Carmelo Anthony was supposed to revive a career many believed was almost finished and compete for a ring with the rebuilt Oklahoma City Thunder. After that expectation proved too much to fulfill, he supposedly found his perfect fit playing third wheel next to a pair of ball-dominant passing maestros with the Houston Rockets. Following the end of that brief, failed chance at rehabilitating his reputation, a contender in need of offensive punch for its playoff push, or even just the Los Angeles Lakers, would surely take a flier on him eventually.

Not even a full season but what seems like five years time in the basketball world from playing his last NBA game, Carmelo Anthony remains unsigned, splashing jumpers in empty gyms while enjoying the offseason like a veteran waiting to sign his next contract once free agency finally begins next week. And why not? According to Ian Begley of SNY, “most executives” around the league who are keeping an eye on Anthony's moves believe his “most likely destination” for next season is Los Angeles.

The potential viability of that move for the Lakers depends most on how Rob Pelinka and company choose to fill out the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If Los Angeles uses all or most of its fluid amount of cap space on a single player, Frank Vogel's team would need as many warm bodies capable of making open jumpers as possible, irrespective of their utility or lack thereof in the playoffs. Anthony fits that bill even in his diminished state due in large part to his reputation, and there's an argument to be made he could make a positive impact during the regular season playing a similar role if the Lakers opt to spend their cap space on multiple quality role players, too.

But the fact that Anthony's “most likely destination” is Los Angeles, just like it was throughout 2018-19, speaks to just how damaged his reputation is throughout the rest of the league. The Lakers are a truly unique case; no other team in the NBA is in more dire need of proven players, even at replacement-level, and they may only give real consideration to signing him due to the presence of James. Indeed, the only other recent reporting about Anthony's playing future, also from SNY, indicates the New York Knicks are no longer broaching a reunion with the 10-time All-Star as their hopes of vaulting to contention in 2019-20 by signing multiple superstars in free agency dwindle.

The utter lack of interest in Anthony across the league otherwise should hardly be surprising. His solid per-game numbers with the Thunder in 2017-18 deflect from both his rank inefficiency and the rippling, debilitating nature of his general on-court presence, especially in the playoffs. Anthony shot 37.5 percent overall and 6-of-28 from three-point range in Oklahoma City's six-game loss to the underdog Utah Jazz. He was a bigger problem on the other end of the floor, where Utah routinely attacked him one-on-one by forcing switches onto Donovan Mitchell and posting up Derrick Favors. In a series the Thunder finished with a -4.0 net rating, they outscored the Jazz by a team-high 16.2 points per 100 possessions during the 94 minutes Anthony was on the bench, per NBA.com/stats.

His signing with Houston last August really did seem like it could benefit both parties. Anthony, supposedly humbled by an awkward season with in Oklahoma City, seemed ready to embrace his role as a spot-up shooting stretch four next to Harden and Paul, and a secondary scorer when either or both of them were off the floor. He even tried to embrace coming off the bench for the first time in his 16-year career after publicly scoffing at that notion during his time with the Thunder. But three weeks and 10 games into the regular season, after connecting on 31.4 percent of 5.1 catch-and-shoot triples per game, Anthony parted ways with the Rockets, despite what the team insisted was a “tremendous approach” to all it had asked of him.

Frankly, there's just nothing to indicate Anthony is worthy a roster spot in a vacuum at this stage of his long-ongoing physical decline. He's clearly absent the consistent lift needed to be a reliable long-range shooter, and the natural respect some defenses will pay him based most on reputation alone during regular-season play won't exist come playoff time. That same dynamic exists to an even greater extent defensively. Anthony has been the type of defender his team would be best served hiding for years, and he's never shown the edge, competitiveness, and understanding necessary to mitigate the sweeping effects of that status like other physically-limited players.

All that said, Los Angeles might be left with few better choices than to take a chance on him regardless. No team in the league is committing more money to its star tandem than the Lakers are James and Davis, and no team in the league has the same championship-or-bust mentality. Every James-led squad is followed by a media circus. No player in league history has proven better equipped to manage chemistry concerns while still driving his team toward contention. The potential reward for Los Angeles, an Anthony that's rediscovered his spot-up shooting ability and can help soak up possessions in the regular season for the rare stints when both James and Davis are on the bench, is worth the likelier risk of a third consecutive flame out.

Still, the pitfalls of adding Anthony are real. Playing he and James simultaneously is a recipe for disaster defensively, their collective apathy easily poised to outweigh the singular dominance of Davis. Slotting Kyle Kuzma next to them would make matters even worse from a matchup perspective, forcing at least one and maybe two of them to chase perimeter players. The same problem exists for lineups featuring Anthony and Kuzma with James off the court. And it can't be stressed enough: The most recent statistical results say Anthony has lost his shooting touch, and the most recent narrative takeaways prove his supposed willingness to play a minor role was always overstated.

Anthony is a future Hall-of-Famer, one of the most talented individual scorers of all time. But it's the former designation that's a far more accurate indicator of his place in the modern NBA than the latter, a reality he's likely to face yet again whether he suits up for the Lakers next season or his legendary career has already come to a close.