Yeah, we’re totally going there.
The purpose of this article was to provide a few noteworthy veterans that wouldn’t require a ton of breaking in to fit into Portland’s system. But it gets no better than production that’s already on film and in uniform.
There’s been a developing dialogue surrounding the role of the now 36-year-old Carmelo Anthony, and what it could be as a Portland Trail Blazers player, as opposed to say, the New York Knicks. At the end of the day, it probably boils down to one question:
At this juncture of his career, is Anthony comfortable playing for a team where his point per game average might be higher than his team’s win total?
It took all of 58 games for Anthony to become a cult hero in Portland, something that had come to elude him in his previous two stops. And, there’s proven continuity among he and Portland’s three featured stars. In 170 minutes, the Lillard-McCollum-Anthony-Nurkic quartet shook the NBA to the tune of a 125.8 offensive rating.
Among four-man lineups to play at least 150 minutes together, that group owned the No. 4 spot in the NBA.
The three groups ahead of them played 30 or more games together.
Portland’s lineup played in a whopping eight games together.
"Whatever you do, don't let @carmeloanthony get to his spot."
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 28, 2020
Narrator: They let Melo get to his spot pic.twitter.com/T1DXJYwDt3
So, there’s a run-it-back effect at play. Given Portland’s returnees, Anthony’s likely to take at least a reduced role. It’s still unclear as to if he would be on board with say, a bench role.
But one aspect that seems to get forgotten, though: it’s less about who starts games … and more about who finishes them. And Anthony was a major cog in an abnormally clutch machine in the Orlando bubble. He’s spent half of his adult life in the NBA, and in Year 17, 2019-20 Lillard is probably the best player he’s ever shared a floor with. One has to hope he keeps this in his psyche.