Los Angeles Lakers

Despite critics, Lakers made right move picking Jared Dudley over Carmelo Anthony

A former NBA player bashed the Los Angles Lakers’ decision to sign Jared Dudley over Carmelo Anthony, but the Lakers made the right call.

Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers came quite close to signing Carmelo Anthony to team up with his good friend, LeBron James.

A playoff-crushing losing streak in March put an end to the “Melo in L.A.” dreams, but some thought that the Lakers would try again this summer to get Anthony to Hollywood. Those dreams now appear dead as the Lakers roster is full heading into training camp.

That hasn’t stopped some folks from grumbling as to why the Lakers relented on signing Anthony, a ball-dominant forward whose post-up, mid-range game doesn’t fit the modern-day NBA. One of those critics spoke up in an interview with Fanatics View: Royce White, a former first round pick with the Houston Rockets who now plays in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league.

White didn’t mince words when coming to Anthony’s defense, saying that the Lakers should have pursued him, and calling out James for not caping for his friend. White had one specific player in mind who he thought the Lakers should ditch in favor of Anthony — Jared Dudley.

“If anybody thinks Dudley can hold Carmelo’s jockstrap, I’ll slap them,” he said. According to CBS Sports, Dudley posted a response to White, but quickly took it down.

Nobody is saying that Dudley is on Anthony’s level of talent. Carmelo is a future Hall-of-Famer while Dudley is a journeyman who could help on contending teams — which is precisely why L.A. was correct to favor him over Anthony.

The Lakers were a trash heap on defense last season, and Dudley can help out on that front. Also, there’s still Anthony’s looming belief that he can be a starting-caliber player, which won’t happen with the Lakers as Kyle Kuzma already has the other forward spot locked down.

Just like in Houston, Anthony would have to come to grips with coming off the bench with the Lakers. However, if he still believed that he’s a starting-caliber player, then the Lakers wouldn’t be a good fit him just like the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t.

Next: Building the perfect NBA roster

Dudley is a team player who plays both ends of the floor and could be an X-factor on a Laker team gunning for a title this year. Could Anthony help them out? Probably, but that would require a change in his outlook and his stance in today’s NBA — something that, for now at least, we haven’t seen.

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