Could The Memphis Grizzlies Use Carmelo Anthony?

The Memphis Grizzlies have had some injury issues on the wing while also struggling to score at times. Could Carmelo Anthony be an option for the Grizzlies to consider?

The Memphis Grizzlies have struggled to score in already a handful of games this season. With Carmelo Anthony on his way out of Houston. He could be an option to consider.

Just a few weeks and only 13 games into the season and reports are already saying Anthony is the odd man out and will soon be waived.

How can this be for a 10-time All-Star, not even two years removed from averaging 22 points 6 rebounds & 3 assists per game at 32 years old?

Well for starters Melo isn’t quite 21 years old anymore, and that also speaks to the condition of his body as well at age 34. Anthony also plays what many deem as an outdated style of basketball, as he has built his hall of fame career thriving in isolation and on ball dominate situations.

Most also seem to forget he also has three Olympic gold medals, so to say he isn’t a team player wouldn’t be accurate.

As most folks know I grew up a Knicks fan before Memphis even imagined we would have an NBA team and I have followed Anthony since watching him play against LeBron James in high school.

I followed him religiously once he became a member of my beloved New York Knicks and he was certainly a part of why we didn’t advance in the playoffs aside from the Jason Kidd season.

However, one thing I can attest to more than anything else Carmelo has always been a brilliant and tireless scorer, even if it wasn’t always the most efficient.

Folks have many theories as to why he has struggled the past two seasons. Some suggest age and mileage have totally sucked the talent out of Melo in under 2 years time, of course, I beg to differ.

While Anthony may have lost a step, he is one season removed from averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds per game which is what we hoped for out of Chandler Parsons when we gave him the four-year max contract.

Those numbers are also an all-time low for Anthony. Now Chandler Parsons may have produced it a little different, maybe even more efficient, though he hasn’t done it on the level that Carmelo has, both guys rely on skill & savvy moves.

Melo’s time with the Thunder was spent playing next to Russell Westbrook who literally dribbled and chucked Kevin Durant out of Oklahoma City.

Add that with the fact Victor Oladipo, Reggie Jackson, Dion Waiters, James Harden and even Jeremy Lamb to a lesser degree have all had their most successful runs once no longer a teammate of Westbrook.

One can’t help but look at the extended common denominator. That’s not to throw shade at Russ, just stating statistical facts.

Another thing to consider is that some of Melo’s offense occurs around the paint area, especially on the elbows on face-ups, and the circle on spin moves fade aways & cuts.

While in Oklahoma City he just wasn’t a good fit alongside a defensive bruiser in Steven Adams and defensive-minded wings in Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant.

When you add that with the fact Westbrook’s game is almost entirely built on attacking the paint and one has to realize he wasn’t to blame.

He was just a bad fit on a team that already has a pitbull mentality about scoring and virtually no space for any of them to operate let alone all of them together.

So that situation was just drawn up bad from a roster shaping perspective more than anything else.

Most of the former point to the fact that Houston lost younger very good defensive minded vets in Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah A Moute who was more complimentary to Harden and Mike D’Antoni’s seven seconds or less offense.

Anthony in his prime would’ve even struggled the first ten games playing with not one but two other ball dominant offensive players and for a coach, he already had a bad history with.

Sure they still have a solid defensive veteran in PJ Tucker and a rising star rim protector in Clint Capela but losing your best and most versatile defenders will surely hurt early on.

It’s common sense when you make such a dramatic swap in archetypes. Another issue is that Ariza also stretched the floor at 38% from three-point land along with his defense, while Tucker is a slight but still serviceable downgrade of those two attributes.

A front court of 35-year-old Tucker and Capela isn’t exactly the ideal floor stretching potential you want next to Melo but I know a team who does have such.

Another unaddressed issue is the previous bad blood between Anthony and D’Antoni from their stint together as New York Knicks player and head coach.

D’Antoni wanted Anthony to become more off-ball and perimeter oriented during the brief Linsanity era and he couldn’t.

Folks opposing Anthony are quick to point to his defensive struggles, well if that’s the case then Lebron James should be coming off the bench the past few seasons as he has been almost dead last amongst over 450 NBA players in defensive metrics.

Also, keep in mind D’antoni is the same coach who is known for going seasons without even one defensive drill in practice let alone a focus in games. Also keep in mind only about 20 guys in the entire NBA actually play defense as of today.

Marc Gasol, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Kyle Anderson are among those 20 for the entire league today. So his defense although not helpful is certainly not unheard of especially for an offensive-minded player.

Another argument folks raise against Melo is a decline in athleticism. Now that may be true to a smaller degree, but Anthony was never much of a defender even as an MVP candidate and one of the reasons being is he has never really been an athletic player.

His game is not built on athleticism at all, nor has it ever been. He has always been a below the rim scorer for the most part.

His game is built on mainly skill, god given crafty moves and sheer hunger to get buckets at all cost with a hint of athleticism here and there.

Anthony was always a post up and off the dribble attack scorer, even fade away jumpers and dead-eye shots. But he was hardly dependent on much if any athleticism for the large part so there aren’t many posters in his highlight reel.

Despite a start that is now resulting in an inevitable departure he still averaged over 13 points and over 5 rebounds per game for Houston.

Sure he is only shooting 41% right now but our own two stars on Beale street are having their own troubles with efficiency early on.

Part of the reason Marc Gasol and Mike Conley have struggled early on is that most teams scheme on our two stars. They know that they’re the only two proven scorers on the roster.

Anthony is still very much a tireless scorer and proof of that is the fact Melo scored over 20 points in four out of ten games with Houston.

The notion that he can only score near the rim is completely false even if he is streaky. Melo is still a threat to do serious damage to opponents who don’t prioritize him defensively. Memphis is a team built totally opposite of Houston which he could fit into.

The Grizzlies have several versatile defenders that can complement a pure scorer like Carmelo Anthony. He is also an Alpha dog when it comes to scoring as he has made a living on getting buckets in countless clutch situations.

Gasol and Conley may be the superior players as of today, but they aren’t wired to score tirelessly to the degree Melo. They are both high IQ guys who are basketball perfectionist especially but neither of the two has averaged 30 points game before as Anthony has.

A scorer who relies on skill and savvy moves will always be effective with a decent body they just need to be in the right situation.

When it comes to true shooting percentage which is one’s field goal percentage without three-point attempts included Melo shot only 44% in 10 games as a rocket.

That tells me his athleticism has only taken a minimum decline if any. His assists numbers have dipped drastically the past two seasons going from three assists per game his last season as a Knick to only 0.6 with Houston this season.

In Memphis, Anthony would play with two guys who don’t have to shoot 25-30 times a game.  He would have space and opportunities to be himself.

Melo is that pitbull tireless scorer mentality we could really use, even in games like last night’s loss to the Utah Jazz where we simply ran out of firepower at the very end.

With the injuries the Grizzlies have dealt with they have a need at that position, at least for the short term.

If Parsons can still start for the Grizzlies at small forward after three knee surgeries, Then Anthony deserves an opportunity if nothing else and we aren’t in a position to turn down such a seasoned veteran who exceeds the production of any player on the team outside Conley and Gasol.

His production has been right on par with those two the past two seasons so all three guys have something to prove and I know for a fact all three guys still have something left in the tank.

Defensively there isn’t a better fit for Melo than the current Memphis Grizzlies. Unlike OKC and Houston, Memphis has 3 big men two of which who start that are more than reliable to stretch the court if need be.

Jackson Jr can switch and guard 1-5 while also being a supreme rim protector with touch on his shot to make defenders stay on honest while Melo works his man near the paint area.

Marc is very similar though he isn’t nearly as nimble stepping out on quick wings and guards. He is still having a defensive player of the year season early on.

He is also a brilliant passer for a big man usually averaging around 4.5 assists per game being that He can see open lanes and easy assists from anywhere on the court, which Melo could benefit greatly from.

Also the solid defensive prowess of Garrett Temple on the wing who can tame most opposing guards while also offering solid ball handling when Melo wants to get positioning before he gets the ball.

Conley is excellent gambling on steals and we haven’t even mentioned the versatile defender and crafty point forward Kyle Anderson.

He doesn’t stretch the floor much but makes up for it with offensive creativity as a passer and rebounder. He is also a certified defensive stopper who is capable of locking down a scorer at any position on the other end.

JaMychal Green hasn’t even returned yet and when he does, he will bring with him 37% from downtown to help stretch the court.

Memphis is also a team who can use a star who is far from perfect but has always been known to be laid back and nonconfrontational almost to a fault at times.

We’re not talking about just some aging superstar, we’re talking about Carmelo Anthony aka Hoodie Melo a certified Global icon. He is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer who played on four different Olympic teams and won three gold medals.

He’s not the player he once was that’s for sure but he is still capable of making an impact if the Grizzlies give him a chance.