Houston Rockets: Chris Paul is excited to play with Carmelo Anthony

Chris Paul seems to be excited about playing with Carmelo Anthony, who recently verbally agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets.

Last Tuesday, Carmelo Anthony verbally agreed to sign a deal with the Rockets, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. For the Rockets, it was a big step in what has been a painfully slow process to acquire the forward.

According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Anthony has been on the NBA Africa trip since July 23, which has prevented him from inking an official deal with Houston even though he was cut from Atlanta over a week ago.

Anthony isn’t an official Rocket yet, but many of the players have already given their thoughts on how he fits with the team. Over two weeks ago, James Harden said that the Rockets would “bring the best out of him” and that Melo would “bring the best out of us as well.”

Gerald Green recently said that the Rockets “are going to accept him with open arms.” Green went on to mention that Houston is desperate to get back to the conference finals again for another shot at the Warriors.

"It's always nice to play with a guy that you're that close with."@CP3 is excited to welcome Melo to H-Town! #GameTime pic.twitter.com/Zb1nzMUsSO

— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 10, 2018

Finally, Chris Paul, who has been good friends with Anthony for years, gave his thoughts on the situation. Appearing on NBA TV, Paul mentioned how nice it’ll be to play with someone who he has such a close bond with.

“A lot of things, Melo like a lot of the guys on the team always play like we have something to prove. And obviously the friendship, brotherhood that we share. It’s always nice to play with someone you’re close with.”

Since they’re such close friends, Paul and Anthony have probably practiced together a lot throughout the years. It’ll be interesting to see if that chemistry immediately translates over to the court when the Rockets start their season at home against the Pelicans.

An scorer like Anthony can definitely help Houston’s already lethal offense. Although James Harden and Chris Paul are the main guys in Houston and they’ll command the lion’s share of the touches. Anthony will have to take a backseat behind these two, and maybe even behind Eric Gordon or Clint Capela in some games.

The Rockets’ coaching staff will have to try to keep everyone happy, which isn’t always easy. But if there’s one thing that Mike D’Antoni is famous for, its making an offense work.