Adrian Wojnarowski has stated that Carmelo Anthony will officially become a member of the Houston Rockets on Monday, August 13th.
Free agent Carmelo Anthony plans to sign his one-year, $2.4M deal with the Houston Rockets today, league sources tell ESPN. He traveled to Houston and he’s completing his physical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 13, 2018
Anthony was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a package headlined by Dennis Schroder. The Hawks waived Anthony, and he became a free agent. Anthony previously expressed interest in joining the Rockets or the Miami Heat, with a lesser interest in the Los Angeles Lakers. However, he pretty quickly decided to sign with Houston.
The signing will become official on Monday when Anthony is set to return from travel.
Another report has stated that Anthony will, indeed, come off the bench in Houston. Anthony has loudly opposed such a move, but it sounds like the Rockets will be proceeding that way regardless.
Anthony is best suited to come off the bench in a sixth man role at this point in his career. Although Anthony may once have been the greatest pure scorer of all time, he is no longer able to score the way he once did. However, he could probably still feast on a second unit if he commits to a catch-and-shoot role while playing with starters such as Rockets superstar guards James Harden and Chris Paul.I
It is unsure how long Anthony will remain off the bench. He could start on the Rockets, but he would have to be at the four in Ryan Anderson’s place. Anthony can still keep up with power forwards, defensively, making himself a serviceable piece. However, he can’t defend any small forwards at this point in his career.
PJ Tucker will most likely start for Houston due to of his history of defensive prowess. However, Gerald Green could earn plenty of starts this year, as well. Are Tucker and Green better than Melo? Probably. But coach Mike D’Antoni will most likely try every possible combination of players to see which lineups he likes best, which will likely include Carmelo Anthony as a player.
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