[The Athletic] Inside Carmelo Anthony’s darkest day as a Rocket, and the deal destined to fail

https://theathletic.com/648561/2018...ouston-rockets-future-daryl-morey-gary-clark/


OKLAHOMA CITY — By the time the final buzzer sounded on Houston’s 10th game of the season, it wasn’t a matter of would, but when would the Rockets part ways with Carmelo Anthony. The writing was already on the wall — his days were numbered.

In the moments immediately following the Thunder’s 18-point blowout win, the ambiance of the visitors’ locker room was anything but pleasant. A number of players quickly headed for the showers, presumably eager to get as far away from Chesapeake Arena as possible.

Tucked away in one corner was a dejected, somber Anthony; fresh off an abysmal two-point performance on 1-of-11 shooting — on national tv nonetheless. For nearly 10 minutes he sat at his locker and stared at the wall, motionless. He didn’t have his phone in his hand, and didn’t utter a word to anyone. Just complete silence, him and his thoughts.

In the midst of this, Russell Westbrook, who had missed the game with a sprained ankle, entered the locker room looking for his childhood friend James Harden.

“Yo, hurry your ass up!” Westbrook exclaimed from the doorway, respectably electing not to enter an unhappy locker room.

Westbrook did not acknowledge his former teammate Anthony, who eventually gathered himself and took off for the showers. As a fully-dressed Anthony left the locker room, Harden, Westbrook and others were congregated in the back hallway that leads to the court. Anthony, bags in hand, walked straight past them, eventually making his way to the team bus for the ride to the airport.

Since then he’s been dealing with a sickness, and his status for Tuesday’s game in Denver remains in doubt. As it stands, Anthony looks to be waived by the Houston Rockets in the near future, league sources told The Athletic.

That dreadful Thursday evening was deflating to Anthony for multiple reasons. After a slow start to the season, including four straight losses, Houston had picked up steam on its five-game road trip, riding a three-game winning streak in which Anthony had been influential. A return to Oklahoma, a place he held near and dear to his heart for the way the city accepted him and his flaws, would always be somewhat emotional.

When he initially checked into the game with four minutes gone in the first, he was met with a series of cheers and roars. But by the sixth consecutive missed field goal, the cheers had transformed into jeers and laughter.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey had also made the trip north that day. It’s not unusual for general managers to be seen with their teams on the road, but it was somewhat of a random appearance in the way Morey showed up. He had been with the team earlier on the trip, but Houston had three days off. He popped in for a moment postgame, didn’t say anything and left. It’s one thing for you to have a bad day at the office, that can happen to anyone. What you can’t do is have your worst day in the presence of your boss.

To say the experiment has gone poorly would be a bit harsh given the circumstances he was thrust into. But Anthony has done himself no favors with his recent string of performances. This isn’t to say it’s been all negative — glass half-fullers will point to his Brooklyn outing as optimism for a successful partnership. At the same time, glass half-emptiers will look no further than Thursday night’s nightmare in OKC as a reason the Rockets should just cut ties. His scoring average was a mere 13.4 points and his shooting percentage 40.5 percent after that game. The Rockets were playing him a career-low 29.4 minutes per game and bringing him in off the bench for the first time in his career.

In any sense, a breakup was definitely always a possibility. Houston put itself in a low-risk, potentially solid return situation by inking Anthony to a minimum contract. There was a gentleman’s code of sorts that said if things just didn’t work out for one reason or the other, both parties could void the agreement and move on with their respective lives.

So why didn’t it work out? An easy answer involves a square midrange peg in a round three-point hole. Anthony just didn’t mesh well with the rest of the team. Houston operates a certain way, it’s the blueprint got the Rockets to 65 wins and the Western Conference Finals. Besides the two primary ballhandlers in Chris Paul and Harden, the Rockets prefer to arm the team with Eric Gordon, 3&D wings, shooters and athletic bigs. Anthony doesn’t exactly fit into any of those categories, which explains the on-court awkwardness of the pairing.

Before his signing, there were some players and members in the organization who were wary of what his arrival would bring, league sources said. Not because he’s distracting or a bad teammate, Anthony has been a professional since Day 1 in Houston. It was more from a rhythm standpoint, the Rockets looked disjointed from tipoff of the season opener. Anthony was caught in the limbo of expressing his skill set with the second unit, and waiting on Paul or Harden to create something. On some occasions, he was allowed to operate in the post, something that brought him success. But coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t operate that way. Some were willing to exercise patience and give Anthony time to fully incorporate himself, as he asked for on a number of occasions. Others weren’t so willing — as one source put it, “Get with it or get lost.”

It was always going to be an uphill task getting a player who’s been the man for 95 percent of his career to accept a smaller, lesser role. With Eric Gordon returning from injury, Houston’s normal rotation would push Anthony behind Gordon. But to make matters worse for Anthony, Gary Clark’s play has elevated the rookie above Anthony. D’Antoni would much rather play Clark than Anthony, and that likely wouldn’t sit well with the future Hall of Famer. Had they continued on this path, Anthony could find himself earning a couple of DNP-CDs in his future. It’s hard to imagine Anthony being patient enough to bide his time on the bench, waiting for an injury or foul trouble to see extended playing time.

Is Houston making Anthony the scapegoat? One Dwyane Wade seems to believe so.

Wade has a point, the blame cannot solely be placed on Anthony’s broad shoulders. Every last person on this Rockets roster started out the season poorly from a shooting standpoint. The vibe around the Toyota Center has been funky, even more so after a weird damage control emergency press conference by Morey on Sunday. The GM claimed it was unfair how Anthony’s name was being attached to the team’s troubles, and that the entire roster was being evaluated as the team sat at 4-7. “A lot of this is on me right now, we’re not playing well,” he said. “We’ve just got to figure it out.”

And Morey is right, he’s the one that has to figure everything out. The roster, as currently constructed, is unbalanced. They could use help in the shooting and rebounding/rim protection departments, for starters. They have to turn things around quickly, new owner Tilman Fertitta expects results and expects them rather quickly. The poor start to the season has already brought two players-only meetings as a means of making sense what the situation is and how to fix it properly.

Nene, who’s been away from the team as he rehabs his calf, is one who understands Anthony’s plight and whose calming presence has been needed around the locker room. Sources say he’s on track with his recovery plan and hopes to rejoin the team soon. He didn’t make the trip to Denver. “Every team goes through negative stuff,” Nene told The Athletic on their bumpy start. “But it’s about how you respond, and we’ll be all right.”

Sunday night’s win over Indiana gave Houston its first home win of the season, and in some ways it was the eye of the storm. In the midst of the turmoil surrounding Anthony and the organization, Houston was able to put on arguably its best display in 12 games so far. Clark showed all sorts of intangibles, the ones that explain why he needs more game time. Paul got hot early, and Harden razzled and dazzled his way to 40 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Was it sheer coincidence that the Rockets played their best game yet? The narratives will fly, but it might be in Houston’s and Anthony’s best interests for both parties to move on, while there’s still time for both to win.