Portland Trail Blazers: Carmelo Anthony is what he is (and that’s ok)

Carmelo Anthony was vanquished from the NBA for a time before the Portland Trail Blazers salvaged him from the rubble to begin his redemption tour.

It’s safe to say nobody expected Carmelo Anthony‘s career to take the bizarre bends and twists its undergone over the past few years. Once the king of New York, one of the few players who has actually been able to lead the New York Knicks into the playoffs over the past couple decades, he was relegated to the scrap pile and would have suffered an ignominious fate had the Portland Trail Blazers not signed him earlier this season.

A virtual lock to make the Hall of Fame, Anthony was jettisoned unceremoniously by the Houston Rockets 10 games into the 2018-19 season. What the Rockets were expecting to be different from what they got from the then-34-year-old remains anybody’s guess.

Compared to the season before with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Melo’s numbers were fairly similar and in some ways, he was even more effective with the Rockets. He shot roughly the same from the field (40.5 percent vs 40.4 the season before), he shot worse from 3-point range and the free-throw line but shot more threes and got to the line at a higher rate, so he actually was slightly more efficient with a true shooting percentage of 51.3 percent, a touch better than the 50.3 he recorded the season before.

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With the Portland Trail Blazers, Carmel Anthony has filled a somewhat unique role, but one that seems to work for a team at their level of success.

No, Anthony is not an efficient player and really hasn’t been in years. However, he has the ability to get buckets nonetheless, and he can make life miserable for opponents in certain matchups. We don’t need to look much further than a February 23rd game against the Detroit Pistons where he opened the whole bag of tricks up on rookie Sekou Doumbouya.

Melo scored a season-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor, hitting 5-of-9 from 3-point range and taught the youngster a lesson.

Anthony would actually probably be more effective firing away from 3-point range like he did in previous runs with the Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. As of the season’s suspension, he was shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range, his best clip since 2013-14 (a season in which he averaged 27.4 points per game). The thing is, his 28.6 percent 3-point rate is his lowest since 2015-16.

Why not let it fly a bit more?

As with many stars who have a specific playstyle, Carmelo Anthony very much is who he is. 29 other teams turned their backs on him, including plenty who could use a solid veteran voice in the locker room to help lead youthful roster. The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t one of those young teams, and they already have one of the best leaders in the NBA in the form of Damian Lillard.

Surely, in a perfect world, the Blazers would happily just plug in a better or younger player with upside who could fulfill similar responsibilities. However, the NBA is a better place with Carmelo Anthony in it.

While his decline over the years has been noticeable and undeniable, he’s done the work to stay ready when his opportunity presented itself and he’s deserved the shot he has gotten. Melo can still play, and we’re lucky he’s back in the league doing what he still does best.