NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat gives his jersey to former NBA player Carmelo Anthony after the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on April 10, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. This was Wade's last NBA game before retirement. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Mayday, Mayday: Carmelo Anthony is still a free agent!
I repeat: Carmelo Anthony is STILL an NBA free agent.
Carmelo Anthony & Jamal Crawford Need teams!
My newest installment with @bbsociety_ .
Respect to @JCrossover & @carmeloanthony.
Attention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers, if you’re reading this, get on it!
Carmelo Anthony hasn’t played NBA basketball since November 8, 2018 in a game against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets last summer after clearing waivers in a trade that shipped him from the Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks. After signing with the Rockets he was later traded to the Chicago Bulls before the NBA’s trading deadline.
Million Dollar Question: Where should Melo go?
“The place that wants him,” newly retired NBA legend, Dwyane Wade tells me.
“The place that’s going to allow him to be Melo and understand that he still can play the game of basketball.”
The Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony had mutual interests toward the end of last season — until a mound of LA losses occurred. The team has had quite a busy offseason thus far, and six players returned from last season.
That list includes: LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso.
Lakers newcomers include: Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels and rookie Talen Horton-Tucker.
The Lakers also have a new head coach in Frank Vogel and assistant coach in Jason Kidd.
Carmelo Anthony has been working out with members of the Brooklyn Nets in Los Angeles this summer.
The Lakers do have one final roster spot and many believe that Carmelo Anthony still has some game left in the tank to compete against many of the NBA’s elite.
“His first year in the league, he took a 17-win Nuggets team to the playoffs in the West as a rookie,” said Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard.
“He is one of the best 300 players in the world that’s not playing,” TNT’s Kenny Smith told me in April. “You can’t say he’s not one of the best 300 players.”
Melo to Brooklyn from a basketball standpoint also does make sense.
The Nets have a potent roster with names like Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie complimenting Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
The Nets will likely be without Durant this season as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
“Definitely want to see him get back into the league,” Dwyane Wade tells me of Carmelo Anthony.
“But you also want to see him to get back to a place where they can allow Melo to play the game he loves the way that Melo can.”
While he’s been away from the game, he’s been spending a ton of time going to his son, Kiyan’s basketball games.
“I don’t know if they remember how good of a player he was and still is,” Blake Griffin told Landon Buford last season. “Sometimes it’s the situation. It sucks to see as a basketball player to see people act [as if] he is something [that] he is not.”
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Dwyane Wade Reveals Why Carmelo Anthony Can Still Play NBA Basketball