Los Angeles Lakers: Signing Carmelo Anthony is something to get behind

Even after all of the moves that the Los Angeles Lakers have made this summer, the team is still connected to veteran free agent, Carmelo Anthony.

The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the initial favorites to sign Carmelo Anthony when he was traded and subsequently released after a brief tenure in Houston. With his ties to LeBron James, Melo became a somewhat logical veteran minimum option for the Lakers.

Then time went on, and continued to go on and continued all the way until the end of the season. The Lakers didn’t bring in Melo, and in fact, nobody opted to bring Melo in as a flier veteran option.

Yet after all of that and after trading for Anthony Davis and bringing in other pieces to fill out the roster, the Lakers are still connected to Carmelo Anthony. With one roster spot open, there is hope for those that want to see Melo in LA that it will become a reality.

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Carmelo has been working out with Kyle Kuzma this summer, which has sparked the Laker-centric discussions. With no cap space to bring in anyone other than a veteran minimum player, Melo is hoping he can capitalize.

And quite frankly, signing Carmelo Anthony is something that we can get behind. Many may disagree, but at this point, why not?

Some would point to Andre Iguodala, who was recently traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, who are exploring options of their own. The hope here is that Iguodala will eventually be bought out and can join the Lakers on a veteran minimum deal.

Is Andre Iguodala a better player and a better asset to a title run? Absolutely. However, the problem with that hope is the fact that the Grizzlies would be better off getting a second-round pick from a contender for Iguodala rather than buy him out for nothing.

The market might not be there right now but come February, there will be teams that could use someone like Iguodala.

So what else is the team going to do with the open roster spot? Let it go to waste? Instead, the team can bring in Melo and if a situation does present itself down the line they could release him then or pull Talen Horton-Tucker down to the G League.

Regardless, Melo might be a headache defensively but he can be someone to come in for 10-12 minutes a game and knock down some open shots. That is really all the Lakers would need out of him at this stage of his career.

And perhaps playing on a title-contender will make him a better teammate and will make him put more effort on the defensive side of the ball. Sure, he did not exhibit this in Oklahoma City or Houston, but it may be different with his buddy LeBron.

Plus, the narrative of Carmelo finally getting that NBA Championship that has alluded him his entire career is a narrative that anyone can get behind, even if he plays such a minimal role on the team.

And if it doesn’t work out then the Lakers would not be losing much money nor any cap space. What isn’t there to like?

Next. Bold predictions for Anthony Davis. dark

Depth is something you can never have too much of and Carmelo Anthony provides more of that for the Los Angeles Lakers. Sign us up for the Melo to Los Angeles bandwagon.

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