Los Angeles Lakers: Carmelo Anthony might be the x-factor this season

Carmelo Anthony has already had an immediate impact on the Los Angeles Lakers. He has proven himself as one of the most important players on this loaded roster.

Many thought that Anthony’s career had run its course only a few years ago after he was a member of two conductive failed big threes. The first was on the Oklahoma City Thunder with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The second failed experiment was on the Houston Rockets with Chris Paul and James Harden.

Anthony became the scapegoat for both of these big threes going south and it led to his name being dragged through the mud and him seemingly being blackballed from the league. However, he was finally given his last chance to prove himself with the Portland Trail Blazers and he did not disappoint.

During his time with the Trail Blazers, Anthony finally accepted and adapted his game to make him a perfect bench player on a contending team. While this caused him to swallow a lot of pride, it has extended his career and may end up leading to him retiring with an NBA championship.

The Lakers snagged Anthony this summer in free agency on a veteran minimum contract and his impact has already been felt this early in the season.

Carmelo Anthony has continued to be an incredible bench player for the Los Angeles Lakers up to this point in the season.

His role on this team will be to carry the bench unit in terms of scoring or come off of the bench early if the starting unit cannot get anything going on offense. Despite his age, Anthony will be the X-factor for the Lakers this season and when the playoffs come around, a series may end up being determined by his level of play.

So far, one of the biggest things that Melo contributes to the team is his three-point shooting ability. Although it is unlikely he will be able to continue this incredible hot streak, if he does, the 2021-2022 season will end up being his best year shooting from three.

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This has been an aspect of his game that he has worked the most on since he has accepted a role off of the bench. He leads the Lakers in a three-point percentage at 52.2% (min. over two attempts per game).

Combining this with his elite mid-range game, Melo provides the Lakers with instant offense off of the bench. Along with this, because of his elite shooting so far this year, he has given Los Angeles the spacing that they desperately need.

Their big three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook traditionally get their buckets around the basket. Although James and Davis have made strives in their outside game, they are still at their best around the basket.

Anthony makes life much easier for them to get to the hoop and get easy baskets. Along with this, he provides their playmakers with someone who is shooting 66.7% on corner threes. Lastly, he has proven that he can still be an elite scorer if he is given the right opportunities. He has scored 20+ points in 33.3% of the Lakers played games this season.

Time will tell if this is just a hot start for Anthony or if he will continue to be the X-factor for the Lakers this season. However, if he remains an elite option off of the bench, his contributions could be enough to propel the Lakers to once again claim their title of NBA champions.