Los Angeles Lakers: Why LA should avoid signing Carmelo Anthony

How much basketball is there to go around? Considering the fact that you have three all-star players already on the roster, I don’t know if there will be enough to add another. Especially when that player has a history of just being purely an offensive player and doesn’t play a stitch of defense. The last thing the Los Angeles Lakers need is a player such as Carmelo Anthony.

Look, I will always give Carmelo Anthony credit where credit is due. He is a very talented offensive player and always has been. The offensive side of the ball has always been where he was most effective.

In his younger years, he could go to the basket and be quick to pull up with a jump shot. Carmelo Anthony was a scoring machine. That all being said, there were many other things about his game that never seemed to change, such as the fact that he never played a stitch of defense.

There were also times when he was an ultimate ball hog and he also never made those around him better. His time with the Denver Nuggets comes to mind as well as his time with the New York Knicks.

To be quite honest, the only thing that has really changed has been his speed and the fact that he no longer is being paid or treated like the star of a team. To this day, he still is much of the same player that he has always been. He never was much of an offensive creator but did have a very good ability to get his shot off.

What good does Carmelo Anthony bring to the Los Angeles Lakers?

Even if he agreed to sign for the minimum, what good would that do? The Lakers have more than enough talent to get over the hump.

To be quite honest, and this is not a knock at the recent Russell Westbrook trade but had the Lakers stayed healthy for most of the year last season, they would have been in  a much better place then they were in the playoffs and could have finished the season in a higher bracket and therefore played someone else in the playoffs.

I know it sounds like Monday Morning quarterbacking but it is quite understandable. Injuries were the main culprit of why their team failed. Not for lack of talent.

Carmelo’s upside would be what exactly? Experience and the ability to hit the occasional open shot? The experience is great but can he be part of a winning team? Can he fit into the Lakers system? Anthony would be a defensive liability would he not?

The Los Angeles Lakers should focus their remaining roster spots somewhere else. They also need to address the fact they need more youth on their roster and not another one-dimensional type of player. What I do wish they would focus on would be another big body or another defensive specialist.

They need a legit stopper that can give opposing offenses trouble. In a league that is crazy about more and more points, there has to come a time when the game itself comes full circle as most things do in life and therefore having another defensive stud would only help them.