As Carmelo Anthony officially joins the Rockets the OKC Thunder fans wish him well, but are more than happy to move on from the failed OK3 experience.
This isn’t breaking news as everyone knew Melo wanted to join the Rockets In fact, long before Anthony came to the OKC Thunder his desired landing spot was Houston.
He joins good friend Chris Paul and former Thunder star James Harden. Expect to see ample takes on how Olympic Melo will flourish with the Rockets. Hey, we’ve been there, done that! But, seriously, how Carmelo will fit into the Rockets system will be a talking point until season start. Certainly he offers a big body who can score for Houston. Their slower pace will suit him better and the surprising amount of isolation ball the Rockets play will also benefit what Anthony does best.
Carmelo Anthony has verbally agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 7, 2018
The question is how much the Rockets lose with Anthony on defense. PJ Tucker is expected to be inserted into the starting lineup at the small forward position. Tucker is a bull who plays with intensity and aggression often outplaying taller and more talented opponents through sheer willpower.
Still, the loss of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute is sure to have an effect on the Rockets team defense which made palpable strides last season. With the addition of Anthony it means Houston have two front court players with defensive deficiencies (Ryan Anderson).
Carmelo Anthony passes through waivers at 5 PM ET, clearing way for him to inform Houston that he will sign a one-year, $2.4M deal with Rockets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 1, 2018
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And the other elephant in the room is Melo’s relationship with head coach Mike D’Antoni. Both currently say all is fine, but what will happen the first time the pair disagree or Mike D subs out Anthony in favor of another player in clutch time?
Suffice to say this is no longer a concern of the OKC Thunder. Well, that is other than how it will translate in terms of wins and losses. Though most pundits are stating the Rockets will remain at the top of the Western Conference there are those who believe the combination of adding Anthony and losing Ariza specifically will result in the Rockets falling down the Western ladder.
One thing is certain, the Thunder have improved in depth and with the return of Andre Roberson the OKC Thunder defense should rank in the top five.
The OK3 experiment with Carmelo Anthony never proved fruitful and ended with a resounding thud. Though TI wishes Melo well it’s fair to say we aren’t sitting here shaking in our boots over how much better he’ll perform as a Rocket.
The Christmas Day Games were announced with OKC playing in Houston in a rematch of last season’s holiday game. With the full 2018-19 schedule coming out tomorrow we’ll check to see if this is the squads first meeting or if they’ll have a prior contest.