Melo out: Anthony not a good fit
Risks that would come with signing him outstrip rewards
Some 76ers fans are letting it be known on message boards and social media that they want Carmelo Anthony to become a Sixer.
Anthony is a 10-time NBA all-star, an Olympian, a 25,000-point scorer and a guy who’s averaged 24 points per game during his 16-year pro career. His resume is impressive.
He is also the primary reason my alma mater, Syracuse, won its only NCAA men’s basketball title in 2003, for which I will always be grateful.
The fans’ logic is that even though the Sixers already have 15 roster spots with partially guaranteed contracts (backup point guard Trey Burke) and fully guaranteed contracts (apparently everybody else), they wonder why the Sixers couldn’t eat Furkan Korkmaz’s $1.6 million guaranteed contract and replace him with Anthony, who would provide offense off the bench.
“If Carmelo Anthony has no problem with a limited role to start off with, I’d rather have him on my roster than Korkmaz,” wrote one person.
“Korkmaz [isn’t very good],” offered another.
The Sixers are looking at a second unit with Raul Neto or Burke at point guard, Zhaire Smith or rookie Matisse Thybulle at shooting guard, James Ennis at small forward, Mike Scott at power forward and Kyle O’Quinn at center. Couldn’t Anthony bolster that group, they wonder?
Save your breath guys, because it’s not going to happen. And it shouldn’t.
For the Sixers, a team whose goal is to make the NBA Finals for the first time since 2001, the risk outweighs the potential reward. There is a great deal at stake coming off of a Game 7 Eastern Conference semifinal loss at the buzzer to Kawhi Leonard and the eventual champion Raptors.
Anthony is 35 and doesn’t seem to be the player he was. He’s accustomed to being a star and — much like former Sixer/Nuggets teammate Allen Iverson — isn’t wired to be anything but the main man. He’s a volume shooter/scorer.
After the Knicks traded Anthony to the Thunder in September 2017, a reporter asked him about the possibility of coming off the bench on a team featuring Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
“Who? Me?” Anthony responded, breaking into laughter.
He ended up starting all 78 games in which he appeared for Oklahoma City but averaged career-lows in scoring (16) and field goal percentage (40.4).
In July 2018, the Thunder sent him to the Hawks in a three-team deal in which the Sixers wound up with power forward Mike Muscala.
Atlanta bought Anthony out, eating $25.5 million of his $27.9 million salary. The Rockets signed him to the $2.4 million veterans’ minimum, only to waive him after playing 10 games (with just two starts) alongside Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston. He sat out the remainder of the 2018-19 season.
Anthony went on ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith Friday and said all the right things. He claimed he’s willing to accept a lesser role to get back to the game “I love too much to be away from.” I have no doubt he misses playing.
Anthony might even mean it, but he is an alpha male. He wants and needs to be on the court at crunch time, which is no longer automatic. How would he react if he’s on the bench for the final offensive possession in a down-to-the-wire affair?
General manager Elton Brand and head coach Brett Brown have worked too hard to bring in players known for being good teammates to complement star center Joel Embiid, all-star point guard Ben Simmons and company.
Forward Tobias Harris wasn’t better than Jimmy Butler during last spring’s playoffs, but Harris is more respectful and less likely to make waves. Plus, the Sixers think he can be more effective with a more prominent role in Butler’s absence. It’s no accident that Harris inked a five-year, $180 million contract in Philly while Butler became a member of the Heat.
Al Horford is a versatile, reliable big man. The kind of teammate/mentor he is — which Brand knows well because they spent two years playing together in Atlanta — clearly factored into the Sixers’ giving Horford $97 million guaranteed over the next four seasons at the age of 33.
There’s no evidence that the Sixers considered or are considering adding Anthony to their roster. If they wanted him, they had 3 1⁄2 weeks to make it happen prior to signing Korkmaz.
Perhaps a young team looking to boost its attendance could benefit from Anthony’s presence. The Sixers would not.