Carmelo Anthony helps the Portland Trail Blazers more as a starter
Playing Carmelo Anthony off the bench isn’t working out for the Portland Trail Blazers. As a starter, Carmelo can be an effective source of secondary scoring.
It might be early, but indications suggest it might be a good idea for the Portland Trail Blazers to start Carmelo Anthony. This isn’t a knock on current starter Derrick Jones Jr. Instead, it’s a maneuver to maximize Anthony’s value by inserting him back into a lineup.
His ability to space the floor for CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard was pivotal to the team’s success inside the bubble. Moving Melo to the starting lineup to play with Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington also makes it easier to hide his defensive liabilities. That doesn’t happen when Anthony comes off the bench with Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter, who aren’t as solid on the defensive end.
The version of Carmelo we saw in the bubble seemed to pick his spots more often. He tried to fit in with what was needed from him as part of the starting unit. Anthony had ice water in his veins when taking big shots. He found the open man when needed and even played solid defense in clutch situations. That version of Carmelo is the one that can have the most positive impact on the team.
Struggling to adjust
This season, it seems as if Carmelo is jumping back and forth between good and bad games. Sometimes his offense has a positive impact; sometimes, his defensive liabilities are exposed enough to negate that positive impact. One obvious thing is that Carmelo is trying to score nearly every time he touches the ball. It’s understandable, as that seems to be the role coach Terry Stotts asked of him when he was moved to the bench.
In his current role, Melo struggles with balancing his scoring and facilitating his teammates. Right now, Carmelo attempts to influence a game the most by backing down his defender on offense, forcing shots, and trying to ignite the bench. So far, that approach hasn’t translated to positive results. For example, Gary Trent Jr. almost disappears on offense with the lack of shots he gets while playing with Carmelo in that 2nd unit. Inserting Carmelo back in the starting lineup is what would best help the team for the moment.
Balance
A second benefit of moving Carmelo to the starting lineup is bringing DJJ in as a substitute for Covington. That allows the team to have a good defensive forward on the floor at all times. Combining Jones and Trent off the bench gives Portland a wing tandem that wreaks havoc defensively on an opponent’s bench. At the same time, pairing the two also frees up more offensive opportunities for Trent. He can go back to becoming the team’s primary scorer off the bench, a role he excelled at in Orlando.
Making Anthony a starter also maximizes Trent while keeping DJJ as a solid, developing rotation player. These moves aren’t the end-all, fix-all that this team needs. However, they can help the current roster until Zach Collins comes back or until the team makes a move to upgrade the roster.
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