Carmelo Anthony is known as one of the best scorers of all-time. Melo has been a household name in the NBA ever since he was drafted in the 2003 draft by the Denver Nuggets out of Syracuse University. In Denver, Melo became an instant star and helped the Nuggets reach heights they never have before. They were constantly one of the best teams in the Western Conference and were well respected throughout the league.
From there, Melo left and joined his hometown team the New York Knicks. Melo teamed up with former Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni and power forward Amare Stoudamire. Although the Knicks never won a playoff series, Melo was loved in New York and represented the city as well as anyone ever has. However, the losses started to come and fans started to want Melo gone because of his massive contract.
Melo ended up getting traded to the Atlanta Hawks, who eventually bought him out, and then signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder had their own version of a big three with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony to mimic what the Golden State Warriors were doing. There were high expectation, but Anthony never truly fit in and found himself out of the rotation shortly after the season started. Anthony was bought out by the Thunder in the off-season and he eventually signed with the Houston Rockets.
Again, Anthony was pairing with a high-caliber offense that was headlined by eventual MVP, James Harden. However, this marriage was once again short lived as Anthony couldn’t find his role on this team and was waived by the Rockets. Once touted as one of the best players in the league, Melo was unemployed and there were no signs of any team signing him.
That was until an undermanned Portland Trail Blazers team came along this season. Hobbled and under performing, the Blazers signed Melo in what was looked at as a low-risk, low-reward move for them. They needed scoring and Melo could give them that. It also helped that players like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have been lobbying for Melo to join the Blazers for two years now.
Subsequently, Anthony has proved all his haters wrong and has flourished in Portland thus far. Anthony has averaged 22.3 points on 57 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent shooting from three, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. These stats were good enough for the NBA to recognize him as one of the Western Conference players of the week. It has been a long journey for Anthony, where he has been doubted, but it’s great to see him thriving and making an impact in Portland.
NBA Insight 