The Oklahoma City Thunder have already done what the New York Knicks never could, or never wanted to, or never realized they should have done: officially move Carmelo Anthony to the power forward position.
Best of all, the Thunder have the 10-time All-Star’s blessing to do it, per ESPN.com’s Royce Young:
“I’ve been playing the 4 almost all my career,” Anthony said. “Even in Denver, we was one of those teams with George Karl, kinda started going playing that small ball, putting me at the 4, picking up the pace. We kind of started that. And the league wasn’t ready for that at that time. It was all about traditional bigs and power forwards and centers. And now, it’s just whoever. You have 2-guards playing center now, guys 6-foot-5 playing center. So, it really doesn’t matter at what position it is, what spot out there, as long as you fill those spots, as long as you know the offense, as long as you execute, those positions, they don’t matter.”
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“I have no problem with playing the 4,” Anthony said. “I actually like that, I actually embrace that. And for this team, I think it will be better.”
To be clear, Anthony doesn’t have much of a choice. The Thunder have Paul George on the roster, and he’s far better suited to chase around today’s 3s than the slower, older, less-interested-in-playing-defense Anthony. The 33-year-old could not reasonably expect to stick at small forward without coming off the bench.
Around 75 percent of Anthony’s career minutes have come at the 3, according to Basketball-Reference. And only twice has he spent more time at power forward than small forward over the course of a season. Moving him over, indefinitely, could serve as a risk, knowing he’s been kind-of, sort-of averse to making the full-time switch in the past.
But, again, he has no choice. Plus, it’s easier to make the transition when George is your 3, and a physical big like Steven Adams is at the 5. Anthony won’t be hung out to dry in Oklahoma City. He’ll always be afforded the easier of the wing assignments—in large part because Roberson can defend positions 1 through 4 as well.
More than anything, Anthony has to know by now that playing power forward works. The Knicks won 54 games in 2012-13 with him as their primary 4, surrounded by shooters, only to get away from that in the coming years and see their stock plummet. Even over the past couple seasons, when they were absolute crap, some of their best offensive lineups included him at power forward.
By all indications, then, this move is best for all involved—and not just because, after looking at Oklahoma City’s roster, it’s the only one.
