Getty Images Carmelo Anthony– Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Lakers (October 20, 2018)
Carmelo Anthony joining the Philadelphia 76ers might happen, according to NBA insider, Chris Sheridan.
Per Sheridan via the Get More Sports blog:
Sources are telling Get More Sports that the Philadelphia 76ers are interested in using him as a plug-in at power forward now that they have a gaping hole at that position.
Anthony cannot be traded until Dec. 15, so the most likely move for the Rockets is placing him on waivers. The Sixers could put in a claim on him, and the starting five in Philly by the end of the week could be Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz/J.J. Redick, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and ‘Melo. (Stephen A. Smith reported on ESPN today that the Fultz as starter experiment is over.)
The third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Anthony sat out of the Rockets’ last three games with what the team called “an illness.”
Anthony, who has averaged 24 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists in his career with both the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets career that also included stints with the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks.
A ten-time NBA All Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets this summer after clearing waivers in the trade that shipped him from the Oklahoma City Thunder the Atlanta Hawks.
The Rockets needed help at the small forward position. Trevor Ariza bolted Houston and signed a one-year $15 million deal with the Phoenix Suns this summer. “He played good defense on guys,” former Houston Rockets forward, Robert Horry told me this summer.
His last appearance for Houston came in a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Nov. 8 when he had two points and five rebounds.
“Carmelo had a tremendous approach during his time with the Rockets and accepted every role head coach Mike D’Antoni gave him,” Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey said in a released statement. “The fit we envisioned when Carmelo chose to sign with the Rockets has not materialized, therefore we thought it was best to move on as any other outcome would have been unfair to him.”
“They didn’t want to play defense on guys like Kevin Durant.”
Added Horry:
“You know it’s crazy, I live in Houston and I watch the Rockets play a lot. I see the way they play and I don’t think they gave [Trevor] Ariza enough credit for what he did for that team.”
Anthony was brought in to replace some of the scoring production provided last season by Trevor Ariza, but things are clearly not working out the way Houston intended.
After a couple of early-season starts, Anthony fell on the depth chart. He was conspicuously absent in San Antonio on Friday night with “flu-like” symptoms, and a Woj tweet during the third quarter of that game jump-started the weekend of yet another MeloDrama.
The Sixers have a glaring need for a power forward after trading Dario Saric to Minnesota in the Butler deal. Mike Muscala is out with a facial laceration and will play with a mask when he eventually returns, and Wilson Chandler is an undersized option at the 4 once he is ready to play his first game of the season. After that, the depth chart at the 4 is blank.
So the question becomes: Would ‘Melo help the Sixers? Or hurt them?
Or perhaps a better question for Philadelphia: Why not go ahead and find out?