Carmelo Anthony is one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen. He was incredible during his time with the Denver Nuggets and then with the New York Knicks. However, since he was traded to the OKC Thunder, Anthony has bounced around the league. It was this time that he was a member of the Atlanta Hawks family
He was traded to the Hawks as the OKC Thunder as a salary dump as that franchise was still successful at this time. He was a member of the Hawks franchise for a total of five days. Those five days cost the Hawks $25.5 million as they waived him, eating the final season of his contract as the franchise was in a rebuilding phase.
Anthony has had somewhat of a career revival since being waived. He did go to the Houston Rockets where he was blamed for the team’s struggles and was cut again. He spent some time out of the league before the Portland Trail Blazers helped him revive his career. He then signed on with the Los Angeles Lakers in the hope of winning a title last season.
The Atlanta Hawks could use a veteran scorer off the bench like Carmelo Anthony.
At the moment the oldest player on the Hawks roster is Bogdan Bogdanovic at the ripe old age of 29. While it is not a terrible situation to not have a player on the roster over 30 but the Hawks still have to decide if they pursue Lou Williams in free agency, he certainly puts the average age up.
Despite being 38, if you think back to last season with the Lakers, Anthony was still able to average 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 26.0 minutes per game. However, it is not just the production that you need to look at, it is the level of efficiency.
Anthony took 10.5 attempts from the field, going at 44.1 percent. However, looking a little deeper, he took 5.8 attempts from beyond the 3-point line, more than half his total field goals. He hit them at a respectable 37.5 percent from beyond the arc which would be beneficial to the Hawks’ floor spacing.
However, Anthony’s lack of defense is a little bit of a concern. Even in his heyday, Anthony was never strong on that side of the ball and if he is on the floor with Trae Young too much, this could have a negative impact on the plus/minus. If you had him on the court when Dejounte Murray was the point guard, he could be hidden on defense.
If the Hawks were able to get Anthony at a veteran’s minimum, this could be a gamble worth taking. However, if his asking price is in excess of $4.0 million, given his age and lack of defense, the Hawks should not pursue Anthony.