OKC awaits Carmelo’s decision
Will Carmelo Anthony return to Oklahoma City or continue his Hall of Fame career elsewhere?
What kind of player does Carmelo Anthony want to be? That determination could decide his future in Oklahoma City.
He made it perfectly clear in his exit interview in April: He’s not coming off the bench. He has more to offer. He wants to play the offensive style that’s elevated him to 19th on the NBA’s alltime scoring list.
Anthony has to decide if he’s willing to continue his Thunder experiment or wants to be elsewhere. The answer comes down to how Anthony views himself as a player headed into his 16th NBA season.
“It wasn’t no strategy to me being here, me being a part of the actual system and what type of player and things like that,” Anthony said in his candid exit interview in April.
“As far as being effective as that type of player, I don’t think I can be effective as that type of player. I think I was willing to accept that challenge in that role, but I think I bring a little bit more to the game as far as being more knowledgeable and what I still can do as a basketball player.”
Anthony also made it clear earlier this week that he’s still confident in what he said at his exit interview.
An Instagram account (all.nba.riddles) posted side-by-side photos of Anthony and Cleveland’s Kyle Korver with the caption “Who would’ve thought during the 2003 draft that 15 years down the line Kyle Korver would be a better NBA player than Carmelo Anthony.”
Comments via Anthony’s Instagram account took exception. “WOWWWWW.” “Had to comment on this one.” “FOH.”
FOH is the acronym for ‘F*** outta here,’ a saying thrown around this season by Thunder players but primarily, and fittingly, used most by Anthony. He made a habit of screaming the phrase after many of his defensive rebounds.
The three-word, 13-letter phrase can be used with jokey nonchalance or serious dismissal. The mere mention of any subject can get slapped with the phrase, and it’s up to the audience to interpret the tone.
Turns out, it was a perfect summary of Anthony’s season in Oklahoma City.
Some criticism of Anthony is absurd. Korver is one the league’s all-time great 3-point shooters, but he’s a player whose deficiencies are overlooked because of his hyper efficiency at the league’s most valuable currency (3-point shooting). Korver was coming off a strong defensive performance against Boston in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, but his current success shouldn’t be sized up next to Anthony’s decline without the context of Anthony’s stellar career.
But the value of what Korver represents — the wing player who understands his role and can fill it efficiently — is why his middling defense or lack of athleticism is forgiven more than Anthony’s self-confidence. Like P.J. Tucker and Trevor Ariza in Houston, or Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala in Golden State, Korver is aware of his limitations. The Thunder hoped Anthony could be, but Anthony, a 15-year professional No. 1 option, did not achieve the desired efficiency or understanding of a complimentary piece.
It’s not easy going from star to secondary.
“I would expect a player of Anthony’s pedigree to have great pride, and fight the notion of any decline,” ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy told The Oklahoman. “That’s part of the reason why players are great, because they do have great pride.
“The hardest coaching there is, without question — throughout my experiences but also through watching pro sports — is coaching the star player in decline. It’s challenging because they can still be who they once were on occasion but not on as many occasions. That transition from go-to every night player to fit a role is challenging for both coach and player.”
In the first year of the shift toward the catch-and-shoot style the Thunder wanted, Anthony shot a careerlow 40.4 percent from the field. He struggled defending the pick-androll, hunted out and isolated possession after possession and further exposed in the Thunder’s six-game first-round playoff exit to Utah.
Yet, take a step back from Anthony’s truthserum exit interview, his defense, and $27.9 million player option and notrade clause.
Anthony shot 37.3 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers — not great (124th out of 257 qualified shooters, per NBA.com) but serviceable considering his drastic transition from taking 29.5 percent of his shots in catch-andshoot situations in his last year with the Knicks to 42.4 percent with the Thunder.
The Thunder’s starting lineup with Anthony was one of the best in the NBA — 14.2 points per 100 possessions better than the opposition in 31 games.
It’s not out of the question that Anthony could come back better in Year 2, at least on offense.
But it has to be mutual. Anthony wants his style. Thunder general manager Sam Presti wants the team’s vision of “Olympic Melo.” There’s time to change. It’s May.
“He has to decide whether or not he wants to do another year of trying to make this transition as a stretch player,” Presti said last month. “I think he’s being very candid and very honest. I respect that. I respect the fact he’s being open about that.
“Now, we have the same responsibility. We have to be candid and honest with him.”
Will Anthony be honest with himself? Where is the incentive to do so? The final year of his contract is fully guaranteed. His destination is in his hands. The Thunder can buy him out, stretch his contract over three seasons, or run it back with Anthony in a to be determined role.
Or after a year of sacrifice, Anthony could bolt OKC. He could find his place elsewhere — like Houston with buddy Chris Paul or wherever LeBron James ends up — in his new transformed catch-and-shoot state, or playing his style in a better offensive system. The Thunder would look inept, unable to fully capture the magic of Melo or get him to agree to a reduced role and fewer minutes.
Or Anthony could come back and try to improve on his catch-and-shoot conversion.
Or Anthony could follow the phrase of the Thunder season and go his own way.
“That’s going to have to be something that he’s got to do on his own,” Thunder guard Raymond Felton said of his longtime friend.
“We can try to help. You can have family, friends, whoever, to try to chip in, but that’s something that he has to do on his own.
“I don’t know, that’s not my decision. I’m glad I’m not the coach that has to make that decision or him being a player to accept that role. That’s tough. That’s something that I really don’t have an answer for.”