It was not a long time ago when the Houston Rockets still considered Carmelo Anthony as the player who could help them fully dominate the Western Conference and win an NBA championship title. During the 2017 NBA offseason, the Rockets expressed interest in acquiring Anthony after he demanded a trade from the New York Knicks. Unfortunately, with the Rockets’ lack of interesting trade assets, the Knicks ended up trading Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After failing to make himself fit as the third scoring option behind Russell Westbrook and Paul George, Carmelo Anthony decided to part ways with the Thunder this summer. When he became an unrestricted free agent, the Rockets immediately made a move to add Anthony to their team. However, like what happened in Oklahoma City, signing Anthony is also a failed experiment for the Rockets.
Carmelo Anthony’s presence affected the Rockets’ performance on both ends of the floor in a negative way, and he’s currently taking most of the blame for their rough start. Recently, league sources reportedly told Tim MacMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the Rockets are strongly considering cutting ties with Anthony. In a separate ESPN article, Woj revealed that Anthony’s representatives have already started gathering information from NBA front offices regarding potential landing spots for the veteran forward.
Sources on ESPN: With no ongoing discussions to rejoin the Rockets, Carmelo Anthony’s reps spent Monday gathering information from NBA front offices to find a landing spot. https://t.co/U6tTBZ4ihO
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 12, 2018
According to Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun-Sentinel, two of the most intriguing destinations for Carmelo Anthony are the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat where he could reunite with his close pals and co-members of the Banana Boat Crew, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. When the drama in Houston started, both James and Wade showed support to the 10-time NBA All-Star.
Trying to make my guy @carmeloanthony the fall guy huh!? Man y’all need to stop. That’s the easy way out instead of addressing what the real problem.
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 12, 2018
Since the 2018 NBA offseason, the Heat have expressed a strong interest in adding Carmelo Anthony to their team, and according to Winderman, Miami could “resume the courtship” once he clears waivers with the Rockets.
“What began as flirtation instead of marriage could yet wind up as a rebound romance for the Miami Heat. After meeting with Carmelo Anthony and his representatives in July at the Las Vegas Summer League following the forward’s buyout from the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Heat soon could be positioned to resume the courtship.”
Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony will undeniably be a great addition to a team who only has LeBron James as their superstar. However, in an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump , Marc J. Spears revealed that the Lakers are not interested in signing Anthony. Aside from the Heat, Spears named the Philadelphia 76ers as one of the NBA teams who could pursue Anthony in the buyout market.
