A member of the Blazers for two years, Carmelo Anthony joined the Lakers during the summer. An important choice for the veteran, who may be thinking of continuing in Oregon. Only here, one element has changed the situation.
Away from the NBA for a year, Carmelo Anthony was not necessarily very far from retirement. Yet at the level, the winger has failed to generate interest in the market, leading him to believe in a rather abrupt end of his career. Finally, the Blazers decided to give him a chance, for a successful association.
Of course, not everything was perfect. Melo remains a problem in defense, but he was able to show that he was still capable of scoring in the starting 5. His place was well in the NBA, and all the franchises were quickly able to see it. So this summer, when he was a free agent, we expected to return to Oregon.
Near Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Melo was considering returning to Portland for a new campaign. In any case, he did not close the door, as he explains in a recent interview with Chris Haynes. The veteran has adopted a “wait and see” approach, in order to better assess his options according to the interests of the teams.
I’ll be honest, I was just waiting to see what Portland was going to do. I spoke to Lady, CJ, are they gonna call? Are they interested? I didn’t hear anything about the franchise wanting me to come back, or for me to leave, and then there was a new coach… There was a lot of uncertainty.
In the end, Portland did come back to Anthony to bring him back… but without having a convincing speech. The former Knick was open to a comeback, but he didn’t like the approach.
They didn’t come back to me like I thought they would. There is no loyalty in the sport, but it is and for me, I was loyal to Portland. I didn’t want to leave Dame or CJ, but it’s business.
Lakers star @CarmeloAnthony joins Posted Up w/C. Haynes Pod to discuss his memoir “Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised,” joining LAL, advice to Damian Lillard, reveals 3 teams he considered & why he tried waiting on Portland.
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— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) September 14, 2021
Ready to return, Carmelo Anthony didn’t like the approach taken by the Blazers front office. The latter is more and more criticized, and this soap opera will not fix its poor reputation. Good for the Lakers, who were able to take advantage of it.
