Will Carmelo Anthony Disrupt the Chemistry of the Houston Rockets?

In the past, Carmelo Anthony has scoffed at the very idea of him coming off the bench. But while he feels that he’s still a superstar, his stats are showing otherwise.

Last season, Carmelo Anthony recorded a career low in assists, having a measly two assists per 100 possessions, Yahoo reported. That is an unsightly stat line and is a huge sign that he isn’t involving his teammates in the plays he’s making.

The OKC Thunder has already parted ways with Carmelo Anthony and the Houston Rockets are the favorite team being seen to acquire the small/power forward. The Rockets almost defeated the Warriors last playoffs as they led the series 3-2 at one point but eventually lost due to Chris Paul getting injured. And with Trevor Ariza now out of the roster, the chances that the Rockets will defeat the Warriors just got slimmer.

Carmelo Anthony is set to fill the void that Ariza has left. But replacing Ariza with Anthony would be a mistake since it's a well-known fact that the latter puts little effort on the defensive side of things.

Of course, coach Mike D’Antoni can possibly push Carmelo Anthony to his full potential. But given that he has time and again showed he isn’t willing to put the effort in stopping and disrupting the opposing team’s offense, it seems that this is unlikely to happen.

The best thing that the Rockets can do is have Carmelo Anthony lead their second unit. But again, the forward doesn’t want to come off the bench.

Regardless of this, Carmelo Anthony’s soon-to-be teammates are saying that he’s a great addition to the team. James Harden said that Anthony has already proven he’s a honed vet and that the forward wants nothing more than to win at this point of his career. As of now, it’s still unclear how D’Antoni will utilize Anthony’s talents or if the forward will indeed stand his ground regarding wanting to start for the Rockets.