It’s been nearly a decade since the Miami Heat last won an NBA championship, and they are hell-bent on getting their hands on that trophy again. The Heat have come close to achieving that goal in recent times, only to agonizingly fall short at the end.
They made it all the way to the Finals in 2020, but injuries to Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic meant they lost to the Lakers in 6 games despite a great effort. Then, a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 saw them lose to the Celtics in 7 games, as injuries once again played spoilsport. The Heat also lost one of the key components from that team in PJ Tucker in free agency, and analyst Ben Stinar believes they should sign Carmelo Anthony to replace him.
via FanNation:
“At 38-years-old, Anthony is far from his prime, which saw him has one of the best players in league history. Yet, he proved last season that he can still be a key veteran off the bench, who can hit the three-point shot consistently. The Heat lost P.J. Tucker this offseason, and he was their veteran forward, who could knock the three-point shot. Anthony is not the level of defender that Tucker is, but he could play a similar role for them if he committed to the defensive side of the ball. On offense, he could be even more of a scoring threat than Tucker was.”
We are not sure if Anthony can play a role similar to that of Tucker on the defensive end, even if he tried his hardest. Melo is entering year 20 in the league, and while he can still do a good job offensively, as evidenced by him averaging 13.3 points on 44.1% shooting from the field, his defense which wasn’t great, to begin with, has fallen off even further from those low heights.
He could still give them the offensive firepower that they know they desperately need, as the team has been trying their best to land either Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell. Melo is nowhere near them at the moment, but he is still better than some of the pieces they have right now. If it is to happen, though, the Heat need to make a move fast, as the Lakers have had some productive talks on bringing him back to Los Angeles.
