Two years after the duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum clamored to welcome Carmelo Anthony into their fold, the wish has come true.
Better late than never, some say. That might just be true for these struggling Portland Trail Blazers.
Lillard, who is second in the league in scoring at 30.5 points per game, said adding the former NBA scoring champion was “worth a shot.”
“We added a good player,” Lillard said in a text to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “Another scoring threat, experience, rebounder.”
This might not be the version of Anthony the Blazers backcourt duo called for, now two years older, and coming off two disappointing outings with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets.
Yet the Blazers might just offer the opportunity Melo has looked for since moving on from the New York Knicks in 2017.
Portland has a huge absence at power forward, and they badly need a reliable source of scoring besides Lillard and McCollum. Enter Carmelo Anthony — a perennial starter and 20-point scorer in each of his first 14 seasons in the league.
Furthermore, the Blazers have plenty of outside shooters and shouldn't need to morph Melo's natural mid-range game the way the Rockets tried to Frankenstein when signing him last offseason.
Melo isn't expected to come and save the Blazers, but a double-digit contribution and some rebounds would be surely welcomed by Lillard and a team that is struggling to find its footing after a 4-8 start to the season.
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