2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Carmelo Anthony: 1 year, $2.4 million (Houston Rockets)
Carmelo Anthony is an undisputed Hall-of-Famer, one of the greatest scorers in NBA history and like Chris Paul — the last player to turn around uninformed public opinion by joining the Houston Rockets — is severely misunderstood because of his lack of playoff success. On the surface, getting a guy like that at the veteran minimum is a steal.
Unfortunately, like most of Houston’s moves this summer, it’s hard to see how this latest gamble pushes the Rockets any closer to the Golden State Warriors. The 34-year-old Melo isn’t as nonsensical an addition as Michael Carter-Williams, and on a team with two elite distributors, he won’t be as bad as he was in a ball-stopping environment with the Thunder.
However, a huge part of the ball sticking in everyone’s hand in OKC was Anthony himself, who averaged a career-low 1.3 assists per game, while posting 16.2 points a night on 40.4 percent shooting (also career lows). He’s a defensive sieve and even worse, still envisions himself as a go-to scorer rather than a microwave scorer off the bench — his true calling at this point.
Anthony canned 35.7 percent of his triples, and this second stint with Mike D’Antoni should be more successful given the talent and system in place in Clutch City. However, after the Rockets downgraded from Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute on the defensive end to James Ennis and Carmelo Anthony, no one should be under the illusion that this is the piece that puts Houston on par with the Dubs.
Bourguet Grade: C+
Hoops Habit Grade: A+