The Portland Trail Blazers amended the contract of Carmelo Anthony on Thursday so it becomes fully guaranteed immediately.
Blazers head coach Terry Stotts says Anthony has “been a breath of fresh air for us.”
“Melo's been terrific for us,” Stotts said, via ESPN. “He's enjoying the experience. He's been a breath of fresh air for us that we needed. We put a kind of limit/restriction on the first game or two just because we didn't want to extend his minutes not knowing what shape he was in. But now he's playing 32-35 minutes, he played 37 minutes the other night. And for him to be out of NBA basketball for a year and be able to come in and play productive minutes for 35 minutes in an NBA game, to me, was remarkable.”
Anthony put up 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the Blazers last week, winning the Western Conference Player of the Week Award.
Melo is averaging 16.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in eight games with the Blazers. The 10-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer is shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from the 3-point line and 86.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Anthony and the Blazers take on LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. It should be an entertaining game with a lot of star power.
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