SportsLine, a partner of CBS Sports and 247 Sports and providing sports picks and fantasy advice from data scientists, have shows another glimpse of how low expectations people have of Carmelo Anthony at this point of his NBA career.
If Carmelo Anthony signs with the Rockets, @SportsLine projections DECREASE Houston’s championship chances from 4.8% to 3.9%. pic.twitter.com/srTl18ZJ8M
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 23, 2018
According to SportLine, if he signs with the Houston Rockets, which according to everyone, including the New York Times’ Marc Stein is bound to happen sooner or later, it’ll drop the Rockets odds of winning a championship this season from 4.8% to 3.9%. It’s rare to see a 10-time NBA All-Star and 3-time Olympic gold medalist to be considered as a hindrance to a team he’ll sign with.
Rumors suggest Chris Paul, part of the Banana Boat clique Anthony is also a part of, has convinced Anthony to join the Rockets and accept a smaller role, probably coming off the bench. If you remember, it wasn’t too long ago that Anthony said he has no intention of coming off the bench. Then he opted into his contract, got traded to the Atlanta Hawks, who bought out his contract. Now he’s most likely on his way to Houston.
The Rockets will pay about $2.4 million for Anthony’s services next season if he indeed joins them, while he’ll make $30.3 million including the Hawks buyout money. Low risk for them if the Anthony attempt doesn’t work out. But considering how this summer has gone for them and Daryl Morey’s belief in adding stars to a system that doesn’t really need more than one or two, it makes sense, in sort of a twisted way.
Anthony, an NCAA champion and Final Four MOP with Syracuse in his freshman (only) season, will be entering his 16th NBA season. He has played for the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Thunder. While he has been a part of 11 playoff campaigns, playing 72 games overall and averaging 24.5 points, he’s only been past the first round twice – last time in 2013 with the Knicks, losing to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semi final.
Anthony played 6 games for the Thunder in their losing first round attempt against the Jazz last season, averaging only 11.8 points per game, as the Thunder often played better without him on the floor.