Carmelo Anthony made his preseason debut with the Houston Rockets Tuesday night. Last season the forward found himself in a difficult situation as he became the third scoring option on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Basketball fans and analysts marveled at the idea of a new big three that included Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Needless to say, last season is probably one that the future Hall of Famer would like to forget. At the end of the 2017-18 season, the 34-year-old averaged 16.2 points (a career-low), 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

The Journey to the Houston Rockets

At the beginning and end of Melo’s stint with the Thunder, he was asked about coming off the bench. Both times the Syracuse product indicated that he was not accepting a bench role. During this summer’s free agency the forward was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

The 10-time All-Star would eventually reach a buyout agreement with the Hawks and would later sign with the Houston Rockets. Of course fans, critics and analysts continued to ask if Melo would be willing to come off the bench.

Last night, Anthony started against the Memphis Grizzlies. He scored 13 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Although Melo started in last night’s preseason game, there are three reasons why the 15-year veteran should come off the bench.

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