Portland's Carmelo Anthony Problem Is Resurfacing At The Worst Time
The problem with Carmelo Anthony was certainly not talent. It wasn't even really about his time-honored apathy on defense or his ever-depleted physical tools, either.
What most kept Anthony without a job in the NBA for a full calendar year? The fraught possibility of whatever team signing him eventually wanting to backtrack on promises made of consistent playing time and his familiar role.
And unfortunately for Anthony and the Trail Blazers, it might be coming to fruition at the worst possible time.
Anthony was actively damaging on both ends in Portland's rough loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. Donovan Mitchell targeted him again and again in ball-screen action, yielding predictably efficient results. Georges Niang went right at him, too. He was often a step slow or barely mobile as a weak-side and backline helper. He shot 2-of-8 overall and 1-of-5 from three, shooting labors that seemed worse because some of his misses came on ugly possessions like this.
'Melo was a team-worst -19 during his time on the floor against Utah, earning every bit of it. That telling plus-minus would have been worse if Terry Stotts wasn't relegated to cutting his normal stint in the second quarter short, too.
Stotts called timeout and yanked Anthony after he took a typically casual approach to transition defense, resulting in this wide-open corner three from Miye Oni.
A silver lining of Anthony's performance? Nassir Little, seemingly not a part of Portland's pre-game plans, took his unexpected opportunity and ran with it, immediately flashing on both sides of the ball.
Little had four points and two rebounds during his brief second-quarter appearance, spurring the Blazers to a lead they would take into halftime. The energy, activity and athleticism he provided especially stood out because Portland was so clearly lacking that verve before he came into the game.
It's not like Anthony pulls off two-way sequences like this very often.
Stotts stuck with Anthony in the third quarter before ending his night early once the game was out of reach. Little's third-quarter minutes didn't come at the expense of Anthony. He mostly got rotation burn, it appeared, because Jusuf Nurkic was in foul trouble and Enes Kanter was helpless defensively.
After the game, Stotts was asked by Jason Quick of The Athletic about the defensive viability of pairing Anthony and Kanter together. It doesn't much appear as if changes to the rotation are coming, or even being considered.
"Nurk is gonna start, Enes is our backup center," Stotts said. "'Melo is our backup four-man. So they will play."
Kanter is a different story than Anthony altogether. He's been moth-balled in the playoffs before, and Portland's commitment to sometimes playing small perhaps portends it happening again.
But everything points to Anthony continuing to be a mainstay for the Blazers, scoring struggles, defensive issues, offensive redundancies and Little's clear improvement be damned. Unfortunately for the Portland, Melo's legacy can't be "protected" – the main reason he signed in Rip City, remember – by going away from him when they might need to most.