Elite scorer and bonafide superstar Carmelo Anthony has joined the Oklahoma City Thunder to form another superteam in the Western Conference, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
In return, the New York Knicks received big man Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and Chicago’s second round selection in the 2018 draft.
Just a year after losing Kevin Durant to the Warriors for no return, General Manager Sam Presti has completely rebuilt the Thunder into a contender of the highest order.
By adding Carmelo to the already formidable combination of Russell Westbrook and newly-acquired All-Star Paul George (a result of another amazing Presti trade), the three-point shooting woes of OKC are well behind them.
Throughout last year’s 47-35 season, the Westbrook-led team finished dead last in 3-point shooting percentage, sitting at an abysmal 32.7 per cent. In a league of spacing and pacing, the Thunder were going against the grain.
Anthony will certainly help in this aspect as a go-to scorer, despite his lower than expected 34.1 per cent three-point field goal percentage.
However, as a catch-and-shoot player, Carmelo has a 42.6 per cent conversion rate on three point attempts. Within the Oklahoma offense, the attention drawn by Westbrook and George should allow these spot-up attempts to become more prevalent and thus ‘Olympic Melo’ can be unlocked.
Although I’m sure he would hate to hear it, if Carmelo Anthony is your primary scorer, you team probably isn’t that amazing. The Olympic performance of the ten time All Star reveals this, as while surrounded with the best of the best playmakers, Anthony became the all-time leading scorer for Team USA.
(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Make no mistake about it, the Thunder will be a great team, however, they will certainly lack the unselfish ball movement of their Western Conference contemporaries.
For this reason almost alone, I believe the Warriors will still prove the best team in the conference.
That being said, it is not as if an isolation offense cannot work. After all, the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls–arguably the greatest team of all time–played primarily through the one on one skills of some half-decent players like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
However, the triangle movement into the isolation plays for MJ and Pippen, allowed for their more efficient success.
While coach Billy Donovan doesn’t have to replicate Phil Jackson’s old fashioned style, implementing movement on the wings before clearing out is a must in order for this experiment to work.
My own suggestion would be to first give the ball to Westbrook to bring up the floor into a half-court set. Russell could then use the distraction of Steven Adams setting pindown screen for George on the right wing, to crossover and try to blow by his defender using his outstanding athletic ability.
If this is not on, George is an outstanding scorer from the right wing with a clean jump shot and the athleticism required to attack to hoop against NBA defenders.
While Anthony also favours the right side to get buckets, he is also quite proficient on the left. If a good shot is not forthcoming for either George or Westbrook, a crosscourt pass to a spotting up Anthony could yield fantastic results.
Clearly, OKC cannot run this every time and simply giving the ball to one of these guys to go to work in an isolation is not the worst idea. Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks did this every possession and somehow took the team deep into the playoffs.
(Wikipedia Commons)
Additionally, a simple pick-and-roll game using Westbrook’s freakish driving ability to create space for the shot or either Anthony or George is a good alternative.
Furthermore, using George as an occasional ball handler can allow Anthony and Westbrook to run a two-man game on the far side of the court. This could enable the reigning MVP Westbrook to attack off the catch, keeping the defence on their heels to be able to unleash a deadly mid range pull up. If such an attack were to be stopped, a simple kick out to Anthony gives another good look for the team.
Although the ‘Big 3’ of Oklahoma City are quite ball dominant individually, an offense can be created to enable good chemistry and consistent scoring between the trio.
As for the rest of the team, the hard hitting screens, defence and rebounding of New Zealander Steven Adams will prove crucial in being able to accommodate the defensive and athletic frailties of the newly acquired Anthony.
For long periods, Anthony’s floor-spacing ability will be utilised as a small-ball power forward, leaving Adams as the sole rebounding big man on the court.
While the unbelieveable rebounding numbers of Westbrook last season may lead many to believe that this will not be an issue for the team, most of the heavy lifting was done by Taj Gibson, Enes Kanter and Adams, boxing out their man to allow Westbrook to race in uncontested and startup the counterattack.
Last season, per SportVU, Westbrook grabbed a league high 8.6 uncontested rebounds per game thanks to the work of the rebounding trio.
With Gibson and Kanter both gone, even more responsibility is placed on the broad shoulders of Adams.
However, another main line-up could remove defensive anchor and offensive liability Andre Roberson from the mix, replacing him with the shooting and decent defence of former Toronto Raptor and apt free agent signing, Patrick Patterson.
Patterson could either play some minutes as a floor-stretching five or within his normal role at the four, allowing Carmelo to play small forward while Paul George is moved to the shooting guard position. Given the reluctance of both Anthony and George to play power forward, this is the line-up we will most likely see for their opening season match-up against the Knicks.
It must still be said, that the bench does needs Presti’s magical touch.
While Jerami Grant and Roberson have defensive upside, Alex Abrines and Terrance Ferguson have decent shooting and Raymond Felton can backup Russell Westbrook, all players would be mercilessly exposed by a team such as Golden State or Houston in the playoffs.
For the Knicks, the deal does offer some upside in that the weight of Carmelo Anthony’s contract is off their shoulders and a full on tanking rebuild can occur. Kanter is also a nice young asset who can score freely in the post, rebound well and play with a passion that will endear himself to the New York faithful. However, he cannot defend and within the new play of the NBA, it is hard to see him ever playing a meaningful role in the playoffs.
At this stage, making the Top 8 Eastern conference teams is not a concern for New York nor should it be, and thus not gaining a first round draft pick is a disappointing aspect to the trade.
Doug McDermott is also thrown in there as well, but shouldn’t mean much…(these words will probably come back to haunt me).
Nevertheless, the big impact of this most recent transaction is felt in the Western Conference as the Rockets, Spurs, Timberwolves and now Thunder will all compete ruthlessly for the chance to lose to the Warriors in four games…
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