Should the Oklahoma City Thunder be playing Carmelo Anthony late in games? Should they be allocating more time for him to work one-on-one? Should he see more time as the face of bench-heavy lineups? Should he maybe, possibly even come off the bench?
All these months later, the Thunder are still trying to find a happy medium with their revamped group around Russell Westbrook, and Anthony’s role is at the heart of it all. He’s posting career lows in basically every shooting department this season, and his execution in the clutch, both from the field and the free-throw line, has been demonstratively underwhelming.
Through it all, though, Oklahoma City remains impressed with Melo’s willingness to role with the punches. As ESPN.com’s Royce Young wrote:
Internally, coaches and staff have admired the way Anthony has taken on his role, and stuck to it. He rarely walks inside the 3-point line, instead spacing the floor to open up rumbling rolls for Adams — who not coincidentally is having a career season — and lanes for Westbrook to attack or George to swirl around a screen. Anthony stands on the wing, hands cocked and ready by his hips, ready to catch and fire.
Against the Spurs, he hit those three 3s but got only six shots total (zero in the fourth quarter), and the Thunder lost as Westbrook launched some questionable heaves in the final minutes.
Anthony didn’t say a word about his lack of shots, either publicly or privately. He’s method acting, and he’s not breaking character.
It’s good for the Thunder that Anthony is, by all appearances, embracing his role—hit or miss. But this team still has to figure out where it’s best lineups lie ahead of the playoffs. It was easier to justify keeping Melo on the court in crunch time when Andre Roberson was healthy. With both him and Paul George to do the dirty work defensively, it wasn’t as noticeable if Anthony wasn’t hitting shots.
That safety net is gone without Roberson, and there have been times when head coach Billy Donovan seems tempted to roll with more switchable combinations that feature Jerami Grant. And where Melo might bite his tongue or flat-out smile and embrace it now, the Thunder cannot yet be sure whether he’ll do the same come playoff time.
