The Boston Celtics Wanted Carmelo Anthony

Reports said that Boston was trying to trade for Carmelo Anthony but he blocked it. Anthony said that’s not true. Either way, he’s not wearing green

The Boston Celtics were one of the most rumored teams leading up to the trade deadline last week. One of the most rumored players was Carmelo Anthony. With the New York Knicks sudden collapse, a lot of teams were seeing if Anthony was available. It’s not news that a team was targeting Anthony, as it happens every off-season and trade deadline, but the news that broke on Thursday is.

According to ESPN, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks were discussing a deal that would have sent Anthony to Boston, but Anthony blocked the trade as he has consistently stated that he wants to win in New York. Later in the day, according to Daily News, Anthony said he never blocked a trade to Boston, and that he was never even approached about a trade.

A trade rumor that broke, but didn’t last long, was a three-team deal involving the Celtics, Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. At the time, it seemed that Kevin Love was probably being targeted by the Celtics and that the Cavaliers would be getting the nine time all-star, Carmelo Anthony. With the recent news though, could the Celtics have been the ones targeting Anthony in that blockbuster trade? And did the Knicks never once approach Anthony about a trade?

It would seem very weird for the Knicks to go after Love, especially if trading away Anthony. Melo’s love for the city of New York is one of the main reasons he stayed there instead of bolting for a better situation. There would be no real reason to let him go for Love, who isn’t as talented but talented enough to not make them tank all the way. Maybe the Celtics would have ended up with Love in that scenario as reports also said they tried to trade for Anthony without a third team involved as well.

It also doesn’t seem possible that Anthony was never asked or talked about a possible trade with the Knicks’ organization. It doesn’t mean that they were close to a deal, but it seems hard to believe that no conversations happened.

According to Daily News, the Celtics were willing to give up the Brooklyn Nets‘ 2016 first round pick, David Lee, and another pick and player. The Dallas Mavericks‘ pick would most likely have been involved as well as Jae Crowder.

Carmelo Anthony is one of the best scorers in the league, and would have made the Celtics instant contenders. Melo is consistently near the top of the league in points per game, and this season is no different. Anthony owns averages of 21.4 points, eight rebounds, and 4.2 assists (career-high) in 35 minutes per game. His scoring is down, the lowest since 2011-12, and his 42.6 field goal percentage is the worst in his career.

There is still no doubt that Anthony would have brought more attention on the offensive end than anyone on the Celtics’ current roster. His ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor, while also posting someone up, is something very rare at any level.

Melo would have especially thrived in Boston’s high-tempo offense. The Celtics attempt 89.7 shots per game, the highest in the NBA, and average the fourth most points per game at 106.1.

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While Anthony is a superstar, no question about it, he still brings a lot of questions with him. For one, he has never been on a successful team. He may not have had a great supporting cast around him for most of his career, however, he also doesn’t make everyone around him significantly better like LeBron James or other stars do. While Melo’s biggest asset to a team is his scoring, he can sometimes be a ball-stopper. He has gotten better at passing and ball movement throughout his career, but he takes a lot of shots and has a tendency to play one-on-one a lot.

Anthony attempts 17.7 shots per game this season, down from the 20 plus he usually takes. That is a big difference from the 11 shot attempts that Jae Crowder takes, who also shoots a higher field goal percentage. There’s no doubt that Melo’s presence on offense is a huge advantage for any team; by being able to draw double teams and open up the floor even more. However, an increase of 6.7 shots from a position, granted more than Crowder would have been traded away, is a lot. It’s especially true when considering Isaiah Thomas is already attempting 16.6 shots per game.

There is no doubt that at times the Celtics would be running a two-man show, which doesn’t work for a lot of teams. Brad Stevens is a good enough coach to figure out a system to make it work, however, there would definitely have been some growing pains.

With that being said, if the Celtics were able to get Carmelo Anthony, they would have. He’s the type of star who could have led the Celtics this season and in the future. They also have enough cap room to pay him the rest of his $124 million dollar contract over four years. There may have been growing pains at first, but the likely hood of landing a star at his quality through the draft or free agency is slim.

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Whether Melo actually discussed a trade to the Celtics, or any team, may never be known. But the known love he has with New York, makes it seem very possible that he wants to stay a Knick for the rest of his career.