Carmelo Anthony is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets for a league’s veteran minimum of $2.4 million. The contract will be signed in about 48 hours following his imminent release from the Atlanta Hawks.
After acquiring Anthony and a protected 2022 first-round draft pick from the Oklahoma Thunder in a trade for Dennis Schroeder and Mike Muscala (who by the way will be sent to the Philadelphia 76ers), the Atlanta Hawks made it clear they had no interest in keeping the 34-year-old veteran.
Now that the trade between the Hawks, Thunder and Sixers was completed, Atlanta can proceed to buy the remainder of Anthony’s contract. After that, he will take 48 hours to clear waivers and once that happens he’s free to sign with the Rockets.
The signing is reportedly a done deal after the Rockets met with Anthony in Las Vegas earlier this month. The meeting took place after the Thunder authorized both parties to meet to try to reach an agreement that would send “Melo” to Houston.
Anthony is a 10-time All-Star forward, but last season he averaged a career-low 16.2 points with the Thunder, more than six points fewer than in his final season with the New York Knicks.
As for his long-range shooting Anthony made 37.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes, well below the 41.8 percent he averaged with the New York Knicks.
If Anthony, as expected, does end in Houston he would be reuniting with Mike D’Antoni, his former New York Knicks coach. The reunion, however, is not necessarily good news as in 2012 the two struggled to see eye-to-eye on many issues and eventually D’Antoni resigned.
In 2017 D’Antoni revealed in an ESPN the Magazine interview that he quit the Knicks after Anthony forced his exit asking the organization to choose between him and the coach.
Will this experiment work out or will the Rockets regret the move? If Anthony accepts whatever role the team asks him to play and stays healthy he could end up making the Rockets better, but if he refuses to fit in and starts butting heads with D’Antoni he could be out of the team before the season is over.
We’ll have to wait until the season starts to see how this one plays out. Stay tuned.
