Since being traded from the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony has technically been on four teams as for some reason, he has been unable to stick anywhere or find a roster that needs a player like him.
He’s been tied to the Los Angeles Lakers on a number of occasions, but that has yet to come to fruition.
For the Lakers, it’s likely for the best they don’t sign Anthony as they await the potential arrival of Andre Igoudala. But should that fall through, it’s likely an option they at least take a look at. Beyond LeBron James, who is one of Anthony’s best friends, Kyle Kuzma also firmly believes he should be on a roster.
Kuzma spoke about the absurdity of Anthony — who’s ‘easily better than half the league’ — not finding a spot on an NBA roster, saying that his departure from the league might be a societal issue, according to Arash Markazi of Los Angeles Times:
“Melo is easily better than half the league right now,” Kuzma said. “There’s no question about it. He should be on a team right now. He’s still one of the best players. The slander people throw at him is something I don’t really understand. Maybe that’s just the way today’s society is right now.
Kuzma also said it would be nice to see Anthony wind up in Los Angeles, but knows that he has no control over those decisions. In fact, he said he fully trusts general manager Rob Pelinka to keep making good decisions for the team:
“It would be great to see him in L.A., but I don’t make those decisions. That’s up to Rob [Pelinka] to make those decisions as far as what he thinks is best for the Lakers. He’s done a great job so far putting this team together.”
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Anthony ended up on the Lakers. However, there’s no need to make those decisions right now, as he’ll likely be a free agent for the majority of the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season.
It’s also a positive sign that the players trust Pelinka’s decision-making ability, leaving it fully up to him to decide what to do with the Anthony situation.
Odds are Anthony doesn’t end up in Los Angeles as it likely would’ve happened by now. But it’s always a decent fallback option if February rolls around, Igoudala is unavailable, and the Lakers are more in need of offense than defense.