CAUSE FOR ALARM
Carmelo Anthony has been nothing special, but the Rockets’ problems go way beyond him
This is not all on Carmelo Anthony.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pursued him for years. Fans spent the past two offseasons campaigning and begging for his arrival. A 65-win team knew exactly — and I mean
exactly — what it was signing up for when it added Melo and his 16 seasons’ worth of increasingly impractical NBA baggage.
Again, with extra emphasis: Morey’s Rockets wanted Anthony and welcomed him to Houston.
But I will also point out that there was a behind-closed-doors understanding when the Rockets finally landed the fading 10-time All-Star last summer. Assurances were made that if the experiment was not working, the organization would move on as quickly as possible during a season when the only goal that matters is finally overcoming the Golden State Warriors and winning the franchise’s first world championship since 1995.
The 2018-19 Rockets made it through all of 11 games with Melo before a divorce was reportedly on the table. Anthony (illness on the official injury report, TBD for the 82-game future) then missed his second consecutive contest Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers at Toyota Center.
Coincidence or NBA reality pushing the Rockets into a hard corner, with multiple futures on the line at the same time?
Morey said pregame Sunday that Anthony is expected to return to the rotation when healthy, denying reports that he's been informed of his planned release. But coach Mike D’Antoni stated that Anthony’s future minutes will likely decrease, and reports persisted that the Rockets were considering parting ways with the six-time All-NBA player, overshadowing a 115-103 victory over Indiana.
“We’re not in a good place, so we’re looking at everything,” said Morey, before James Harden scored 40 points against the Pacers.
On the same day Jimmy Butler — once a potential savior for these Rockets — instantly sped up Philadelphia’s process via a franchise-changing trade with Minnesota, Anthony sat out a 96-89 road defeat to San Antonio on Saturday, which saw the fractured Rockets fall to 4-7. Before the loss was even complete, ESPN reported that the Rockets and Anthony were privately (oops) discussing whether he would remain with the team the rest of the season. Asked about Anthony’s future after the Spurs’ victory, the 2016-17 NBA Coach of the Year — who didn’t exactly mesh with Melo inside Madison Square Garden — referred all questions to Morey.
“The worst we're going to be is great,” a fiery D’Antoni said in July, before 4-7 and Melo drama.
11-game itch
Funny, because 11 is the same amount of games Kevin McHale received just three seasons ago. The Rockets were also coming off a Western Conference finals defeat to the Warriors then. Internal and external expectations were rafters high. Morey tried to back up James Harden — then clashing with Dwight Howard — with Ty Lawson. The experiment failed badly. The Rockets became a 41-41 reality show, coldly canning McHale and eventually placing the team in D’Antoni’s offensive-minded hands.
This season’s squad faced much higher expectations. Championship, championship, championship was all Harden said as a new season awaited. Which means this beginning has been way more disappointing, which is why we’re already at a serious Anthony crossroads just 12 contests into an 82-game campaign.
Don’t overreact? Give ’em time to figure it out?
My lord.
The Rockets suddenly lost defensive guru Jeff Bzdelik — who coached Anthony during his rookie days in Denver — just before training camp, were publicly attached to endless Butler rumors just five games into the season, then lured Bzdelik out of retirement, despite the fact he was unable to rejoin the team immediately.
Translation: The Rockets are blatantly telling you exactly what they think about all this. And just like 2015, if anyone’s panicking, it’s Houston’s NBA team.
I don’t blame them this time. Anything less than the conference finals is unacceptable. Morey has been chasing the ghost of Golden State since 2014. Tilman Fertitta isn’t going to settle for anything less than the best. D’Antoni’s on-court power — he’s still calling the shots, even with all the superstars in red, right? — can’t be undercut.
The Rockets are trying to figure all this out on the fly and still save a season that has 70 regular-season games to go.
But again, let’s dig a little deeper than simply blaming Melo.
The Rockets badly wanted Kevin Durant before he oneupped LeBron James and became an NBA-altering Warrior. Remember who was at the top of Morey’s dream list last summer? Not Anthony, but The King.
The Rockets haven’t been right since.
Something’s missing
While they barely received a glance from James during free agency — hello, La La Land and the Magic Johnson Lakers — Golden State (11-2, again leading the West) added DeMarcus Cousins on the cheap. The Rockets rightfully refused to overpay a declining Trevor Ariza. But they replaced his defensive intensity, respected veteran presence and nightly swagger with … what?
Melo, Michael Carter-Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein?
Brandon Knight (another experiment) hasn’t played a game since February 2017. James Ennis has disappointed thus far.
Let’s also be real about the Rockets who really matter. Harden (7-of-27 from the floor, 1-of-13 on 3s against the Spurs) isn’t playing like the league’s reigning MVP. Chris Paul is playing like he just realized he’s 33 — the season after signing a four-year, $160 million extension. Gerald Green entered Sunday shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 25.9 percent on 3s, which would leave him out of most NBA rotations. Eric Gordon was hitting just 33.3 percent of his shots and has seemingly been frozen by trade rumors, despite the fact he’s been shadowed by them for almost a decade.
But what about Melo? The numbers (13.4 average points, 5.4 rebounds, 40.5 percent shooting, 32.8 percent on 3s) are decent. But full-court, four-quarter buyin? Defense creating and leading to offense? On-court chemistry and truly sacrificing like the NBA’s best on a nightly basis?
If you think it’s just about offensive numbers with Anthony, you probably explained away what was previously the worst year of his career in Oklahoma City and swore his risky addition would instantly take the Rockets to the next level.
I figured, worst case, the Rockets would be forced to move on after 20 games. But 11? That got McHale fired — and this one isn’t on D’Antoni.
Yes, the Rockets should be better than this. Their as-is roster is also a mess, and the team hasn’t run the court with a consistent heart since Rajon Rondo spit on them.
This isn’t all Melo’s fault. But the Rockets, who badly wanted Butler, are playing like a team that bet hard on the 34-year-old Anthony after it lost out on James. No wonder they’re 5-7 and already trying to figure out if they want to give Melo’s jersey to someone else.
Where’s Jeremy Lin when you need him?
Will Anthony still be a Rocket in December? That’s now the real question, just 12 games into a new season.