The pros and cons of Carmelo Anthony joining the Miami Heat
By Simon Smith
Anthony makes sense for the Heat
While the Heat have presented their case for his services, Anthony should also see the tremendous benefits of joining the current roster on South Beach.
While the lure of playing for a title contender in Houston is a natural attraction, Anthony will be well aware that he will again find himself playing in the shadows behind James Harden and Chris Paul. With a bench role being mentioned as a strong possibility should he join the Rockets, Anthony shouldn’t need to be reminded of the comments he made shortly after the Thunder’s postseason exit:
Melo asked about possibly coming off the bench: "I'm not sacrificing no bench role. So that's out of the question."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) April 28, 2018
With the Heat, a starting power forward role would most certainly be welcoming Anthony upon his arrival. Furthermore, these recent comments from Amin Elhassan of ESPN give further credence to the Heat being the team of choice for Anthony:
"“For many of these other mentioned destinations, I don’t think it would work out because he’s a guy who still lives in a world where he’s an elite scorer, where he’s a centerpiece, or at least he’s a guy that gets regular touches down the floor. The one place that could actually offer him that and the accompanying, ‘Hey work, rebound, defend and all the other dirty work’ is Miami. If he buys into the culture, he could [thrive there].”"
If Ellington waited this long -- with the market drying up -- he likely would have waited longer if the Heat just told him to hold tight.
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) July 13, 2018
Something's coming.
Again, they're not gonna have 6 2-guards.
This isn't a 6-foot-5 and under league
Additionally, Elhassan touched upon the Heat’s renowned culture of conditioning:
"“The bigger thing is conditioning, because that’s the big thing in Miami. When you look at the transformations Dion Waiters and James Johnson made and all those guys made, the biggest thing is they bought into the idea that they are going to run us like dogs and you are going to look shredded after a couple of months under that program. That’s a big part of buying in. Basketball wise, I think Carmelo will be fine [if he signs with Miami]. It’s the conditioning and all the extra work.”"
As the Miami-based Five Reasons Sports Network touched upon in the above tweet, the Heat have certainly not put a finish to their offseason work.
Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
In a deal that could prove highly beneficial for both sides, an Anthony move to Miami certainly has plenty of merit.