Carmelo Anthony is one of the biggest names remaining in free agency, and former NBA player Brian Scalabrine thinks the 10-time All-Star’s search for a new team could end with the Miami Heat.
Scalabrine, currently an analyst for the Boston Celtics, shared his thoughts on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “The Starting Lineup,” saying that Anthony is a player that should interest the Heat.
Could Melo take his talents to South Beach? @Scalabrine tells @TheFrankIsola on The Starting Lineup that he can see it happening. #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/WhC0bLpnas
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 6, 2019
“Miami has four roster spots, and they got a lot of guys on low guarantees,” Scalabrine said. “Right there, there’s a need now. If they want to do the development thing with young guys, I get it.
“But that’s really not Miami’s forte. They like taking guys, like a older guy, Carmelo Anthony, and say, ‘With our good culture we’re going to turn him into what we feel like.’ So I think Miami is interesting and because they’re laying in the weeds. If you haven’t heard talk about it, I actually think that there’s some traction there.”
Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets last summer for the opportunity to play on a championship contender alongside Chris Paul and James Harden. But the experiment only lasted 10 games in which he averaged 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds before the Rockets put him on ice.
He was traded in January to the Chicago Bulls, who subsequently waived him. He has not played for an NBA team since.
The Heat could sign Anthony to a cap-friendly deal and pair him with newly acquired star Jimmy Butler. Though no longer the star player that he once was with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, Anthony is a primetime scorer who may have a little more left in his tank.
