Would Carmelo Anthony Put Houston Past Golden State?
Anthony fits in with what Houston likes to do, but is it enough?
The Carmelo Anthony saga with the New York Knicks seems to be coming to a close. Even after Phil Jackson was fired, Anthony told the Knicks that he wants out. Anthony is still under contract this season, so he is most likely to be traded due to the expensive consequences of the Knicks buying out his max deal.
The Houston Rockets are the most likely destination for Anthony. They have added Chris Paul already this offseason, and are trying to collect enough talent around Paul and James Harden to take down the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
For the Rockets, fitting Anthony’s contract in will be difficult to do. They can’t take in the $26 million Anthony is due this season without matching it with outgoing contracts. This is a move that the Rockets seem to be set on making, but it begs the question of whether Anthony puts them over the top if they acquire him.
While the fit of Harden and Paul in the Rockets’ back court is somewhat questionable due to how ball dominate both players can be, Anthony’s fit within Houston’s system is seamless. Mike D’Antoni put the ball in Harden’s hands a lot last season, as he deployed an up tempo style of three pointers and halfhearted defense. If that doesn’t embody Anthony’s game, then I don’t know what does.
In New York, Anthony was leaned on as a first option and team leader. While Anthony probably enjoyed the amount of shots he got, his potential wasn’t maximized by the Knicks’ style of play. In Houston, Anthony would be able to sit behind the three point line and take as many threes as he wants off of the creation of Harden and Paul. Playing in the Rockets’ system would maximize Anthony’s skills by making life easier for him, and prolong his career by not having to carry a team on his back, even though he can’t.
But would that be enough to beat the Warriors? The Rockets gave up most of their depth when they dealt for Paul, so they would rely heavily on the starting unit. A possible matchup with the Warriors would look something like this, assuming Ryan Anderson is at least one of the players gone from the roster in an Anthony trade:
Rockets: Paul, Harden, Trevor Ariza, Anthony, Clint Capela (Eric Gordon, PJ Tucker, and Nene off the bench.)
Warriors: Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green, Pachulia (Iguodala, Livingston, Nick Young, McCaw off the bench.)
Adding Anthony would probably make the Rockets the favorite as the biggest threat to the Warriors, but it’s still not enough. The Rockets plan here would seemingly be to try and outscore the Warriors. They would have as good a chance as any to do that, but I’m not so sure that’s the right strategy against this Golden State team.
When the Warriors replaced Harrison Barnes with Kevin Durant, they became arguably the best offensive team of all-time. Durant creates so many mismatches on the floor, and with the outside shooting of Curry and Thompon, Golden State is incredibly hard to guard.
Also, it’s not going to be an easy task for the Rockets to outscore the Warriors. Not only did the Warriors get better on offense with Durant, their defense got even more ridiculous. The Warriors were pioneers in showing how versatile defenders are much more valuable than great individual defenders. If you can switch a screen and get a stop, it becomes harder for offenses to create mismatches or create much on that end of the floor.
The Rockets and Anthony is a seamless fit, but he won’t be enough to take out the Warriors. Houston would certainly have enough offensive fire power to go against the Warriors stout defense, but they won’t be able to defend the Golden State offense. This leaves a very small margin for error for a team that is not perfect in how they’re built.
This is just a testament to how good this Warriors team is. They are the best team in the league on both ends of the floor, and barring any injury to a key player, it will be difficult to see any team in the Western Conference taking them down next year. Houston should probably make the Anthony trade if it’s the right deal, but they’ll have to keep in mind how they’re tying up their cap space with two players well into their thirty’s.
