3 observations from Portland Trail Blazers signing Carmelo Anthony

3. Not the first time Trail Blazers have expressed interest in Melo

In the eyes of some, the chances of Carmelo Anthony getting picked up by a team this season were between slim and none. So, it would have been reasonable to question the reason why the Portland Trail Blazers are willing to take a chance on him.

While the decision seems to have come out of nowhere, this isn’t the first time that the two sides have been connected to each other. In the summer of 2017, CJ McCollum put up this Instagram post of Anthony rocking a Blazers jersey in hopes of convincing him to come to Portland.

However, Anthony opted to play alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. During that season, Melo posted averages of 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range.

The Blazers were still interested in acquiring Anthony in 2018, but after receiving a buyout from the Atlanta Hawks, he joined the Houston Rockets, which proved to be a disaster. The experiment lasted just 10 games and even though Anthony scored at least 20 points three times during that stretch, the two sides parted ways.

Anthony’s numbers included 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per outing on slash lines of .405/.328/.682.

With Anthony set to join the team on its upcoming road trip, here’s to hoping that things go much better in Portland than they did at his previous two stops.