Carmelo Anthony On His Thunder Stint: 'Everything Was Just So Rushed'
Carmelo Anthony will don a third uniform in as many seasons in 2018-19 and will join the Houston Rockets after agreeing to a one-year, $2.4 million deal on Monday. Before Anthony steps onto the floor in Houston, the 10-time All-Star spoke to ESPN's Jemele Hill and reflected on his short stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder that ended in a first-round exit against the Jazz.
"At the end of the day, it wasn't a good fit," Anthony said. "Everything was just so rushed, going to the team for media day and the day before training camp. Them guys already had something in place, and then I come along in the 25th hour like, oh s--t, Melo just come on and join us."
Anthony struggled alongside fellow All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George last season and put up career-lows in points per game and field goal percentage. In six games against Utah in the playoffs, Anthony shot just 21 percent from beyond the arc.
The 2012-13 scoring champion will enter the league's top rated offense by teaming up with reigning MVP James Harden and nine-time All-Star Chris Paul. And there won't be any shortage of open looks, especially from three-point range. Houston attempted 594 more regular-season threes than any other NBA team last season, making 230 more than the second-place team. And with two passing maestros in the backcourt, Houston's role players feasted on open looks last year. Six Rockets averaged two or more made threes per game in 2017-18, most of any team.
