The Miami Heat should say no to Carmelo Anthony.
The Miami Heat find themselves in a bit of an interesting situation this summer.
The NBA regular season is a time for feeling out what players you have on your roster, fine tuning your lineups, and managing minutes in order to be as healthy as you possibly can come playoff time.
The NBA postseason, however is a completely different animal. They test every tiny detail believed to be figured out during the regular season. And very rarely do you get teams who don’t rely on superstars or big names (the 2004 Detroit Pistons and even this year’s Boston Celtics immediately come to mind, even though they were extremely well coached and talented).
The Miami Heat looked like they had the makings of being one of those teams. The regular season showed plenty promise for them. The team had an All-Star in Goran Dragic. Young guys like Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow had taken a step forward. Veterans like Wayne Ellington, James Johnson, and Kelly Olynyk carved out their roles. Most excitingly, Dwyane Wade returned home.
Then the playoffs came.
After losing to the young but talented Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 in the first round, it became clear that the Heat needed more. They needed a bonafide star to really make noise. With names like LeBron James, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and DeMarcus Cousins seemingly available, now is the time to make a push.
But there was one other name thrown into the mix for the Heat: Carmelo Anthony.
And if the Miami Heat care anything about its fans (or my health, specifically) they’ll stay far away from him.
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I’ve never been a huge fan of Anthony’s game, because it’s been so one dimensional and hasn’t yielded great results. I’ve become a bit of an apologist of his in recent years, primarily because of the merciless beating he takes on social media because of unfair expectations. Still, I want no part of him on this team.
First, he’s a terrible defender. His career defensive rating of 108 tells you as much. His defensive rating for this past season in Oklahoma City? 109. Going into what will be his 16th season, he’s not going to get better. He’s slow-footed in a game that is becoming more and more athletic, and he just struggles to keep up.
He’s also not the same offensive player he once was, which makes it almost impossible to mask his defensive shortcomings. He posted career lows in points per game (16.2), field goal percentage (40.4), free throw attempts (2.5) and percentage (76.7), assists per game (1.3), and true shooting percentage (50.3). If you’re not going to be a good defender, you should be good enough offensively to offset that.
Anthony doesn’t do that anymore.
Lastly, he’s unwilling to adjust. One of the biggest proponents of ingratiating yourself into Heat Culture is being unselfish and willing to adapt. Throughout Anthony’s career, he’s never really shown that. Whether it was being more coachable for George Karl in Denver, relinquishing some offensive responsibility to A’mare Stoudemire in New York, or accepting a bench role in Oklahoma City… the idea of what Anthony thinks he is, has always reigned supreme over the reality of what he is.
His career has been considered an underachievement because of this.
Ultimately, because Anthony is still under contract for $28 million next season, it’s unlikely he’ll leave Oklahoma City. He doesn’t have much trade value and he stands to lose about $20 million if he opts out of his contract.
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Either way, he’s not worth the exploration.