OKC Thunder alumni Carmelo Anthony signs with the Portland Trail Blazers.
After spending almost a full season out of the league, scoring legend and OKC Thunder alumni Carmelo Anthony has signed a non-guaranteed deal with the struggling Portland Trail Blazers per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. For the full story click here.
After famously being blamed for the struggles of the Houston Rockets at the start of last season, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls who then waived him. This highlighted how Anthony struggled to fit in to a lineup where he was not the first option.
Portland is signing Carmelo Anthony, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2019
I will never forget when Sam Presti made the trade to bring Anthony to the OKC Thunder, teaming him up with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. It was surely going to be the next push for the Thunder to win a championship.
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As all fans of the OKC Thunder will remember this is not how it panned out. When Billy Donovan sat Anthony for almost the entirety of the comeback game against the Utah Jazz. This almost signed his trade paperwork then and there.
He was eventually traded to the Atlanta Hawks, the only franchise that had the cap space to make the trade work. The OKC Thunder received Dennis Schroder and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in return. Interestingly, Mike Muscala was part of that trade and a season later he is part of the Thunder squad.
I hope for Anthony’s sake that he is able to finish his career in Portland. He deserves a much better send off than the one he got last season from the Houston Rockets. He has been a legend in the league and while he has not shared the same success as other superstars, he deserves our respect.
Obviously I hope that Melo does not do too well in Portland, as they are fellow Northwest Division rivals. They are currently lower in the standings than the OKC Thunder and it would be nice for them to stay there