Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Rockets Favored, Despite Potentially Poor Fit With James Harden, Chris Paul

Three weeks after the official start of 2018 NBA free agency, Carmelo Anthony is the biggest name on the market. The forward was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks, who are expected to waive Anthony and allow him to join the team of his choice.

There’s been speculation that Anthony could play with his long-time friend LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Miami Heat are a possible destination since Anthony was given permission to meet with the team even before Oklahoma City dealt him, according to ESPN. But it’s the Houston Rockets, who also met with Anthony, that are the heavy favorites to sign the veteran.

Going to Houston would give Anthony his best chance to win an NBA championship. Despite his 10 All-Star selections and six All-NBA nods, Anthony has never been to the NBA Finals. He reached the conference finals for the only time in 2009, and his teams have lost 11 of 14 playoff series.

Oklahoma City was bounced in the first round against the Utah Jazz in his only season with the team. After averaging 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the regular season, the 34-year-old saw his scoring average drop to 11.8 points on 12.0 shots per game in the postseason.

It became clear that Anthony would have to take a lesser role in the 2018-2019 season, and it wasn’t one that he was willing to accept.

“Yeah, I'm not sacrificing no bench role,” Anthony told reporters after Oklahoma City was eliminated from the postseason. “That's out of the question.”

“I think the player that they wanted me to be and needed me to be was for the sake of this season," Anthony said. "As far as being effective as that type of player, I don't think I can be effective as that type of player. I think I was willing to accept that challenge in that role, but I think I bring a little bit more to the game as far as being more knowledgeable and what I still can do as a basketball player.”

What does that mean for Anthony’s potential role on the Rockets? He would be the team’s third option, at best, playing with reigning MVP James Harden and star point guard Chris Paul. He could even see fewer touches than Clint Capela, whom Houston is expected to re-sign after averaging 13.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in 2017-2018.

With Harden and Paul dominating the ball last season, Houston led the NBA with 65 wins. They took a 3-2 series lead over the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals before Paul suffered a season-ending injury and the defending champs rallied to reach the NBA Finals.

The Rockets aren’t going to mess with their winning formula and make Anthony a focal point of the offense. He’ll have to play the role of a spot-up shooter, much like he was asked to do in Oklahoma City. Anthony made 35.7 percent of the 6.1 three-pointers he attempted per game, and he shot a career-low 40.4 percent from the field.

Houston is still considered to be the biggest threat to Golden State, even after the Lakers signed James. Miami was the Eastern Conference’s No.6 seed last season before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.