It doesn’t appear than any other big-name veterans free agents are seriously considering signing with a Taiwanese team, Marc Stein reports in a Substack post.
Dwight Howard signed with Taoyuan Leopards earlier this month, though he’s currently sidelined with a knee injury.
However, three other former All-Stars who have reportedly drawn interest from Taiwanese teams — Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas — have shown no interest in playing there. The trio continue to wait for another NBA opportunity, regardless of any overseas interest, per Stein.
In terms of Cousins, it rebukes a report that he would soon sign with a team in the Taiwan league. Another report a couple of weeks back stated the Tainan TSG GhostHawks were pursuing Anthony. Stein also wrote in a previous post that Taiwanese teams were targeting Thomas.
Among those players, Anthony would appear to have the best chance of eventually signing another NBA deal. He averaged 13.3 points per game last season for the Lakers, and Stein says the opportunity to play a 20th NBA season “holds considerable meaning” for him.
January 10-day contracts.
Burke, too.
I thought Howard and even Cousins sometimes have played some pretty decent to solid basketball in short spurts over the last two seasons.
I wonder if the issue is only playing them for maybe 10-15min against certain match-ups, and if they’d want more playing time than that or if teams just think they’re washed up.
Then again, some interested contenders could just think that they’ll both still be unsigned later on anyways, and are thinking of them purely as an insurance backup just in case one of their own bigs gets injured later on in the season..
Or, they just think they’re washed up, and no longer worth an NBA roster spot…lol Although, idk, if either of Howard or Cousins accept their limited roles I cannot see how they wouldn’t be better than some current players, and they’d only cost the vet minimum…
What do you guys think??
I hate being the ‘the league has changed’ comment but it has. There are so few bigs left in the league that operate the way that Howard and Cousins do. Them not being signed to me is more a sign of what front offices and coaching staffs want to do offensively and defensively versus what they believe Howard and Cousins bring to the table. If you’re a seven footer that can’t shoot then you better be able to protect the rim. Howard’s days in that regard are numbered and Cousins was never a great defender. Even if you run these guys on your second unit they’re probably going to clog lanes on offense which typically isn’t ideal as a lot of teams go small with their second units and they want those driving lanes open as much as possible.
You also run into a situation where there are 30 teams in the league but not all 30 teams are prioritizing winning per se. Some of these younger teams want to get guys minutes and experience. To your point, are Howard and Cousins likely better than a lot of guys toward the end of many teams’ benches? No doubt. But their presence would mean taking minutes, experience, and maybe even a roster spot from some of those younger guys that are on otherwise non-competitive teams. That essentially means only playoff teams are going to be interested and then you can likely limit the pool further to eliminate teams on the edge of the playoffs and the lottery. At that point, how many of those remaining teams’ rosters are markedly better with Howard or Cousins playing in limited spurts?
I don’t think Howard or Cousins are incapable of playing at the NBA level by any stretch, I just think we’re in a changing landscape and they’re impacted by that.
Dwight Howard will be the first of this group to get signed. Once he gets healthy, he has a live body of work to look at. He is in game shape.
Cousins – Continues to have a negative impact on his teammates in the locker room. Lack of rim protection makes him an easy pass for most teams.
Melo just can’t help a contender. No reason for a non-contender to give Melo minutes over a young player unless they need to sell tickets.
Dwight Howard already signed with a Taiwanese team which presumably precludes him from rejoining an NBA team anytime soon.
Melo should be in the league. He has embraced being a role player and I think teams that struggle with spacing or need more offensive threats should seriously look at him. He’s not going to start for a contender, and he probably wants to win a ring, but he could provide valuable leadership and points off the bench at a pretty cheap cost.
Melo going back to the Trail Blazers and playing for his old teamate in 3 in 2 in …