3. Find Carmelo Anthony’s Fit With the Team
The Rockets have added a plethora of new players to their roster (Michael Carter-Williams, James Ennis, Marquese Chriss, Brandon Knight, DeAnthony Melton), but none of these new acquisitions feel as important as the Carmelo Anthony signing.
Houston is now be tasked with a problem that the Oklahoma City Thunder could not solve. How do you fit Melo alongside two stars?
The biggest knock on Anthony is his porous defense.
During the regular season, Melo occasionally stuck out in the Thunder’s defense. Opponents’ offensive ratings were 1.8 points better with him on the floor. But he made up for this by improving the OKC’s offensive rating by 6.8 points.
However, in the Thunder’s five-game series against the Utah Jazz in the first round, Anthony became an easy target. He logged a -32.8 overall for the series. His defense was such a problem that Jazz coach Quinn Snyder resorted to benching him in the fourth quarter.
This massively negative impact worries me for Melo on the Rockets. Compare his defensive impact in the playoffs with Trevor Ariza’s, who posted a +17.6 on/off-court differential.
Last season, the Houston Rockets made the switch-everything defense popular in the way they gave fits to the Golden State Warriors. They pushed the Dubs more than any team has in two years. The Warriors’ offense became bogged down midway through the series, and people began wondering if Kevin Durant was having a meltdown.
With Melo on the floor, though, I’m not sure how switchable a high-powered Rockets’ lineup is anymore. Especially if teams can run any sort of pick-action and get him onto anyone they want. Durant wouldn’t have a meltdown against Anthony – he’d more likely have a breakthrough.
But this isn’t to say the Anthony signing is all bad. The ten-time All-Star can definitely still score. And if he wants to keep running his patented isolations from the elbow, a sixth-man-type role may perfectly suit him.
Bench-Melo would give the Rockets another offensive star to pair with Eric Gordon and allow Head Coach Mike D’Antoni to stagger Paul and Harden less. And one’s got to imagine Melo could find some of the easiest one-on-ones opportunities he’s had in years. Playing against second-string wingers rather than the barrage of 3-and-D specialists that litter the West will do wonders for his game.
And I still subscribe to the idea that Olympic-Melo can exist in the NBA. Playing more as a shooter on quality spot-up looks from elite passers could allow him to coexist more comfortably in the Rockets’ system than being part of the your-turn-my-turn carousel on offense.
The Rockets will need to get Anthony to buy into a lesser role and make it clear that if his minutes are not guaranteed.
While Carmelo could be a great fit for the second unit in Houston, a larger part of me worries this role may enable him to fall into his worst tendencies.
Next Up: Goal 2
