NBA Rumors: ‘NBC Sports’ Columnist Explains Why Carmelo Anthony Should Join Golden State Warriors

Looking at their lineup on paper, the Golden State Warriors look like a team that has all their needs covered. With free-agent signee DeMarcus Cousins set to join a lineup that already features Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, the Warriors have All-Stars expected to start at all five positions. However, one columnist believes that the Warriors should add a sixth All-Star to their lineup, now that he’s apparently on the way out of the Oklahoma City Thunder. But how would Carmelo Anthony fit into the Warriors’ plans, and why would they try to add him to the team when they might not have a real need for him?

Although rumors suggest that the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers are the top favorites to acquire Anthony from Oklahoma City, NBC Sports columnist Ray Ratto opined that the Warriors should sign the 34-year-old small forward for the simple purpose of trolling NBA fans, reporters, and opponents who are fed up with how the team has become a juggernaut by ending up with the some of the league’s best players via free agency, trades, and the NBA Draft.

“I think the Golden State Warriors should make a run at Carmelo Anthony,” Ratto wrote.

“Not because they need him, because they don’t. Not because they can use him, because they realistically can’t. Not because he fits anything they do, because he absolutely does not. But they should do it anyway, and only for one reason – because it will make all the medias, social, antisocial and all medias in between, gnash their teeth and shake their fists in more convincingly impotent rage.”

ESPN Sources with @royceyoung: Oklahoma City, Carmelo Anthony will part ways this summer, likely saving team over $100M. Thunder working with 'Melo's reps on exits that include trade, stretch provision. Story: https://t.co/mJbxINv2Cd

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2018

As noted by NBA.com, Anthony is due to receive $28 million from the Thunder in 2018-19 but is nonetheless expected to be headed elsewhere this offseason, as the Thunder look for ways to part with him after just one season with the team.

Ratto further noted in his NBC Sports column that the possibility of the Golden State Warriors signing Carmelo Anthony could especially be galling to the Houston Rockets, whom the Warriors defeated in the Western Conference Finals earlier this year. He also posited that the Warriors made their “heel turn” by signing Kevin Durant as a free agent two years ago, and became even more disliked around the league by signing DeMarcus Cousins to a veteran’s minimum contract, essentially renting him for one year. This, according to Ratto, has irked many teams and could theoretically inspire the Warriors to sign Anthony for the sake of signing him.

“To grab Anthony would be the most gratuitous act yet, the middlest middle finger of them all – a spite signing done for the sole reason of making people turn purple.”

While Ratto noted that Carmelo Anthony joining the Warriors would make for a “hilariously vindictive” act that could establish the team as “actual” NBA villains, he stressed that it’s highly doubtful that the Warriors are interested in the 10-time NBA All-Star. Ratto also emphasized that Anthony is the “anti-Warrior” in terms of his playing style, which makes it even less likely that he’ll be headed to the Bay Area for the 2018-19 season.