Oklahoma City Thunder: How to incorporate Carmelo Anthony

Small-ball center

This option will rarely happen, if ever. However, with the success the Warriors have experienced with their lineup of death with Draymond Green at center, Oklahoma City could counter that with Carmelo Anthony as their small-ball center.

Anthony does not have the defensive presence Green has, but slowing Anthony down as the center in a lineup would not be an easy task. When you can create as much of a mismatch as Anthony can offensively, your defensive shortcomings don’t make as much of a negative impact. The higher up in the lineup Anthony is, the less of a negative his defense is.

In a lineup like this, the Thunder would have athletes surrounding Anthony as well to lessen the impact. Billy Donovan could roll with some combination of Andre Roberson, Jerami Grant and George in the frontcourt. Westbrook and Alex Abrines could be the two players in the backcourt, depending on the situation.

This would be a lineup you’d see in a pickup basketball game. Anthony is unlikely to play center at any point this season, but it would be an interesting lineup combination to see Donovan roll out there. Anthony is a good enough rebounder to hold his own against bigger opponents, and his advantage offensively would be off the charts.