Anthony meshed well with different lineups

Carmelo Anthony’s first season in Oklahoma City was ballyhooed. And though it didn’t live up to expectations, there were some bright spots. Here are the grades:

Meshing with starters

AFor all the talk about Carmelo’s ineffectiveness this season, the Thunder’s starting lineup was elite. The fivesome of Carmelo, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson outscored opponents by 14.4 points per 48 minutes. The only lineup that played together at least 350 minutes and was better was the 76ers’ (21.4 per 48 minutes). And even without Roberson, the OKC starters mostly flourished — per 48 minutes with Josh Huestis, 10.7; Alex Abrines, 6.3; Corey Brewer, 2.2. The big four playing with Jerami Grant was minus0.4 and with Terrance Ferguson was minus-2.8.

Shot selection

Carmelo hoisted long 2-point shots in bunches early in the season, but that subsided somewhat. Still, 22.8 percent of his shots were 2-pointers longer than 15 feet, a ghastly number in the modern NBA. He made 38 percent of those. Carmelo also stayed out of the friendly corners, taking just 55 corner 3s compared to 419 noncorner 3’s. Of course, he shot better on 3-pointers above the break (.360) than he did from the corners (.327). But even some of Carmelo’s highpercentage shots were shaky. His .571 shooting percentage from the restricted area was worse than all but Brewer, Raymond Felton and Huestis. Opponents blocked 30 of Carmelo’s 157 shots within 5 feet of the basket. His ability to score in traffic seems about gone.

Bench lynchpin

AAfter some early experimentation, Billy Donovan primarily settled on George as the Thunder mainstay to play with an otherwise all-bench unit. That might have been a mistake. The Thunder excelled when Carmelo played with reserves. Carmelo played 99 minutes this season in which George, Adams and Westbrook all were on the bench. In those 99 minutes, the Thunder outscored opponents 203-169. That’s a noticeable edge for a team that often struggled with its starters out. Perhaps Carmelo felt like he was a Knickerbocker again, sharing a court with the likes of Felton, Abrines, Grant and Patrick Patterson. But whatever the case, it worked.

Attitude

BCarmelo clearly was not happy with his role. We finally figured that out in the playoffs, when assistant coach Maurice Cheeks had to calm Carmelo when he wasn’t playing during an extended Thunder success stretch, and in the exit interview, when Carmelo said he wouldn’t accept a similar role next season. But at least he kept the lid on it through most of the season. Some of his teammates were not happy with Carmelo’s work ethic, but others were happy to have him around. Carmelo seemed to have a positive effect on the Thunder locker room with his affable zingers.

Playoffs

DCarmelo was not good in the series against Utah. He made just six of 28 3-point shots, and the Jazz often ditched its offense to run pick-androlls that allowed isolation attacks on Carmelo. With Carmelo as the primary defender, Utah made 36 of 66 shots, including 11 of 23 from 3-point range. Carmelo played 194 minutes in the series, during which Utah outscored OKC by 58 points.

Dealing with age

CCarmelo seems to not understand that time marches on. He set a bevy of career lows, even though his playing time was a robust 32 minutes a game: 16.2 points per game, .437 2-point shooting percentage, .767 foul-shooting percentage, 1.3 assists per game, 0.6 steals per game, .503 true shooting percentage (3-pointers and foul shots factored in). Carmelo remains a solid defensive rebounder (his 17.7 defensive rebounding rate was second, trailing only Westbrook). But much of his game is slipping. And his numbers were way down after the all-star break.