NBA Trade Rumors: Carmelo Anthony To Portland Trail Blazers Make Sense, Per ‘Hoops Habit’
After engaging in a trade deal with the Houston Rockets, the Chicago Bulls revealed that they don’t have any intention of playing Carmelo Anthony. The Bulls are currently in the middle of a rebuilding process and focused on the development of their young players in the 2018-19 NBA season. So far, the Bulls are hoping that they could use the 10-time NBA All-Star to acquire valuable assets before the February NBA trade deadline.
However, with his deteriorating performance, it remains unknown if there will be NBA teams who are willing to trade for Anthony, and as of now, it is highly likely that the Bulls will just let the veteran small forward walk away as an unrestricted free agent. Once he becomes available on the buyout market, one of the NBA teams who could express interest in acquiring Anthony is the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Hoops Habit.
The explosive backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum has carried the Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Playoffs for five consecutive seasons. However, their only greatest achievement was reaching the second round. If they want to change the narrative in the upcoming postseason, the Trail Blazers should make a huge change on their roster.
“Portland has two solid power forwards already in Al-Farouq Aminu and Zach Collins, but neither provides the scoring punch that Melo is still able to offer, even at this stage in his career. Although it is a risk for Portland to add Carmelo Anthony to their roster, it needs to do something to shake up their roster for this year’s playoff run. The summer that Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum pushed hard to get Melo to Portland. Better late than never?”
The Bulls-Cavaliers rivalry still might be raging had Carmelo Anthony signed on the dotted line in 2014, @KCJHoop writes.https://t.co/GIN2wc4BFf
— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) January 27, 2019
Carmelo Anthony may already be on the downside of his NBA career, but he could still be an intriguing acquisition to a team like the Trail Blazers, who are in dire need of additional star power. Despite his struggle as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s third scoring option last season, Anthony still averaged 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 35.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Both Trail Blazers superstars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum will surely love the idea of having Carmelo Anthony in Portland. Before Anthony was traded to the Thunder during the summer of 2017, Lillard and McCollum tried recruiting him to the Trail Blazers. Lillard and McCollum could once again express interest in Anthony once the Bulls buyouts his contract after the February NBA trade deadline.
