Carmelo Anthony is no longer a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Less than a calendar year after he agreed to waive his no-trade clause in a fairly surprising move that sent him to the midwest from New York, Anthony has once again waived his NTC to get out of OKC.
After a brief stop in Atlanta, Anthony will head to Houston once his buyout is completed with the Hawks. On the Rockets he will join another pair of superstars in his good friend Chris Paul and reigning league MVP James Harden. After a rocky season with the Thunder in which he struggled to adjust to a role as a third option alongside Russell Westbrook (then the reigning league MVP) and Paul George, it’s fair to question whether ‘Melo will be able to do so in Houston.
Anthony will, likely, say the right things and it’s possible that playing with Paul, someone he has a long standing personal relationship with, can help with his transition. However, he’s certainly not going to see more of the ball in Houston given Paul and Harden handle the vast majority of the ball-handling and shot-creating responsibilities, with the rest of the team acting as tertiary options and passing targets for their backcourt duo.
Still, Anthony seems to think a big part of the problem in OKC wasn’t a role issue, but an issue of timing that led to him not fitting in as he wanted to. As he told ESPN’s Jemele Hill, his late arrival, the day of media day, caused for a rocky start and difficulty getting integrated into the squad, one Russ and Paul George had spent the summer planning.
“At the end of the day, it wasn’t a good fit,” he said. “I think last year — and I haven’t talked about this before — everything was just so rushed, going to the team for media day and the day before training camp. Them guys already had something in place, and then I come along in the 25th hour like, oh s—, Melo just come on and join us. Like, you can figure it out since you’ve been around the game for a long time. That’s why it was so inconsistent. At times, I had to figure it out on my own rather than somebody over there or people over there helping me.”
Some may take this as a shot at Westbrook and George for not helping him get involved more, but it more seems to indicate there was a disconnect between the plan from the front office and the plan from the locker room. When he was brought in, George and Westbrook already had thought about their roles and how they’d play, and adding a high usage guy like Anthony was always going to be difficult to make work and someone would have to make a greater sacrifice.
In Houston it might be the same, but if Paul is the driving force in signing Anthony and it can get done fairly soon, then Carmelo will at least be a major part of their plan long before they enter camp. He’ll have had conversations with Paul (and likely Harden) about what his role will be and what they see as their potential, which could allow for an easier transition, even if Anthony is accepting a smaller role as he likely should have in OKC.
Coming from New York, where he was the guy and suddenly being the third option in OKC overnight was a big change and probably a bigger one than he anticipated it being for him to adjust to. Hopefully a year later and with more time to plan things out, he can grow more comfortable in the role Houston will have for him. If not, the Rockets may find themselves with similar issues to the Thunder last year as to how to handle Anthony’s minutes and role.
