3. His game doesn’t fit Houston’s offense
Since entering the league in 2003, Melo’s style of play has largely remained the same, which is iso ball mixed with a heavy dose of mid-range jumpers.
It doesn’t matter that the league as a whole has drifted far away from such shots, opting to up the efficiency by moving the ball around and hunting for looks from either beyond the arc or in the paint.
Nugg Love
The analytically driven Rockets are the polar opposite of their newest acquisition, preferring to shoot only 3-pointers and layups, and that’s the way their offense has been built.
Sure, they may rely solely on both James Harden and Chris Paul to create open looks — which can lead to some mind-numbing dribbling exhibitions — but they create efficient shots for both themselves and their teammates. The same can’t be said for Anthony.
So where does that leave Carmelo?
Given his refusal to come off the bench and his inability to change for the better, there doesn’t appear to be any room for his preferred play style when CP3 and Harden are handling the ball for all 48 minutes.
What made Trevor Ariza thrive in Houston was his ability to spot-up beyond the arc and have the patience to wait for the ball to come to him. Whereas Anthony will likely demand the ball at the elbow and heave up a contested look.
The Rockets had one of the greatest offenses of all-time in 2018 in large part due to Mike D’Antoni‘s philosophies on that end. Bringing in Carmelo’s mid-range centric play will only take away the shots that made such success possible.