Carmelo Anthony Might Leave Houston

After only ten games played this season, the Houston Rockets and Carmelo Anthony are having a serious talk about their future. One of the players who marked the last decade in the league missed the game against the San Antonio Spurs which his team eventually lost 96-89. The official reason was his illness, but that might be incorrect.

It appears that the Rockets are not pleased with Anthony’s performance and the situation in the team, and neither is the player himself, which is why this conversation came up. The last straw was the match in Oklahoma, when he missed 10 of his 11 shots from the field.

“While Carmelo Anthony is absent with an illness tonight against the Spurs, the Rockets and Anthony are discussing his role and how they might still be able to proceed together for the rest of the season, league sources tell ESPN. Talks are fluid.” Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on his Twitter account last night. It instantly became the No.1 topic among all the NBA fans and pundits.

While Carmelo Anthony is absent with an illness tonight against the Spurs, the Rockets and Anthony are discussing his role and how they might still be able to proceed together for the rest of the season, league sources tell ESPN. Talks are fluid.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 11, 2018

After the game, the reporters were very curious about the current situation and the future of the player, but coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t want to speak about that. His only answer was that GM Daryl Morey is in charge of that.

“Yeah, that’s … I’m sure you can address that with Daryl. I’m trying to win a game,” D’Antoni said, and added: “You need to talk to Daryl. On that one, I have no answer for you right now.”

But he was more specific about Anthony’s contribution to his team.
“What he was doing. Melo’s been great. What he’s been doing is backing up the 4.”

However, most of the experts wouldn’t agree on that one. Since the season started, Carmelo averaged only 13.4 points in 29.4 minutes. But what is particularly bad, are his shooting percentages. 40.5% from the field, and only 32.8% from downtown. The numbers you see in his columns are Anthony’s career-lows in scoring, scoring per minute etc. The third overall pick from 2003 NBA draft signed a one-year contract for the veteran minimum of $2.4 million at the start of this season. Before that, he spent the season in Oklahoma City, where his numbers significantly dropped compared to the ones in New York.

A lot of hype was created when he arrived in Texas after a buyout in Atlanta, and the Rocket’s fans were euphoric. Unfortunately for them, everything collapsed just a few months later.

Houston was the No.1 offense last season. Now they are 26th. Their defense is looking awful without Trevor Ariza and most of the trades they made eventually turned out to be bad. The chemistry on the court is destroyed. Trading Ryan Anderson, and allowing Ariza to leave have been two big mistakes and the management underestimated their influence on the performances. Jimmy Butler deal fell through because he evaluated that the 76ers have more potential to reach the Finals. That decision also tells you a lot about the current situation in this franchise.

With 4-6 Houston is 12th in the West without a single win in their Toyota Center. All seven defeats came against the teams from the same conference, which is unacceptable if you are one of the title contenders. Four of their next five games are at home, and this is going to be a perfect chance for them to bounce back, and recover from a devastating start. If by any chance they fail to do that, all those dreams about the title will simply vanish.

It won’t be a surprise if 10-time All-Star and Rockets part ways, even though they played only 10 games. Something needs to be changed radically, for both sides and a release is a realistic option.