The pros and cons of Carmelo Anthony joining the Miami Heat
By Simon Smith
Pros for signing Anthony
With over 25,000 career points, naturally scoring is the first thing that comes to mind with Anthony.
A career 24.1 points per game scorer, Anthony’s offensive artillery has been matched by few others in the league since he was selected No. 3 overall in 2003. With the ability score in the post, the mid-range and from distance, Anthony’s combination of size and skill has made him one of the toughest one-on-one matchups in the league over the past decade.
Last season, the Heat were mediocre on the offensive end, ranking 20th overall with a 104.3 offensive rating, and 23rd in scoring at 103.4 points per game. The loss of starting shooting guard Dion Waiters certainly didn’t help matters, playing just 30 games before being sidelined with a season-ending ankle injury. Also, while the Heat had a balanced roster with nine players averaging in double figures, their leading scorer in Goran Dragic came in at just 17.3 points per game.
Granted, Anthony is coming off the worst season of his career, and is now 34 with over 37,000 minutes on his odometer. However, if there’s a veteran scorer whose game you would expect to age well, it’s Anthony’s. In his last season with the New York Knicks just over a year ago, Anthony averaged 22.4 points per game. However, the most noticeable change from that season to his past season with the Thunder was the significant dip in usage rate.
With an average usage of 30.7 over his first 14 seasons, Anthony’s dropped to just 22.6 last season. After returning to the team late last season, Dwyane Wade led the team with a 29.3 usage rate in just 22.3 minutes per game. With the return of Wade uncertain at this stage, it’s not unreasonable to think that Anthony would step into Wade’s role, and return to a level of play similar to the one prior to arriving in Oklahoma City.