OKC Thunder’s Perfect Carmelo Anthony play book model is 2008 Paul Pierce
By Gideon Lim
The top criticism of the OKC Thunder trade for Carmelo Anthony centers on shot distribution and chemistry. History offers Billy Donovan a perfect success model to emulate – 2008 Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce. In this special Film Festival edition, we compare Melo and the Truth’s game footage.
“At the end of the day, there is only one ball.”
Within media circles, that statement is now the vogue analysis on Carmelo Anthony’s trade to the OKC Thunder. In exchange, the Thunder sent back Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and the 2018 Bulls second-round pick.
When news first broke Melo was headed to the Thunder, Twitter exploded. No one foresaw Carmelo Anthony being willing to move out of the big city lights. Even the uber-cool Steven Adams dismissed trade rumors as akin to wishing “Michael Jordan could come play with us”.
Since then, as the trade dusts settles, some analysts point at Russell Westbrook, Paul George and now Anthony’s isolation rate as evidence the NBA’s new Big 3 will struggle to gel. Other more hopeful news sites like Norman Transcript choose to put their hope in Anthony resuming spot-up duties a la “Olympic Melo”.
Dipping into memory lane
Sam Presti is never one to pull the trigger without a game plan. At the very least, after waiving his no-trade clause for the Thunder, Carmelo Anthony should be ready to make sacrifices on the court.
More importantly, there is a tested blueprint for success out there. And this blueprint does not hinge on the idealistic notion that Carmelo Anthony will completely evolve into “Olympic Melo”.
Ten years ago, the NBA saw its first inorganic coalition of superstars – the Boston Celtics’ Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and homeboy Paul Pierce. Under the guidance of Doc Rivers, the Celtics found a way to rack up wins while keeping their alpha-male small forward happy.
Sound enticing?
Billy Donovan has probably spent the last 48 hours devising a system where Carmelo Anthony can pummel opponents for points without killing ball movement. Based on what Paul Pierce did with the Celtics and his point guard Rajon Rondo, here are some reasonable suggestions: