Carmelo Anthony is still a member of the Houston Rockets, but it’s nothing more than a technicality. While the Rockets still pay Anthony money as a member of the roster, Anthony will never take the floor for Houston again, as the two sides came to an agreement earlier this season based on the fact that things just were not working.
As for what’s next, that’s still a bit up in the air. Outside of the offer Anthony has to suit up for Puerto Rico’s national basketball team, there doesn’t appear to be much interest in the veteran bucket getter. However, there is one person who is interested in joining forces with Anthony, and it’s a member of the Banana Boat crew.
That someone would be LeBron James, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports the best player in the world is interested in Anthony coming to the Los Angeles Lakers. Part of this is, obviously, because James thinks Anthony could help Los Angeles, both because the team has had a number of injuries this season and because the Lakers are so young.
The other part of it has to do with the fact that James isn’t exactly happy with his friend’s current situation, according to Vardon.
And, broadly speaking, James does not want to see Anthony’s career end either with the Houston divorce or the 10-time All-Star playing out the string in this season in a market where he doesn’t want to be.
An important detail Vardon added is that James hasn’t requested a trade for Anthony — which cannot happen until Dec. 15 at the earliest — to the Lakers brass, nor is there a plan for him to do that.
Would it be a good idea? No one knows. Anthony’s last two stints haven’t exactly been encouraging, as it seems like Father Time has caught up with him and he’s just not able to consistently be the player he’s been in the past. Perhaps being teammates alongside James can give him a bit of a shot in the arm, but there are certainly reasons to be skeptical, even if Anthony joining the Lakers would be a fairly low-risk move.
