T
he Portland Trailblazers just recently signed Carmelo Anthony on Thursday night. Players and fans have been waiting for this acquisition for the longest.
Carmelo Anthony has been waiting for another opportunity ever since the Rockets let him go last season. When the Rockets acquired Anthony in the 2018 summer, the buzz about him already was he hated playing defense and was not a team player. The Rockets front office was worrying about if Anthony and Harden would get along. They wanted to add more perimeter shooting so they were able to match up with Golden State better. The Rockets decided to take a risk on Anthony.
As the 2018-2019 season started, the Rockets got off to a slow start with a record of 4-6. Questions were being asked if Anthony was a right fit for the Rocket's roster during the struggle. Daryl Morey and the Rockets analytics started to take a closer look at Anthony.
After evaluating Anthony, Morey decided to let him go. Anthony's departure from the team had the league confused. Analysts wondered if Harden had anything to do with it. Chris Paul, Anthony's friend, was completely confused on why the Rockets let him go. Anthony at the time was averaging 13.4 ppg and was coming off the bench.
Dwayne Wade, Anthony's friend, felt like the Rockets used him as a scapegoat for the terrible start. Anthony went on First Take to explain the situation with the Rockets. He told Stephen A. Smith that Morey was not letting him suit up that night against the Spurs. Anthony was also appalled on what Morey said to him. He was defiantly confused after a 28 point performance against Brooklyn.
For a good solid year people thought Anthony was black balled by NBA teams around the league. Anthony's situation was disappointing because no NBA team for the longest wanted to take chance on him. There were rumors that the Lakers were possibly going to sign him unless they made the playoffs last season. Anthony's best friend, Lakers's star, LeBron James, found it difficult to acquire him on the Lakers. Royce White, a player in the BIG3 league, called James out on Anthony's behalf. Former NBA players like Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson also believed that Anthony was black balled. They talked about Anthony's problems on their podcast "All the Smoke."
Now that the noise is cleared, the Portland Trailblazers have recently acquired Anthony on Thursday. On Friday, Damian Lillard spoke to reporters about the Blazers acquiring Anthony. Lillard willingly expressed how Anthony can bring a veteran presence to the Blazers. The fun fact of the interview was on how Lillard mentioned he was a big Melo fan growing up. People were really excited about Anthony getting a chance to play the Rockets this Monday night. Sadly, there were reports from Adrian Wojnarowski saying Anthony will not play until Tuesday versus the Pelicans.
Hopefully this transition with the Blazers helps out Anthony because a player like him deserves to be in the league.
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