Carmelo Anthony Will Come Off The Bench In The Rockets’ Opener Against New Orleans

When the Houston Rockets signed Carmelo Anthony this summer after his brief but memorable tenure as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, the biggest question was what role he would fill for a team that got the closest to taking out the Warriors of anyone last year.

The Rockets made plenty of changes, including losing Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency, so there was a need on the wing, but Anthony’s year in Oklahoma City indicated that a starting role might not be the best for him at this stage of his career. He was unwilling to yield his starting job with the Thunder, but he’s cooled his stance on that since joining his buddy Chris Paul and the Rockets.

On Wednesday afternoon, just ahead of the opener in Houston against the New Orleans Pelicans, Mike D’Antoni announced the starters, confirming Anthony’s new role as sixth man.
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/1052684875675897858

This isn’t a huge surprise, given Anthony was listed as the sixth man in the Houston game notes — and put on the same page with the starters in a fairly unique grouping for a media guide — but it does offer official confirmation from the coach.

The refrain from many players over the years has been it doesn’t matter as much who starts the game as who finishes it, so it will be interesting to see how the Rockets move through their rotation as the game goes on, especially if they find themselves in a tight game with the Pelicans. It might depend on what lineup the Pelicans roll out there as to whether D’Antoni feels comfortable putting Anthony in the game. Both teams can go pretty big, with the Rockets possibly rolling with a closing frontcourt of Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker, and Anthony, while the Pelicans can match that with Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, and Nikola Mirotic.

Tonight we’ll find out what role the Rockets see for Anthony with their fourth quarter rotation and how D’Antoni wants to use him with the bench lineup.