NBA Free Agents: Carmelo Anthony’s best destinations
Carmelo Anthony has officially opted out of his last season with the New York Knicks and is going to “explore his options,” per a report by Ian Begley of ESPN.com. There’s no question that this act strikes fear in the hearts of the Knicks’ faithful, who don’t want to think about what life will look like without Anthony calling New York his basketball home.
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On the flip side, 29 other teams have to be salivating at the thought of an unrestricted and elite free agent on the market.
Anthony is one of the best scorers in the game today, excelling both on the perimeter and in the post. At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, he’s big enough to bully small forwards but quick enough to break down power forwards. According to Synergy Sports, Anthony was in isolation 25.6 percent of the time, averaging .96 points per possession (PPP). That ranked him No. 37 in the NBA. In the post (20.5 percent), he scored 1.02 PPP, good for No. 18 in basketball.
While he’s never been known for his defense, he’s not as bad as one would think. Sure, his 1.02 PPP allowed on spot-up plays makes us question his desire or ability to run through screens and get to shooters, but there’s a lot to like as well.
In the post, Anthony allowed just .59 PPP, which was No. 11 in the league. In isolation, he allowed just .64, which was No. 31 in the NBA. He’s not a defensive stalwart, but he’s not substandard, either.
Carmelo is coming off of his fifth-straight All-Star season, where he averaged 27.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He set a career high from the 3-point line and the free-throw line, making 40.2 and 84.8 percent, respectively. He’s just passed 30 years of age, but the former No. 3 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft is far from being anything but a superstar.
We could trudge our way through 29 teams to see where Anthony fits best, but let’s be realistic here — he’s not going to the Milwaukee Bucks — so, we can probably narrow our list to just a handful of teams. Here are the five that make the most sense.