To be a superstar or not be a superstar, that is the question. And that is certainly the question that arises when talking about our Carmelo Anthony. Amidst all the trades and the free agent signings, people seemed to just forget that Anthony existed as an asset that could be traded. Whenever his name was brought up, the only responses were “Oh, but he’s garbage,” or “Porzingis is a god,” or, finally, “Hoodie Melo is better.” There weren’t many people who took him seriously and it is quite sad. Carmelo Anthony won’t take you to the coveted land of “The Finals,” but he’s good enough to be the supplementary star for one.
But why have we gotten to a point when we look over Mr. Anthony, a man that has a resume to rival those in the upper echelon of the Hall of Fame? The answer is quite obvious. The emphasis on winning has gotten to the point when we no longer seem to care about loyalty. This ideal went into full bloom when Kevin Durant decided to flip off his old team and join a team that went 73-9 in the regular season the season prior. With this move, the floodgates were officially open and the only thing that mattered anymore was the championship. The mentality seen here really put Carmelo Anthony down, as he’s been the face of a sinking ship for essentially five years. Losers are no longer viewed with any pity, even with solo numbers.
What the world needs to understand is that Carmelo Anthony was actually in New York for the very reason we claim he lacked the will to win. Remember, he didn’t simply ask to be traded to New York because he wanted to lose; it was simply to get out of a dying Nuggets franchise and go to a Knicks franchise that had two bonafide stars in Amare and Billups. I believe, as a handful of others do, he still has that will.
With all this being said, what is next for Carmelo Anthony? He has a no-trade clause which he’ll only revoke if he’s sent to a competitor, and it is quite a quagmire because many of the other teams seem to view him in a similar regard to how modern day fans view him. For us to decide his next step in his basketball career, we need to discuss the teams that have the assets to trade for him and would trade for him. The list is quite small, and honestly, there are only two teams I can see him going to.
The Houston Rockets provide a perfect opportunity for Anthony to revamp his career in a winning environment. They have the greatest chance of pulling off the “Banana Boat Squad” (Lebron, Wade, Paul, and Anthony) so if Carmelo still wants to play with his closest friends, this is his best shot. Emotions aside, the schematics of this team fits Carmelo perfectly. With D’Antoni as his coach, there is no reason he wouldn’t thrive.
The creator of the seven seconds or less offense, D’Antoni provides the pace Carmelo played with during his days as an Olympic athlete, which was arguably the home to his best showings. He wouldn’t be barked at for the lack of defense and would simply need to be a high volume sniper. The only reason this may not work is the fact that the Rockets have a pretty glaring dearth of assets. When your second string point guard has a generic 2K player name (Bobby Brown), you probably don’t have much to offer the Knicks to trade for Carmelo Anthony, which leads us to the other option, the San Antonio Spurs.
Before I get smited, please let me explain. It is true that Carmelo doesn’t play high level defense along with much effort on that end, which are traits that are needed to play on the Spurs. However, if Gregg Popovich can make Aldridge play defense, he can do the same with Carmelo. The San Antonio Spurs do not have any players that can take over on the offensive side of the ball, so the addition of Carmelo will be well received. They also have the assets to at least pique the interest of the Knicks. With young players such as Dejounte Murray and Kyle Anderson, the Knicks may actually bite and finally get rid of Carmelo Anthony.
As saddening as Carmelo Anthony’s public view is, it isn’t the end for his career. He has enough time to make one last push to being a major contributor to a championship contending team. Will he finally get that near unreachable ring? Or will he succumb to the moniker of “just another good scorer?” We will see, and we will certainly see soon.