I hear everyone bashing Melo coming to Houston because they feel he’ll just ruin everything the Rockets had going last season which led to
them having a league high 65-17 record last season. Just to update you Carmelo Anthony has been training with Chris Paul and looks leaner and motivated to get his first ring this coming season. Yes they lost 2 perimeter defenders in Bhah-Moute and Ariza who can guard multiple positions on the floor and made Houston the top seed in the West last season due to them giving the Rockets an edge on the defensive side of the ball. Both are gone now but Melo is a Hall-of-Famer and one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen.
No disrespect to Eric Gordon who had a phenomenal season but he fell apart in the West Finals, he played very good defense on Curry and Thompson but became a turnover machine in Games 6 and 7 in the West Finals. He would start off very well but 3rd and 4th quarters Golden State turned it up a notch on defense and Gordon was non-existent. This is where Carmelo Anthony comes in who although is not in his prime anymore, he can be a legit 3rd option on a championship roster. Eric Gordon? Not so much, yes he’s a very good 3 point shooter and can score on drives to the basket but he’s not a go to option against a high-level team like the Golden State Warriors who just got even stronger with the signing of superstar center Demarcus Cousins giving them 5 all-stars in their starting lineup.
James Harden was the MVP this past season but even he himself resorted to shooting step back 3 after 3 and made life easy for Golden State as he wouldn’t attack the basket and look to draw fouls instead. Chris Paul was injured for the last 2 games so that completely altered Houston’s chances of completing an upset up 3-2. Golden State had no answer for Chris Paul, he was dissecting them on the perimeter and getting to the basket at will and displaying why he is a multiple time 1st team selection on defense as he even guarded superstar Kevin Durant in the post who has a good 7-8 inches on him in height.
So now the Rockets add Melo who can score in just about every way possible on the court which is something MVP James Harden can not do. James Harden is elite as an isolation scorer but gets a lot of his offense on using his elite ball handling to gain separation from defenders and go to his famous step back 3 point shot or get to the basket for floaters and left handed lay-ins. Harden is not good without the ball in his hands nor is he a guard who gets in the post and score which is what made Kobe and Jordan so special as they used their footwork in the post to score in a variety of ways instead of just scoring off isolation facing up defenders.
Chris Paul can score in the post and uses his width and strength to separate from defenders, in my opinion he’s a more complete scorer than Harden it’s just he’s a point guard and an elite floor general so he looks to pass more. Now the Rockets can get Melo the ball in the post or let him isolate on defenders when ever Harden or Paul gets a breather and the Rockets won’t struggle since they will have a scorer in Melo who can get his own shot and does not need Harden and Paul to get him shots. Although the Rockets almost made the Finals last season at times you could tell they were lacking a 3rd option, Capela just got 90 million dollars from the Rockets but he’s being payed to protect the rim and rebound and catch lobs of Paul and Harden drives. What a story would it be if Melo coming Houston leads to them winning a title this coming season? Melo and Paul have been long time friends and it would be an amazing story, at the moment Houston is looking to add at least 1 more perimeter defender before training camp gets going. But with Melo now alongside Paul, I have no doubts Paul will bring out the best in Melo and make sure he buys in on both ends. We’ll just have to wait and see but what a beautiful story it would be to see Melo and Paul win a title together.
D-NBA 