Carmelo Anthony is finally back on an NBA roster. Both he and the Blazers are in desperate need of revitalization. Can they make it work?
Tuesday night, for the first time in over a year, Carmelo Anthony played in an actual NBA game,, though it was hard to watch him and see signs of the perennial All-Star he used to be. Anthony got the start for Portland and ended up playing 23 minutes for the struggling Blazers as they lost 104-115 to the Pelicans. Carmelo scored 10 points and garnered 4 rebounds, but he was only 4-of-14 from the field. It would not be too worrisome of a performance from a player who has not played in so long, but in light of who Carmelo Anthony is and what the Portland Trail Blazers need, it does not augur well for either party’s future.
Anthony looked rusty at times, a bit slower than one would hope and he occasionally struggled to keep up with the Pelicans, especially on defense. Offensively, he showed an ability to get his spots and create looks for himself; however, the shots just would not fall with any consistency. Perhaps he just doesn’t have the same lift on his jumper he used to and lacks the burst to get to the rim with ease, though it makes sense to not come to any firm conclusions after just one game.
The biggest question for a team in need of help on both ends of the floor is whether Anthony will be any help to them anywhere. He has never really been a committed defender and his offensive abilities are not what they once were. If Anthony can give them a steady and mildly efficient 15 points per game, that would be a win for the Blazers. The question is if he is capable of that, and if so, is he capable of doing so in a way that does not stymie the rest of the Blazers offense as he demands numerous ball-stopping possessions per game. Perhaps more worrisome than his poor shooting performance is the fact that, while he took 14 shots in just 23 minutes, he did not register a single assist. Portland did not necessarily try to run the offense through him, even with Damian Lillard out, but whenever Melo received the ball, it seemed to signal the end of the possession. Perhaps once Lillard returns, and he demands a greater share of the defense’s attention, things will run more smoothly, but that’s more of a hope than an expectation.
The Blazers are clearly in need of a quick fix. They started the season 3-2, but have dropped eight of their last ten games to fall to 5-10, putting them at 14th in the Western Conference, above only the injury-plagued Golden State Warriors. While Portland has retained its two best players in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, the loss of role players such as Moe Harkless, Seth Curry, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Jake Layman, among others has hurt them much more than most would have expected. Meanwhile, new acquisitions such as Hassan Whiteside, Anthony Tolliver, and Mario Hezonja have not stepped up as adequate replacements. If you’re looking for an object lesson in the importance of filling out your roster and surrounding your stars with solid role players, this incarnation of the Blazers is as good of a place to look as any.
Portland needs Carmelo to recapture some of the magic he used to showcase in Denver and New York, but whether or not he is capable of doing so remains an open question, one that looks less likely to have a yes answer with each passing year. It’s not that Anthony is a worthless NBA player now — he can still create his own shot and score — but it’s just not clear how he makes a team better at this point. And I know it’s just one game, but he was still a team-worst -20 last night which seems less than ideal. Both Anthony and the Trail Blazers need this to work equally badly. Anthony has been given what may be his last chance in the NBA and the Trail Blazers are desperate to make the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, especially after making it all the way to the Conference Finals last season.
Early returns on this shotgun marriage are not promising, but to be fair, the Blazers were missing their best player last night. However, to be realistic, I don’t see how the return of Damian Lillard is likely to change a decade and a half’s worth of ingrained habits on Anthony’s part. And even if Anthony is really ready to take on a smaller role, to take a backseat to Lillard and McCollum, is he even really the best option as a secondary wing scorer at this stage in his career? While his prime certainly offers reasons for optimism, the more recent past offers much fewer. Both Anthony and the Blazers are not in good places right now and are desperate for change. Right now, it looks like we might get more of the same.