Carmelo

Anthony

After 19 seasons in the NBA, Anthony has decided to call it a career. One of the game’s greatest scorers, Melo ranks ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. A 10-time All-Star, Anthony was also a six-time All-NBA selection and three-time Olympic gold medalist. In 2002, the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team for his accomplishments on the court. Anthony began his career in Denver, playing seven seasons there before being traded to the Knicks during the 2010-11 campaign. After six-plus seasons in the Big Apple, he would have stints in Oklahoma City, Houston, Portland, and Los Angeles before calling it a career.

Scalabrine notes that Melo likely wouldn’t be a part of Boston’s regular rotation, but he could be a huge spark off the bench on nights when Al Horford or Robert Williams need to sit out for rest. Anthony shot 37.5% from beyond the arc a season ago, and the longtime veteran makes even more sense considering Danilo Gallinari’s recent ACL tear that leaves a void in Boston’s roster. Another recent report from MassLive indicates the Celtics aren’t interested in signing Anthony, but we wouldn’t slam the door completely. If Anthony signs with Boston, he could be used as a streamer throughout the season when it’s known that he’ll see some additional run, but Melo’s days of getting drafted in 12-team fantasy hoops leagues are over.

The report does indicate that while the Celtics aren’t interested in bringing in Melo, they may not be completely done shaping their roster. Melo would do a decent job of replacing what Danilo Gallinari would’ve brought, but they may be more interested in using the roster spot on a different player. Melo should still be able to find a job in the NBA and have no problem delivering some points and triples.

Boston has already applied for the disabled player exception for Danilo Gallinari, which tells us they aren’t planning on having The Rooster available for the 2022-23 season after he tore his ACL while playing for the Italian National Team this summer. Now, they need some additional help in their frontcourt, and Melo is viewed as one of the more productive offensive players still on the market, so the 38-year-old vet may be able to get one more season on his resume. Stay tuned.

Fischer did acknowledge that he doesn’t know if the Knicks have much interest in bringing Melo back. He’s in the latter stages of his career, but he can still score with the best of them. He averaged 13.3 points and 2.2 triples per game last season for the Lakers. If he were to join the Knicks, he’d be a nice backup forward for them that can get the offense going. He’ll have some fantasy value for triples if he’s given 15-20 minutes per game.

“They need another big guy,” an unnamed NBA executive told Deveney. “There are veterans they can sign this month or even early next month—Dwight Howard would be the obvious one, maybe Hassan Whiteside. Cody Zeller is out there, too. They want to see what they have with Nic Claxton, but they want some insurance there, too. And they’re going to play [Ben] Simmons [in the frontcourt] quite a bit in small-ball lineups ... There has been some talk about them signing Carmelo Anthony, maybe as a nod to Kevin Durant, but obviously that has not gotten anywhere, at least not yet.” Melo’s lackluster defense tends to eclipse his offensive contributions these days, but at least one team is intrigued by what he has to offer.

“Golden State has the room for him. He can make shots and they can hide up his defense, which is one of the big problems with adding him,” Bulpett said. “He’d take the minimum. They have a lot of young guys on that roster, they could do with another veteran and those guys all know Carmelo from Team USA. I do not know if they would really take that plunge on him, but it does make some sense.” The Knicks have also reportedly had internal discussions about Melo and there is always the possibility that he returns to the Lakers of course. But from the looks of it, nothing is going to get done in the immediate future.

Melo is now 38 years old and looking to close out his career somewhere meaningful, and what better place to do so than where he spent seven seasons, all of which he was named an All-Star. Anthony was pretty productive in his bench role with the Lakers last season, averaging 13.3 points in 26 minutes per game, and the sentimental appeal is already there. Before New York addresses this, however, its main priority is finding a point guard to run the team, with Jalen Brunson and Tyus Jones being a couple names they’re considering, in addition to the ongoing drama surrounding Julius Randle and his mighty decrease in production we saw in his 2021-2022 campaign.

With all of Melo, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook ruled out, Talen Horton-Tucker -- who scored a career-high 40 points on Thursday -- should be the biggest beneficiary. THT is rostered in just 12% of Yahoo leagues and makes an excellent streamer for the Lakers’ final game of the regular season.

With Melo out again, Kent Bazemore and Wenyen Gabriel should be the backup forwards for this game. Neither of those guys hold any real fantasy value, but Stanley Johnson, Dwight Howard, and Talen Horton-Tucker are all readily available and should continue to start for the Lakers.