Opinion: The Detroit Pistons should avoid Carmelo Anthony

There’s no doubt that Carmelo Anthony would be an instant upgrade at the small forward position for the Detroit Pistons. However, he’s not worth it.

Many fans of the Detroit Pistons have turned to social media for their support of the team acquiring 10-time All Star Carmelo Anthony. There have been a lot of reports surfacing over the past couple of days about Anthony being done in Houston after just 12 games.

This is from an article written by ESPN’s NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski:

"With no ongoing discussions about Carmelo Anthony rejoining the Houston Rockets, his representatives spent Monday gathering information from NBA front offices about a potential landing spot for the 10-time All-Star forward, league sources told ESPN.Both Anthony and front office officials around the league are privately expressing surprise at the speed in which Houston is short-circuiting this partnership, especially after the Rockets’ courtship of him this summer."

It’s hard to believe that Anthony has been an All-Star ten different times. It’s also hard to believe that he’s never played in an NBA finals.

Houston is the fourth team he’s played with in his career. Anthony spent a majority of his time in Denver and New York. He was a very good player during those years.

He went to Oklahoma City last season and was largely a disappointment in his time there. Anthony shot just 40 percent from the field, a career low for the once dynamic scorer.

I believe that didn’t work out for Anthony because of his role. He’s been the premiere player on his respective team in every season of his career except these past two seasons.

Anthony’s short time in Houston shows evidence of this as well. He’s still shooting just 40 percent from the field and just 32 percent from outside. That’s the lowest three-percentage he’s recorded since the 2009 season.

He’s posted a player efficiency rating of just 11.5 this season, which is a career low.

Anthony has shown the inability to be effective when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands as much. Do the people out there that want Anthony to come to Detroit think that will change?

If the Pistons are trying to promote the idea of ball movement and Blake Griffin operating as a ‘point forward’ type, where does Anthony fit into that equation?

It should also be mentioned that Anthony is now 34 years old. Why would fans want the Pistons to sign a veteran that shows declining numbers and the inability to find a place on a roster?

Financially, Anthony taking a veteran minimum would put the Pistons over the luxury tax threshold. That’s another reason why this move would not make sense for this team.

The only reason this deal makes sense is because he would become the best small forward the Detroit Pistons have on the team.

Glenn Robinson has yet to be consistent in the four games he’s started at small forward. Stanley Johnson was moved to the bench for being too much of a liability on the floor with the starters.

However, I’d rather see Robinson try and find his groove with the starting unit than bring in a player like Carmelo Anthony. Anthony isn’t going to take the Detroit Pistons over the top. He’s no longer that player at this point in his NBA career.