The final major piece of the offseason puzzle appears to have been put into place in Houston, as Carmelo Anthony will (eventually) make his signing there official.
For weeks we’ve known of Anthony’s intent to join his good friend Chris Paul in Houston, and once Anthony secured a trade to the Hawks and a subsequent buyout for almost all of his $28 million deal for this year, the path was open. However, Anthony is enjoying his offseason and has been out of the country so nothing has been put into writing just yet on the expected one-year minimum deal.
On Tuesday, Yahoo’s Shams Charania reported the two sides had a verbal agreement on a deal, which elicited a response from many of, “they didn’t have that already?”
Carmelo Anthony has verbally agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 7, 2018
Anthony still isn’t officially signed, but apparently all of the details are in place, he just has to return from Africa and put pen to paper.
Anthony cleared free agency waivers last week and has informed Houston of decision to sign upon return from Africa, league sources said. Anthony also unveiled refurbished basketball court in South Africa last week. https://t.co/iezYkuwCJ5
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 7, 2018
There are questions abound regarding how well Anthony will fit in Houston given his issues slotting in as a third option alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George in Oklahoma City. That said, playing with Paul will hopefully lead to Anthony embracing a lesser role this time around and we can finally see the famed “Olympic Melo” in the NBA after years of being teased that version of Anthony is on his way.
