NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2018-19 Sixth Man of the Year award

10. Carmelo Anthony, Houston Rockets

Even with Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute‘s departures signaling a need for wing defense for the Houston Rockets, it’s most likely they start P.J. Tucker at the 3 and Carmelo Anthony at the 4. However, it Mike D’Antoni is smart, or if he watched any Oklahoma City Thunder games last year, he’ll seriously consider putting Melo in a more appropriate role for this point in his career.

Anthony is an unquestioned future Hall-of-Famer and one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen, but at age 34, he’d be best utilized in a reduced role. Hell, the 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game he averaged last year as a starter wouldn’t have been good enough for Sixth Man of the Year had he met the qualifications for the award.

Coming off the bench for the reigning No. 1 seed in the West would be different than being asked to do so for a middling Thunder squad, so perhaps he’d even be open to the role. If the Rockets start Melo, they’re going to take a serious step backward defensively, even if he’s a better offensive fit in Houston than OKC. If this all-too-sensible solution actually materializes, Anthony’s scoring ability off the bench could immediately launch him into Sixth Man consideration.