After being out of the NBA for more than a year, Carmelo Anthony was just named the Western Conference Player of the Week — the first time Melo has been named Player of the Week since 2014 when he was on the New York Knicks.
Anthony put up 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the Portland Trail Blazers last week. Portland went 3-0 — with two wins coming against the Chicago Bulls and the other coming against the Oklahoma City Thunder — to move to 8-12 on the season.
Anthony is averaging 17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in six games with Portland. The 10-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer is shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from the 3-point line and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe.
It appears Carmelo Anthony is going to make it past the Jan. 7 guaranteed date of his contract. It’s pretty incredible how well Melo has played with the Blazers after being out of the NBA for more than a year.
However, we have to see how Anthony plays against tougher competition, as the Bulls and Thunder aren't that steep of a measuring stick for the Blazers or Melo. This isn't to take away anything from Anthony, who is playing well for Portland and certainly belongs in the NBA. The Blazers just need this version of Melo to show up for the rest of the season if they want to make the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference.
No one has ever doubted Anthony's scoring abilities. It's his lack of lateral movement on defense which often times makes him a liability on defense. Opposing teams feast when Anthony is involved in the pick-and-roll. The Houston Rockets parted ways with Melo after just 10 games last season mostly because of how poor Anthony was on the defensive side of the ball, and that's saying something given that Mike D'Antoni is the coach in Houston.
Once the Blazers start playing better teams, how is Carmelo Anthony going to look? Will Portland coach Terry Stotts pull Melo off the court if the scoring machine is having trouble staying in front of all of these versatile forwards we have in the NBA? If that happens, will Anthony start to wonder if this is going to be a Rockets situation all over again?
This is all hypothetical, of course, and Stotts seems to have Anthony's back. But we have to remember that Anthony is 35 and has a lot of miles on his body. The Blazers are giving up 114.7 points per game. Their calling card as a team is offense, which is why Anthony fits in pretty well in Portland. As long as Melo can continue to efficiently score the ball, his defensive shortcomings may be able to slide under the radar assuming the Blazers are winning games and in the playoff picture.
The NBA community is thrilled that Carmelo Anthony is back in the NBA. He's a basketball legend who deserves to go out on his own terms. No one saw Anthony winning a Player of the Week Award, so it's a nice surprise for Melo fans.
Now, we just have to wait and see if Carmelo Anthony can keep this strong play up for the rest of the season against elite teams.
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