Veteran small forward Carmelo Anthony has agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, per reports. Anthony previously had a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. At 37, he’s a veteran who will be chasing a championship during the last stage of his career.
Free agent F Carmelo Anthony has agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, his manager Bay Frazier tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021
Melo announced he’s joining the Lakers with this video on Twitter:
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) August 3, 2021
Anthony was a decorated All-Star and Olympian for much of his career, but he never was able to take the next step to being an MVP or leading his team to the Finals. He ran into some strong Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs teams during his time in Denver and couldn’t compete with the Miami Heat when he was on the Knicks. When Anthony went to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors had their dynasty going.
In the last few seasons, Anthony has been bouncing around the league as a part of trade deals. His reported reluctance to accept a lesser role caused issues for him with the Houston Rockets, eventually leading to the trade to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls waived Anthony and he was out of the league for some time.
Anthony re-emerged as a valuable rotation player during his time in Portland, primarily coming off the bench. His 40.9 percent clip from behind the arc is appealing even as his athleticism has declined. In his last three seasons, Anthony averaged 14.3 points per game.
Melo joins a Lakers team that has had a bit of turnover this offseason. Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso are gone. The team has signed Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and now Melo. The Lakers also traded for Russell Westbrook prior to the draft last week. So we could see the Lakers start Russ, Ellington, LeBron, AD and Howard. We also know AD could play more at the 5, in which case we could see Ellington and Melo starting next season along with the Big 3.