anthony came to play? Anthony is not known for his defense and would be a liability. Between Lillard, McCollum, and Anthony, the team would have to score 120 points a night just to make up for all the points they gave up.
Houston is the choice
According to friends of Anthony, he is expecting to end up in Houston. Quite frankly, it would be the best option for Anthony in his career. He is better friends with Chris Paul. The 32-year-old guard is a better point guard.
James Harden is an MVP runner up. The Rockets have bench pieces in Nene and Eric Gordon. The Trail Blazers have a really good backcourt with very little to offer on the rest of the team.
A false reality
The idea that McCollum believes the Trail Blazers would be a top three team with Anthony is misleading. The Golden State Warriors would obviously be better.
Paul and Harden have the stats to make one argue that they are a better backcourt than Portland, which gives Houston an edge as well. As long as Kawhi Leonard is running the show in San Antonio, the Spurs will get a nod as well.
Then you have the New Orleans Pelicans with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the Timberwolves with Andrew Wiggins, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Jimmy Butler, and the Thunder with Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
Long story short, why would Anthony go to the western conference to claw his way through the west. If Anthony goes to the west, then it will be to a team that has a legitimate shot to overthrown Golden State. Without a championship in his career at his age, Houston is the ideal landing spot.
