Los Angeles Lakers: 3 former Russell Westbrook teammates to sign

3. Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony has proven that he still has value in this league. He is not the player that he used to be and more importantly he has realized that he is not the player that he used to be. That was the big problem with Carmelo, his skills decreased while he still envisioned himself as someone who can carry a scoring load.

Anthony has taken a backseat as a role player for the Portland Trail Blazers for two seasons now and should be willing to come off the bench for the Lakers. Heck, he could even start for the Lakers if that makes him and LeBron happy, he just should not close out games.

Anthony is not the greatest defender but that is fine off the bench in the regular season. He could start to get targeted in the playoffs but with Anthony Davis and Frank Vogel’s schemes the Lakers can certainly manage it.

Most importantly, the Lakers would get an experienced off-ball threat that would add to the shooting deficit in LA. Melo is more than just an off-ball shooter, though, he could even create his own shot off the bench while the main stars are sitting (although the odds of all three of them sitting at the same time for an extended time is small).

The one thing that has alluded Carmelo in his Hall of Fame career is a championship and there is no better place to contend for a title than in LA with his buddy LeBron. He is not getting anything more than a minimum deal from anyone else, so money is not an obstacle.

The Westbrook-Carmelo pairing may not have worked in OKC (that is when Carmelo still thought he was that Carmelo) but it could work the second time around.