James Harden: Like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony Won't Have Rockets Transition Problems

Carmelo Anthony's transition to the Houston Rockets will be "a breeze," according to James Harden.

Anthony signed a one-year, $2.3 million deal with the Rockets earlier this month, and will join a Houston team that not only finished the regular season in 2017/18 with a league-high 65-17 record, but were just one win away from defeating the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

The 34-year-old is coming off the back of his worst season statistically as he played a career-low 32.1 minutes per game that resulted in an average of just 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season.

Despite the ridicule Anthony received for his displays with the Thunder, Harden has been calling for the 2003 No. 3 draft pick to join the side for a while, and believes he'll be a good fit with the team as he replaces the void left by Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute.

As for the transition that comes with joining a new team, particularly one which oddsmakers believe have the second-best chance of winning a championship this season, the 2018 MVP feels it will be easy given the high-IQ players in the team.

"Coming off an MVP season, now you got to add Carmelo Anthony, it's going to be easy," Harden said on the Players' Tribune, as per ESPN. "The transition is easy. When you got that many talented, high-IQ guys around who love to communicate and love to figure things out, the job is easy."

Harden cited how many predicted the transition would be hard for Chris Paul when he joined the Rockets from the Los Angeles Clippers last year, in particular, how he and Harden would fare alongside each other. Instead, they would go on to help the Rockets become the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference over the Warriors.

They may have even made the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995 had Paul not missed the last two games against the Warriors through injury.

"We all see how it worked out," Harden added. "When you got two high-IQ guys who are unselfish and know the game of basketball, it's easy. The job gets hard when you don't communicate. That's what it's about. That's where it's misconstrued. You got guys that are, 'Oh, how are they going to work?' As long as we're on the court and we communicate, things will be a breeze."

PJ Tucker is another who shares Harden's enthusiasm for Anthony's arrival.

"Everybody always talks about Melo this, Melo that. Melo is a great basketball player," Tucker said Wednesday. "He's an all-time great scorer in this league. Coming to a team where we score a lot, he'll fit right in on our team."

As per ESPN, Harden and Anthony will join the rest of the team for a week of bonding in the Bahamas next month. The Rockets will kick off their 2018/19 season on Oct. 17 when they host the New Orleans Pelicans.