Houston Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey admitted on a recent episode of the Haberstroh Show, hosted by NBC NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh, that the failure of the Carmelo Anthony signing was on him.
…But in terms of like how things evolved for us and our heavy use of the switching defense… that was one thing that wasn’t a perfect fit. It really is mostly on me honestly. I saw the fit there and really didn’t go the way I thought it would.
In early August, the Rockets signed ‘Melo to a one-year veteran’s minimum worth $2.4 million. Anthony played just 10 games for Houston before being parting ways with the team.
Despite the breakup, Daryl Morey still held high praise for the 10-time All-Star.
He can still really help a team. I think just how things evolved in terms of how we were… using him. We thought, we really thought that was gonna work and to be fair to Carmelo, I do really think he can help a team and I think a team is gonna nab him here pretty shortly, is my guess.
He’s a very talented player, like super skilled at a lot of things. Especially the ability to shoot and honestly the ability to get his shot off against multiple looks and situations. He’s also been in a lot of really big games… He was very good at helping our spacing, he was behind the 3-point line most of the time, all those things on offense that we thought were going to help us did.
Through 10 games, Anthony averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game with a 51.3 true shooting percentage, providing solid numbers in his 15th year.
Unfortunately, on the defensive side is where Anthony lacked. Morey explained how the team used a ‘full switch’ on defense, and how that type of defense is tough for a player with the ‘skillset of a spacing four’ that Anthony has.
This year Carmelo was posting the second-worst defensive rating of his career at 111.0. For a team like the Rockets with the seventh-worst defensive (111.7) rating in the league. Taking in an older Carmelo who is declining offensively, averaging his lowest point total per game in his career, isn’t exactly the best situation for a team struggling on defense.
The Rockets currently sit at 11-12 on the season. Including losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks.
