Carmelo Anthony Inks Deal With the Trailblazers.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that former Thunder Carmelo Anthony is signing a non-guranteed contract with the Portland Trailblazers. Anthony played 10 games for the Rockets last season before being released. During his one season in Oklahoma City Anthony averaged 16 points, shot 40 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.
While Anthony's percentage from beyond the arc was better than his career average, his points pregame and overall shooting percentage were lower. Anthony never found a role within the Thunder offense and will be most remembered for his bookend press conferences. At media day Anthony answered "Who me?" when the Athletic's Erik Horne asked if he'd be willing to come off the bench. During his exit interview, Anthony would remind us of stance by saying he wouldn't "sacrifice no bench role." Not long after that Anthony and the 27.9 million the Thunder owed him were off to Atlanta (before signing with Houston) while Dennis Schroder found a new life in Oklahoma City.
It's easy to put Anthony in the malcontent category however, he was always generous with his time while here in Oklahoma City. His willingness to talk on the social issues of the day showed an insightful person who was more than basketball.
Anthony hasn't played competitively in a year. In fact, his last game came on November, 8th vs. the Thunder at the Peake. Anthony played 20 minutes, went 1-11 and scored two points. He was playing almost 30 minutes a game before being let go by Houston. If he can give the Trailblazers half that time, and half the points he averaged with the Thunder this low-risk high-reward signing could help a Portland bench that is 27th in the NBA.
