After signing a 1-year, $2.4 million deal with the Rockets, a new beginning is now underway for Carmelo Anthony. Trying to put his struggle-some season in OKC behind him, he joins up with his Banana Boat pal Chris Paul. But, this will not be a good fit. Read below for a few opinions as to why Carmelo won’t fit well here.
For starters, Carmelo is a player that needs a lot of touches to be successful. He needs to get a ton of shot opportunities and to be able to dribble out the clock before shooting at times. With BOTH Chris Paul and James Harden already here, those touches are going to be hard to come by. It was clear last year that Russ and Paul George were ahead of Melo in the order of stars, and so he did not get nearly the number of shots we are used to seeing him get. It seems now that things will be exactly the same.
Next, his defense is not going to blend well with Houston. This was a team last year that played with tremendous defensive intensity, especially in their series against the Warriors. Carmelo will be tasked with replacing both Luc Mbah a Moute, as well as Trevor Ariza. Those two players are renowned for their defensive ability, as well as being able to move the ball right along. Expecting Carmelo Anthony to do anything of what either of those guys can do is silly. He will likely be playing up front with PJ Tucker, and unless he can live off the catch and shoot only, this isn’t going to be good.
Even now in 2018, Anthony is not keeping up with the times. In a league where the mid-range jump shot is becoming extinct, he’s still shooting them frequently. Now, he’s playing for a coach that cannot stand the mid-range game. It’s all about shots in the paint and outside the arc, and that’s all. Watching him chuck up shots from 15-20 feet just does not work in Houston. Also, there may be players better suited to start than him on this team, but he continues to insist that he refuses to come off the bench. This has now been an issue for two years in a row. If you have to come off the bench, you have to come off the bench. C’mon, man.
Though his role and exact place on this team is unclear, here are some potential stat predictions for Carmelo Anthony for next year:
27 mpg
16.5 ppg
5.0 rpg
1.1 apg
42% FG
35% 3PT
79% FT
With all the talk of his poor fit here, Carmelo will still be getting his points. But there is no doubt it could well mess up the flow of the offense. His pound-the-floor style of dribbling in iso before a shot is not welcome here. Especially when they get into games against teams like Golden State, he has to be ready to just catch and finish.
Good luck in Houston anyway, Melo.
