Carmelo Anthony is still searching for a team and one Western Conference executive tells David Aldridge of The Athletic that the Heat may be the best team for the small forward while cautioning that Melo’s game may need to adjust.
“Miami, if he is willing to work with [Pat Riley] hard on conditioning. He can replace D-Wade’s scoring,” the exec said. “Or, Portland. They play a lot of isolation basketball and they need another scorer. Carmelo is a dinosaur in today’s NBA. Everyone wants ball movement and three-point shooting; not ‘Melo’s forte.”
Aldridges spoke to numerous executives, scouts and coaches and there weren’t many optimistic responses. One Eastern Conference executive did say that if Anthony can accept a role off the bench and be a positive influence in the locker room, the 10-time All-Star could land a $5-7MM deal.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Anthony isn’t the only veteran left on the market, as Zach Harper of The Athletic details in his look at which players are available. J.R. Smith, Ryan Anderson, and Kenneth Faried are among the notable players who remain free agents.
- The Lakers made a mistake by signing Howard over Joakim Noah, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com contends on The Jump. Friedell believes adding Noah would have carried less risk, as the former Bulls center has shown he can accept a backup role.
- The league is exploring a pathway that would allow would-be owners to buy a minority, passive stake in NBA franchises, as Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg relays. The structure and terms have not yet been finalized and the idea will be discussed at an owners’ meeting later this month.
The only way Melo, J.R. Smith, or Ryan Anderson get signed is if someone gets injured. Just like what happened with Boogie and Dwight.
The Lakers weren’t looking for a backup center. That’s just the media’s narrative… I don’t think for a minute they see McGee is as the starter. Howard will see the bulk of the minutes. 25-30 per night.
Melo, Jimmy Buckets, and Dion Waiters. That’s an interesting dynamic
Ya, I think Butler might murder Melo in the first week of training camp.
I don’t understand the whole “Melo deserves another shot” narrative. He has probably been the most overrated player of the past 20 years. Plus, he has been absolute garbage the past two years and is 35 years old. Why would someone waste a roster spot on him?
I don’t see any reason why any team would sign melo for anything more than the minimum. At this point what kind of draw would this bring for new ticket sales?
What am I missing?
Two things:
1. I feel like EC Exec is trolling the Melo camp by saying what he said.
2. When you look at the players who had similar careers to Melo on basketball reference only one of the ten displayed, Alex English, is in the HOF. I agree on the overrated assessment despite his all star appearances.
Additionally, there current players sympathetic to Anthony and may force managements hand into signing him. Eventually there will be a backlash against too much player empowerment when it becomes welfare for useless players who are friends of big stars.
Carmello is still in the candy bar section of SHEETZ
Mr. Goodbar
Butterfinger Carmello Pay Day
Big Kat
Yeah but Carmello won’t get another Pay Day as he’s all but got Butterfinger’s. If he would have just been more professional and acted like a Mr. Goodbar he might still be a Big Kat rather than being unemployed.
None of these other veterans are half as good as Melo tho.
Eh. Faried is still an excellent rebounder, he draws fouls at a decent rate, he’s not bad on defense, he’s a mediocre shooter outside the paint, and he brings energy off the bench. If he didn’t screw up spacing so much (he’s not a credible threat from 3), or if he was 4″ taller, he’d be signed.
Anderson’s defense is as poor as it’s always been, but his shooting has fallen off a cliff. He’s not consistent enough to give minutes to at this point and should probably retire.
Smith is a cancer, but he can shoot and he’s still pretty athletic. He can give you a few minutes a night, it’s just all the other nonsense.
Melo is an inefficient scorer and a weak defender. He’s great on the offensive boards, but he’s also turnover prone. He brings a lot of baggage from a media/distraction standpoint, only I think he’s a good teammate.
I agree that Anderson probably doesn’t belong on the list, but Smith, Faried, and Melo all grade out the same in my book: OK players with serious flaws that chase a lot of teams away.
Even at this point in his career, Melo can certainly score 4-6 pts in 5-8 minutes on the floor. That’s just 2 FG’s and 1-2 FT’s. That isn’t hard or inconceivable for Melo to do even at this stage of his career.