Carmelo Anthony Delivers a Stern Message on Behalf of the Lakers to the Rest of the NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers quickly revamped the roster through free agency, building around the star talent. Carmelo Anthony is among the several new faces in Los Angeles, hoping to help push the Lakers toward another NBA title. Anthony also didn’t waste time in sending a message to the doubters.
Carmelo Anthony joins the Lakers
After the early playoff exit, the Lakers took a calculated approach to retool the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Among the prominent free agency additions, Los Angeles acquired the 10-time All-Star on a one-year deal on the veteran’s minimum. Anthony remained heavily linked to the Lakers for several years but finally pulled the trigger on joining James.
The 37-year-old is coming off an efficient campaign, where he fully committed to coming off the bench to continue his NBA career. He remains an effective scoring option as he averaged 13.4 points in 24.5 minutes per contest while hitting at a 40.9% clip from 3-point range on 4.7 attempts from beyond the arc per game.
It marked the first time he started fewer than 40 games, but it’s allowed him to extend his career into his 19th campaign with a special opportunity to play with Los Angeles. The decision to join the Lakers has already come with criticism directed toward the team’s veteran-laden roster, to which Anthony responded with a stern message.
Carmelo Anthony delivers a stern message on behalf of the Lakers to the rest of the NBA
The Lakers quickly assembled the roster primarily through free agency by adding the bulk of the talent on veteran’s minimum contracts.
The front office took the approach of adding proven players well into their 30s with the likes of Anthony (37), Trevor Ariza (36), Dwight Howard (35) that pushed the team’s average age to 31.4 years. During Anthony’s introductory press conference on Monday, he quickly shut down any concerns regarding the roster’s age.
“We don’t care,” Anthony said via Bill Oram of The Athletic. “Don’t care. We make our own narrative.”
The Lakers may possess the league’s oldest roster, but the team is banking on the group of talent to push them forward, especially during the playoffs. The criticisms are fair with the age as it could lead to more injuries. Still, Los Angeles is taking a calculated approach with players with plenty of experience to lean on, especially in critical moments.
Meanwhile, the team added younger talent such as Kendrick Nunn (26) and Malik Monk (23) to supplement alongside Davis (28). Los Angeles has methodically shaped the roster around its star talent with shooting and versatile defenders.
The Lakers will need the veteran presence to play a pivotal factor in offloading the pressure on its star talent.
Los Angeles fixated on competing for an NBA title
The Lakers‘ intentions are clear with the newly constructed roster: compete for another NBA title.
Los Angeles will lean heavily upon James, Davis, and Westbrook to lead the charge, but will need to supporting cast to fill the gaps. The front office brought aboard versatile defenders along with proven scorers and shooters to provide additional offense.
One of the biggest questions remains Westbrook’s fit into the offense, especially with his dependency on the ball in his hands to be an effective factor. His shooting struggles coupled with his style of play draw outside concerns. It’s likely why the Lakers acquired shooting around the star talent to take off any added offensive pressure.
All that may have put the pieces in place for Los Angeles to push back into title contention.
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