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Portland Trail Blazers: 5 free agency destinations for Carmelo Anthony

By Stevie Cozens

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers hug before the start of Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers hug before the start of Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Carmelo Anthony destination #3 – Detroit Pistons

Again, similar to the above teams, the Detroit Pistons are in the midst of a rebuild. They let Reggie Jackson out of the last year of his deal on a buyout, while they traded franchise player Andre Drummond for very little at the trade deadline this year.

The departure of Drummond for a small return signaled that this team wanted a fresh start. With only five guaranteed contracts on the books for 2021, the only negative asset they have is the massive contract of Blake Griffin

Griffin only has two years left, but with his chronic injury status, he may end up being salary dumped or maybe even stretched in the second year.

This upcoming offseason, they will have $34 million in room and may take on bad contracts to get assets or sign vets on short team deals to roll their cap space over till 2021. If there are no strong free agents that teams want to sign to long-term contracts, signing one-year deals makes sense.

With a weak 20th-ranked offense in the 2019/20 season, the Pistons should also look for offensive pieces when they think about how to spend their cap space.

Griffin is a power forward, but there’s no reason they can’t sign Melo to back him up, or as injury insurance. The defensive side of the ball is less critical for these rebuilding teams as they have no realistic chance of making the playoffs.

The Pistons main building blocks at the moment are Luke Kennard and Sekou Doumbouya. If they are priced out of bringing back breakout big man Christian Wood, then Melo could be the answer.