Carmelo Anthony was hoping to return to the Trail Blazers this summer before LeBron James urged him to join the Lakers, writes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Appearing on Haynes’ “Posted Up” podcast, Anthony said he was waiting to see if Portland was interested in bringing him back when James reached out to him. Anthony spent the last two years with the Blazers, but said management didn’t contact him about a return.
“No, not the way I thought. But honestly, I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “… Not to say Portland did anything wrong, but I was sitting around because I’m a loyal person. I didn’t want to leave (Damian Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) and those guys. But I know the business.”
In addition to his long friendship with James, Anthony chose the Lakers because he sees the team as his best hope to cap off his career with a championship. He told Haynes that several other organizations expressed interest, which felt good after being out of the league two years ago.
“New York was always there, always a story,” Anthony said. “I told my son when he made it to high school, I’d be there. Philly, I didn’t get a chance to converse with Philly, but there was interest. New Orleans had interest. It felt good to see that again and being a part of teams being interested in me when 18-20 months again, it was nobody.”
There’s more from L.A.:
- James has played fewer minutes per game each season since 2016/17, and Jovan Buha of The Athletic expects that trend to continue this year. James will turn 37 in December and the Lakers will be try to be careful with him to avoid the kind of long-term injury he had last season.
- Of all the players the Lakers added in free agency, Kendrick Nunn was probably the most surprising, Buha adds in the same piece. The former Heat guard signed for the taxpayer mid-level exception, and Buha speculates that he could have gotten a better offer from another team. Buha also questions whether Nunn will get the playing time he’s used to with Russell Westbrook handling most of the minutes at point guard.
- The Lakers have officially announced the additions of David Fizdale and John Lucas III as assistant coaches (Twitter link). Both hires were previously reported.
Kendrick Nunn will not only have to deal with getting backup minutes at PG behind Westbrook, but he will also have to deal with Rondo getting minutes there as well.
Oh, so do the Lakers have good players or not?
They sure have offense. But as a team it might be the worst perimeter defense in the league. Should be cool to watch though a lot if high scoring shootouts.
Far from worst perimeter defense in the league. LeBron call still lock people down when it matters and Davis can guard anybody from De’Aaron Fox to Kevin Durant to Joel Embiid.
Taco:
Please report to drug test station III first thing in the morning! ;)
I’m not a Lakers fan, just pointing out facts. Davis is atletic to guard Fox tall enough to guard Durant and strong enough to guard Embiid. James saves his energy for when it matters and can still lockdown anybody in the last five minutes. The problem is no one else on the team can play man to man or defend a switch except James or Davis.
The Lakers problem isn’t Defense as I’d be willing to bet they’ll be above average. The problem is they have no above average shooters other than Monk and Ellington and they have LeBron and Westbrook who both need the ball in their hands to be at their best.
Besides what you pointed out DeAndre Jordan & Dwight Howard can still protect the rim and THT & Trevor Ariza not what he once was as a perimeter defender can still do something on the floor plus Ken Bazemore, Westbrick will hold their own.
They’re projected to win 52.5 games so they must have some, right?
Nunn is a shoot first PG not a true PG like Rondo, Kidd, Stockton…
Facts Nunn’s a baller and more of a 2-guard, if he’s healthy he’ll get plenty of minutes. Especially when others on the roster inevitably go down throughout the season
How long until Melo gets waived?
Dudley managed to keep his chair on the bench. I’m sure Melo has enough rapport with the King to keep his as well
Melo isn’t going to provide any defense but he’s going to be hitting plenty of 3 pointers on the kick out from Bron and Russ. Doubtful he gets waived and in my opinion he could even spend a couple years in purple and gold depending on how things shake out this year.
Lakers are so overrated. No chance they even make the finals this year
* clippers fixed it for you! And I will be right seeing as they never have or never will make it to the finals lol !
Trust me I don’t think clippers have a chance either, I named who I thought had a chance in another thread , bucks nets warriors jazz nuggets maybe an outside chance for Miami or Dallas. Point is Lakers signed a bunch of names that’s all they are. The fact that they think Westbrook will be a positive asset is hilarious. He’s proven he’s a stat’s guy who really doesn’t care about winning a championship. Hey he’s the second man who’s averaged a triple double in a season so he has that. Really seems like the nets stay healthy and it would be hard for them to not win the championship
Couldn’t disagree more
The package they gave up >>>> Westbrook. There’s a reason he’s about to be on his 4th team in 4 years. No point in arguing about the future but don’t worry I’ll be sure to talk to you at the end of season as you eat crow
Do you know why he has been in 4 teams in the past 4 years? If so please do tell.
You couldn’t disagree more? What if he said the Kings will meet the Magic in the finals? Or the Rockets vs the Pistons?
Stop reading at jazz and nuggets.
If Murray can contribute after coming off the injury Denver is legit. Utah had the best record in the league and got better with the addition of Gay. I hate to say it but as I really respect Favors but Whiteside is an upgrade if he’s matured enough to know his role.
KD, Kyrie, and Harden are in a far better situation in Brooklyn than their counterparts in LA. The only team they really need to worry about is the Bucks. While a team in the much deeper West, as the Lakers are, will have to contend with Utah, Denver, and Portland among others.
Portland, really?
If Nets stay healthy well duh if all teams stay healthy Nets and Lakers will be in the finals period also if Lakers and Nets were healthy this year they both would have been in the finals as well BOUNCE CLOWN!
No chance? That’s ridiculous. I’ll admit we have to put it all together on the floor and there are some question marks but to say there’s “no chance” is just asinine.
Vogel will do some dumb stuff like completely ignore young players. Kendrick Nunn should be #2. Monk and Nunn should be before the older dudes. I got a feeling tho that he signed them to trade them. Even that’s disturbing.
There’s only a couple of young players, so no matter what you are right.
Baffles me how people are talking smack on the Lakers. I guessing it just to annoy Lakers fans which I guess is funny but it’s pointless.
No one really believes they won’t make the playoffs and be a real force competing for a title.
They will stroll through the regular season, resting AD and Bron so they don’t get injured and can dominate at the playoffs.
They have one of the deepest rosters in the league. You have Russ Rondo Nunn Monk THT Ellington Bazemore Ariza Bron Melo AD Howard and Jordan. That’s 13 guys that’ll all play a role at some point in helping the Lakers.
The will have issues like coaching, egos, age, injuries, spacing, touches and so on and so on but they are have one thing in common, they want to win. Players will give up touches and shots for others, players will take a back seat to help the team, it’s all apart of buying in to being apart of the team. If someone becomes a distraction, or unsettles the locker room or whatever they will get traded or waived. It’s goes Bron AD Russ then everyone else is expendable and they know it.
I’m predicting they get about 45 wins, which last season would’ve been the 5th seed. Coming down to the final stretch of the season they will be lining up the playoff tree and trying to find the easiest path to the final. Not saying they will win it but they will be in my top 5 teams most likely to win.
All things being equal (health) they will win 60
Considering that hasn’t been done by any team the last three seasons, I really doubt that.
I mean prime Bron AD Russ Melo Howard sure but AD is always banged up (last year he played 36 games), Bron is 36 going on 37 and also has injury concerns (last year he played 45 games). They have an old squad and plays will get injured and miss more time but that’s why they have so much depth.
45 wins is a good number, last year they won 42. They’ve made a bunch of roster changes mainly for the good but they have gotten an older squad but have depth. They will improve from last year but they won’t be amazing.
Bucks won 46 games last year and then went on to win the championship. You don’t need to win the regular season to win the title and Bron knows that
45 wins would be 45-37. Again all things being equal (injuries) they will blow by that number. Three years ago the Bucks won 60. Two years ago three teams were on pace for 60 wins but the season was cut short. Last season no teams were in pace for 60.
Lakers chances depends on lebron & AD’s health.
Carmelo will be all right as long as he doesnt get big headed and stay in his lane like he did in Portland. Simply ACT like you are the 8th/9th guy on the team.
In short, he should have finished his career in Portland where he was appreciated and role defined.