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There have been many reports of late that New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony may be playing in the famous purple and gold strip of the Los Angeles Lakers next season, teaming up with fellow superstar Kobe Bryant.
As a basketball fan, such a move would be fascinating.
As a Lakers fan, I am completely horrified that the hierarchy of the franchise would consider signing Melo.
In fact, I’m happy to go on record and state if the Lakers sign the current Knicks small forward, it will go down as one of the most horrendously stupid moves in the history of the NBA.
There would be no logical, sensible or intelligent reason to team Melo and Kobe together.
Any way you look it, the pairing is a very bad fit, as the partnership would simply not work.
Not from an offensive point of view. Not from a defensive point of view. Not from an ego point of view. And not from a salary point of view.
But hey, other than that, it would be a great move!
Melo is a free agent at the end of the season, and has already expressed his desire to test the free agency waters. That is his right, his entitlement and, considering how woeful the Knicks have been for most of this year, it’s also an astute move on his behalf.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are struggling for relevance at the end of the Kobe Bryant era, and are looking to make a splash by signing a high quality free agent this off-season with the cap space they will have.
Nothing wrong with that plan at a holistic level, but said free agent still needs to be a good fit with the Lakers and, more specifically, Kobe Bryant.
Melo does not tick those boxes, to say the least.
For starters, both Melo and Kobe need the ball in their hands to be effective. In fact, enough with the diplomacy: both players are ball hogs who like to shoot the ball. A lot.
Though there have been examples of having two elite level scorers on the same team, it has rarely resulted in a championship.
Furthermore, for the sake of balance and offensive spacing, having two high scorers should ideally consist of an inside/outside presence, and while both Kobe and Melo can be lethal in the low post, they’re really both wing scorers, if we’re honest.
In conversations I’ve had on this topic, some people have thrown the names LeBron James and Dwyane Wade at me as an example of two high level scorers that have achieved success together.
Debunking that ‘evidence’ is an article all by itself, but the comparison does serve as a nice base to evaluate why Melo and Kobe is not a good idea.
Firstly, LeBron is an unselfish player who would rather pass the ball to teammates than shoot. Neither Melo or Kobe fall into that category consistently, if at all.
The Heat only really achieved success – in the form of championships – when LeBron embraced playing in the low post on a consistent basis. Neither Melo or Kobe is capable, or willing, to do this.
Wade, on offense, is primarily a slasher, while LeBron is almost the complete offensive weapon, able to post-up, pass, drive, and shoot from the perimeter. Though it did take some time, they eventually meshed into a cohesive offensive partnership. Melo and Kobe are versatile offensive players, but remain primarily perimeter jumpshooters.
A large part of the Heat’s success came after Wade realised LeBron is the best player on the planet, and began playing ‘second fiddle’ to him, allowing LeBron to be ‘the man’, thus providing Miami with its best chance of winning. I’m not sure Melo or Kobe are capable of this kind of self-awareness or selflessness.
LeBron and Wade are excellent on-ball, help and transition defenders. I’ll be gentle here, but Kobe can no longer be described this way, and Melo has rarely shown the desire to ever be that type of player.
LeBron and Wade both took pay cuts in order to play together, with their salaries at $19 million this season, and $16 million their first year in Miami, well below their market value. This enables the Heat to sign quality free agents with the available cap space, not to mention a third All Star in Chris Bosh.
Meanwhile, Kobe has already signed a max contract for the next two years, well above what he’s worth as a player, and it’s hard to see Melo signing for anything less than the maximum as well. Which is great for their individual bank accounts, but not great for the Lakers ability to build a good roster around them.
This last point is potentially the most important, because with roughly $50 million tied up in two players, it doesn’t leave a lot of cash to sign other quality players, which means depth and roster balance will be a considerable concern for the Lakers.
And when one of those two players is 36 years old, coming off an Achilles injury, currently sitting out with a knee injury, and therefore may never be a ‘star’ again, you’ve got some major issues.
While those major issues actually started when the club signed Kobe to a large contract, that mistake shouldn’t be compounded by signing another star – who is an ill fit – to a max contract.
Any way you look at it, Melo to the Lakers is a bad, bad move.