The Rockets are officially moving on from veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, the team announced in a press release on Thursday.
Despite parting ways with Anthony, there are no immediate plans for him to be placed on waivers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Houston will allow him to remain on the roster, giving his reps the chance to explore possible teams for the 12-time NBA All-Star to join.
“After much internal discussion, the Rockets will be parting ways with Carmelo Anthony and we are working toward a resolution,” general manager Daryl Morey said. “Carmelo had a tremendous approach during his time with the Rockets and accepted every role head coach Mike D’Antoni gave him. The fit we envisioned when Carmelo chose to sign with the Rockets has not materialized, therefore we thought it was best to move on as any other outcome would have been unfair to him.”
Anthony joined the Rockets with hopes of providing frontcourt depth on a contending roster, but his role gradually changed after the first two weeks of the season. That proposed role didn’t fit in the eyes of Anthony, who would’ve surrendered significant minutes on the team.
“It wasn’t fair for him as a Hall of Fame player to play in a role that wasn’t good for him,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). “It wasn’t a fit.”
Teams like the Lakers, Pelicans and Trail Blazers could be interested in Carmelo, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor. A separate report from Marc Spears of The Undefeated suggests the 76ers and Heat may also have interest, but that the Lakers are done making signings in the short term.
Anthony, 34, is in his 16th NBA season. He appeared in just 10 games with the Rockets after signing a free-agent deal to join the team in the summer, averaging 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and a career-low 29.4 minutes per contest.
He was a poor fit with the Rockets from day one
Agreed. Ppl like Stephen A. Smith were calling him an elite defender.
Someone will sign him and give him 30 mins. That’s what he needs to do is end on a respectable season no matter where.
Chasing rings as bench depth on teams that have way better scoring options is not the way to go..
Pretty sure he will receive a ring if Rockets win, even if he’s cut loose.
Anyone else know that implication?
Looked it up myself. Basically the players and coaches vote on if former players who were on the roster during the season deserve a ring.
In most cases, the vote is: yes, but player declines ring since it’s kind of undeserved in most cases.
Would be interesting to see if Melo would accept the ring just to have a championship on his legacy, even though it’d be laughably undeserved.
Lebrons plan all along. Next Kemba for love and get a ring. Maybe the idiot cashman will finally spend once Kershaw is still dominating. I bet they miss his whole prime waiting, like Aaron Rodgers or Cecil fielder
No dude Mark Cuban said he cant sign Bryce Harper
Cecil Fielder reference? Now we’re really balling in here.
I like your ideas but I’m still going with Jeff Gordon, his track crew is always on point
Martina Navatolova and MaryLou Retton dominate the back court.
Just Reminding of your promise to leave if Lakers make playoffs. We are watching, will not forget.
That was “dionls” not “dionis”. Presumably a satirical account
Oops. Maybe he will accept same offer?
If he’s willing to play defense Utah and Portland would be a good fit for him. They need another scorer.
If he was willing to play defense LALA might come back
“If he’s willing to play defense”. Are you not familiar with Carmelo’s story?
Obviously you don’t.
Either going to LA or Sacramento or Portland
Or New Orleans or Detroit or Philly or Miami
So… what’s the reason for not just waiving him? He’s not playing anyway until he finds a new team.
An interested team can send salary back to the Rockets to clear space for him. In theory, this will increase the number of teams that can take him. Of course, the Rockets would have to agree to take the proposed new salary instead of doing what they want to with Melo’s space.
At this stage of his career if he doesn’t commit to getting in the best shape of his life he won’t be a good fit anywhere!!!! Houston was a great opportunity for him and he blew it. The only decent place for him now is Portland, LA would be foolish to break up the chemistry they have unless Lebron can rub off on Melo which I’m not sure he can.
What an idiotic signing from day 1. It’s amazing that some of these guys get paid to make decisions when most of the free World knew this wouldn’t work out.
Most of the “free world” thought Chris Paul was also a bad fit, so…
Paul may not have been a bad fit then but his 44 mill owed in 3 years gonna be a mess to deal w ..
Yeah paying Paul that contract was probably even dumber. No way another team would’ve paid his old injury prone a$$ that much.
Yeah even if Carmelo has something left to offer, it’s not gonna be in a fast paced system under a coach he already failed with.
Sort of sad to see how his career has played out over the last couple of years. He’s been the butt of a lot of jokes, and plays more like the last man on the bench than a top scorer. Not sure I would want that to be my legacy.
6ers, heat or his couch… unless he goes to an awful team to help them tank
come back home to the knicks
No please we had enough and don’t need any more punishment, I’m not a melo hater just don’t need anymore more of the 3 bond and all me style of play
Because he’s making minimum wage / 1 year deal, he can be claimed by any team (on waivers) or traded to any team (without the acquiring team sending back matching salaries).
Maybe he doesn’t want to be waived because he might get claimed by a team he doesn’t want to go to. From the Rockets standpoint, if he clears waivers, Rockets need to pay his salary (although they only pay 1.5 mm, they would like replace him with another 1.5 mm guy). The extra 1.5 might be 4 mm or so in luxury tax.
Hey @Reflect, better answer⤴
Sixers have an open spot.
I think that would be his best bet.
I was in favor of them trading for him pre-buyout. I also wanted the Knick’s 1st round pick lol.
Sixers need scorers. They need shooters. Doesn’t have to be a 3, just has to go in. Need a guy that can put the ball up when the shot clock is sub-5 seconds. JJ, JoJo, Butler are the only guys that you can count on to knock down that type of bucket. They have a hole at the 4 spot too.
But can you rely on a defense that has JJ and Melo on the court at the same time? You’d almost have to put Fultz at the 2 again which then takes away from the offense. Not sure it’s a great fit.
He wouldn’t be able to handle being Jimmy Butler’s Butler
A player that had no clue how to play D and make a pass.
I’m still hoping Heat, although it would have been nice to have been a couple of months in to integrating him at this point. He probably would be in a lot better shape already
The only reason Melo appeared good is because of his points he scored but he was a volume shooter and was not a team player nor a defense guy. I remember there was a short time where he picked up his d some on the knicks and shockingly the knicks did well.
Did he have the ability to play d, yes, but he chose not to.
Man, Mike D’antoni HATES Melo.
Allen iverson = the answer
Carmelo Anthony= the Cancer
Is anyone surprised part 2 looked as bad as part one ..
Feel for Melo, this site is like open season to see who can hate on him more, sad to read all your comments. Good thing he doesn’t care for any of you.
An easy case can be made that Anthony is the most overrated “Hall of Fame” player in NBA history. His playoff record is far from
stellar, his assist per game is very poor, he played terrible defense, his last five years have been filled with clashes and controversies. His style of play made him extinct as the game changed and he refused to. He had a great Olympic career and won an NCAA title as a freshman. But his NBA career has been underwhelming for a guy with his points per game stats.