Why it’s time for Carmelo Anthony to move on past the Rockets

Former Houston Rockets forward Carmelo Anthony recently offered his thoughts on the Chris Paul trade. Here’s why it’s time for Melo to move past the Rockets!

As we all know by now, Carmelo Anthony‘s time with the Houston Rockets came and went, as the future Hall-of-Famer was only on the roster for ten games. Melo was ultimately shelved by the Rockets before officially being traded away to the Chicago Bulls. At the time, this seemed like a strange move, as Melo had scored in double figures during four of the Rockets’ ten games. During his tenure in Houston, he averaged 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, although he was very inefficient. Melo shot 32.8 percent from deep and 40.5 percent from the field.

Despite Melo’s poor shooting start, the Rockets’ decision to part ways with the former scoring champion backfired, as the Rockets faced a plethora of injuries which left them scrambling for healthy bodies. Melo was unable to catch on with any other team, which didn’t hurt Melo from a financial standpoint, as he agreed to a buyout with the Atlanta Hawks for $25.5 million at the start of the season. On top of that, he still made $2.4 million per his contract he signed with the Rockets.

It became a national story how Melo was treated unfairly by the Rockets, but the fact that he went unsigned seemed to validate the Rockets’ decision. Melo went on ESPN’s First Take to talk to Stephen A. Smith about how he was done wrongly by the Rockets and to explain why his previous stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder went wrong. This was a bit of a gamble by Anthony, as it very well could have hindered his chances of landing on an NBA roster.

Melo was able to land with the Portland Trail Blazers this year and has played well, as he’s averaging 15.9 points per game while also shooting 35.9 percent from downtown. Since Melo has caught on with another team and is back in the league, it seems that he would have buried the hatchet in regards to his bad experience with the Rockets, right? Wrong.

Melo was recently speaking with ESPN’s Nick Friedell following the Blazers’ loss against former Houston Rockets’ guard Chris Paul. Melo shared his thoughts on the Rockets’ decision to trade Chris Paul and was asked whether he was surprised to see his long-time friend get traded away by the Rockets.

“No, I wasn’t surprised at all….I looked him in his eyes and said, ‘Look, just be careful.’ You know what I mean? Just be careful. And damn sure if [the same situation] didn’t happen to him.”

Since Melo has already gotten back in the league and is playing well, why does he insist on still talking about the Rockets? He’s landed in the Blazers’ starting rotation and was even recently named Western Conference Player of the Week for his stellar play, so why re-visit a team he hasn’t played for in over a year? Not only that, Melo hasn’t even played against the Rockets either so what exactly is the benefit in him focusing on his time in Houston?

At the end of the day, the Houston Rockets saw enough to realize they needed to cut ties with him early on. And although the timing wasn’t ideal, at least the Rockets gave Melo an opportunity during the 2018-19 season, which no other team can say. Melo was essentially an employee who unexpectedly got fired, so it’s obvious he won’t have anything pleasant to say about his old team. But why is he looking in the rear view mirror and focusing on his time with the Rockets as opposed to maximizing his opportunity with Portland? He’s back in the league now so it’s time to move on.