In the final stage of his career, Carmelo Anthony is looking to go out with a bang. After stints in Portland and Los Angeles, the NBA veteran is once again a free agent — except this time, he’s got a number of teams considering offering a deal.
Among them are the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors, who were recently linked to the 10x All-Star in an article by Heavy’s Sean Deveney.
There remain a couple of other possibilities for Anthony. The Knicks are most often mentioned, but one could be the Brooklyn Nets, if the team ultimately decides against trading Kevin Durant. Already, word is out that Kyrie Irving is willing to stay put and play in Brooklyn next season, and if the same happens with Durant, signing Anthony could be a way of making peace with the team’s stars. Irving and Durant wanted the Nets to sign Anthony in 2019 when he was a free agent, but Brooklyn ultimately decided against it.
“The possibility is there for that because Anthony, maybe he can contribute but his (salary) number would not be very big. If you’re Brooklyn, that is the positive,” Bulpett said.
Considering all of the uncertainties that come with joining the Nets, Golden State may be the best option for Melo if he’s looking for the easiest path to a title.
“It would be a nice story, if he could win a ring there to end his career,” the GM said. “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. 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.”
Wherever Anthony goes, he won’t be observing the action from the sidelines. As a premier shooter and scorer, he’ll get real minutes on the floor as part of the bench unit.
Even now, at 38 years old, Carmelo continues to be a productive player that can bring a spark to any lineup. Last season, he averaged 13.3 points per game for the Lakers as one of their best bench shooters.
