Carmelo Anthony has been on the move since the off season this year. Melo was traded from OKC to the Atlanta Hawks initially but was bought out. He then ended up at Houston Rockets, agreeing to a bench role there.
Advertisement
However, the move did not quite work out for both parties, as Carmelo wasn’t quite satisfied with a bench role and the Rockets were not quite ready to hand him a starting 5 role.
While Carmelo did have a decent outing for the Rockets in his 10 games, averaging 13.4 points in 29.4 minutes/game.
But with the Rockets getting off to 4-6 start, the management decided to offload Melo and he hasn’t been in action for the team since November 8.
Melo has been looking for a move away before the trade deadline, but his agent has found it a little tough to help Melo land a contract with any franchise.
However, according to Per Vardon from The Athletic, LeBron wants to bring his old friend Melo to the Lakers, so as to help his young team benefit from Melo’s experience.
Furthermore, according to a report in the New York Times, Lakers want to sign Melo as the Michael Beasley deal did not quite work out.
Source: LeBron James interested in Carmelo Anthony joining the Lakers @TheAthleticNBA https://t.co/v5hDhkYbaS
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) December 7, 2018
LeBron and Carmelo Anthony go way back, as the duo entered the league together in 2003 and ever since they have been wanting to play together.
LeBron, Melo and Wade had expressed a desire to play together, but that didn’t quite work out because of Anthony’s 5 year deal in 2006.
It looks like @KingJames has @carmeloanthony's back. 😯🤔 pic.twitter.com/d2BMxt3oCX
— theScore (@theScore) December 7, 2018
LeBron James wants to bring Carmelo Anthony to Los Angeles, per @joevardon.
Should the Lakers make the call? 📱 pic.twitter.com/WDYvNthk3J
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 7, 2018
BREAKING: Extremely likely Carmelo Anthony will be signing with the #Lakers and teaming up with LeBron. pic.twitter.com/KIzvHFAsrK
— NBA on uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM_NBA) December 7, 2018
James had earlier also confirmed that he would take a pay cut, if somehow James, Melo, Wade and Chris Paul somehow got to play together.
“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” James had said.
“At least one, maybe one or two seasons—me, Melo, D-Wade, CP—we can get a year in. I would actually take a pay cut to do that.” he added.
If the deal goes through, it would be brilliant for the fans to see these two All Stars and friends play together.
The Lakers would benefit from the experience of Anthony and LeBron would have his NBA dream fulfilled.
But do you think Carmelo is a good fit for the Lakers? Will he add to the team’s overall performance or would he again have to settle for a limited bench role?