Lakers rumors: Carmelo Anthony is definitely worth the risk

The Carmelo Anthony saga has resurfaced, which has created a new slew of Lakers rumors of how Anthony could join LeBron James in LA.

The Carmelo Anthony saga died down for quite some time but has since resurfaced and has spawned a new wave of Los Angeles Lakers rumors.

The Lakers are seen as a natural fit for Anthony due to his connection with LeBron James and the Lakers’ need for a second star — although Anthony is far from a star at this stage in his career.

Sam Amick of The Athletic (subscription required) added fuel to the Lakers rumors, stating that the Lakers are Anthony’s most likely destination.

The Houston Rockets are now aggressively trying to find a trade partner for Anthony that way the team can open a roster spot for Kenneth Faried. While it seemed like Anthony would eventually be released, it appears as if the Rockets have no intentions of doing so, which is interesting, to say the least.

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With this new narrative in mind, it is clear that the Los Angeles Lakers are indeed the perfect team to acquire Anthony, to the disdain of much of the fanbase.

Anthony’s lack of defense and the overall negative impact that he has had on both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets understandably has turned NBA fans sour on him. Ask 100 Lakers’ fans on the street if they would want Anthony, at least 70 would say no.

However, the extremely low cost of Anthony is worth the risk for the Lakers. He is on a veteran minimum deal, so he won’t cost the Lakers any significant amount of money. More importantly, the Rockets are looking to make space on the roster, so the Lakers are not going to have to send anything of significance.

Anthony is only going to warrant a future second-round pick and a player such as Isaac Bonga, just to make the deal work financially. If you are high on Bonga this might not seem like a good swap but not making this trade because of a G League point guard is a bit absurd, don’t you think?

I get Bonga is young and could blossom into something but the chances of him being a legitimate difference maker the next three years is very slim.

So the Lakers will get Anthony for Pennies. While his numbers have dipped, he can provide another shooting presence off the bench and perhaps someone that can stabilize the Lakers’ awful free throw shooting, although he has not been great at the line this year, either.

And if Anthony does not like his bench role or it does not work out then the Lakers can simply buy him out or play him minimal to no minutes. Sure, they would be losing a second-round pick for nothing, but the chances are that the second-round pick won’t amount for anything anyways.

It is just hard to see how Anthony makes the Los Angeles Lakers worse in any way. If it does indeed to look like a failed experiment, the Lakers can simply do what the Rockets are doing and not play him.

Next. Lakers can realistically land Kyrie Irving. dark

And if anyone is going to get the best out of Anthony it will be LeBron James. The reward outweighs the risk and the Lakers rumors surrounding Carmelo Anthony make sense.

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