Will Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn and the Los Angeles Lakers' other signings offer their new big three of Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook enough support?
The Lakers, who are set to lose Alex Caruso and Andre Drummond in free agency after agreeing to trade Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma to the Washington Wizards for Westbrook, have been busy filling those roster spots with experienced players.
Five of the seven players the Lakers have reportedly agreed to sign (Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington and Dwight Howard) are entering at least their 10th season. Anthony and James are two of the last three players remaining from their rookie season, 2003-04, tying them with Udonis Haslem as the longest-tenured players in the NBA. Ariza and Howard, entering Year 18, are one season behind them. Monk (23) and Nunn (26) are the exceptions.
How much will the newcomers have to offer the Lakers? Let's take a look.
Melo can be useful in the right role
The idea of Anthony reaching 19 NBA seasons seemed improbable in the fall of 2019. He remained unsigned at the start of the 2019-20 season after being unceremoniously cast off by the Houston Rockets the previous campaign, having played just 10 games in Houston. But injuries to Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic left the Portland Trail Blazers short-handed in the frontcourt, and they gave Anthony a call.
Having started all 58 games he played for the Blazers in 2019-20, Melo transitioned to a bench role last season without complaint. Despite playing fewer minutes per game, Anthony's weaknesses were on greater display as he was paired less frequently with a rim-protecting center. Portland's defensive rating, which ranked in the 18th percentile overall, according to Cleaning the Glass, dropped to the seventh percentile of lineups league-wide with Anthony on the court.
Playing without as much of the floor spacing provided by the duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum also evidently affected Melo's ability to get to the rim. A career-low 7% of his shot attempts came in the restricted area, per analysis of data from NBA Advanced Stats, down nearly two-thirds from the previous season.
On the plus side, Anthony posted the best shooting season of his career, knocking down 41% of his 3-point attempts. Shooting was the biggest reason Melo thrived with the Blazers after disappointing stints in Houston and Oklahoma City. He made just 35% of his 3s in those two stops, down from the 37% he shot with the New York Knicks, before hitting 40% over his two seasons in Portland. Anthony's 89% foul shooting in 2020-21 was also a career high, suggesting he continues to improve as a shooter.
To get the most out of Melo, Lakers coach Frank Vogel will want to pair him with the team's stars as much as possible. Not only will Davis and James help keep Anthony from being overexposed defensively, they'll also put him in more of a catch-and-shoot role on offense. Thanks to his 3-point shooting, Melo posted a 57% effective field-goal percentage (eFG, which accounts for the added value of 3s) on shots with fewer than two seconds of touch time, according to Advanced Stats. With more than two seconds of touch time -- frequently on isolation plays -- that dropped to 47%.
Lakers have more shooting, but fewer two-way options
The Lakers' early signings have dramatically addressed concerns about their ability to space the floor for their stars. Anthony, Bazemore, Ellington and Monk were all among 50 qualifying players league-wide to make at least 40% of their 3-point attempts last season. At 38%, Nunn wasn't far off. Anthony, Ellington and Nunn made more 3s than any returning Lakers player after the Westbrook trade.
The concern is that Vogel could find himself toggling between favoring shooters and defenders. Anthony, Ellington and Monk, the best of the shooters, are below-average defenders. Ariza offers more defensive versatility but average shooting at best (35% from 3 last season, right at his career mark).
On paper, Bazemore could offer the best balance of both skills among this group. However, last season's 41% accuracy on 184 attempts beyond the arc could be difficult to maintain for a 36% career shooter. Unlike Anthony, Bazemore didn't match his career-best shooting from 3-point range at the free throw line, where he hit just 69% in 2020-21 -- down from his career mark (72%).
As good a value as the Lakers got with Nunn at the taxpayer midlevel exception -- less than he was offered elsewhere, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski -- it meant foregoing the opportunity to get a two-way wing in free agency. Aside from more minimum contracts, the Lakers' only avenue to add such a player now would be through signing-and-trading one of their remaining free agents.
Lakers hope that volume beats aging
The other issue with the group of vets the Lakers have added is, naturally, age. Before Monk and Nunn, Bazemore and Westbrook (32) were the youngest players they'd added. On average, players in their 30s tend to decline substantially from year to year. More than anything, the Lakers seem to be relying on the volume game to overcome the aging curve.
After all, while the average veteran declines, that process is different from player to player and from season to season. If a couple of the newcomers added by the Lakers prove unworthy of rotation playing time, that shouldn't be an issue so long as the organization is ready to pivot and give their minutes and perhaps roster spots to someone else who will perform better. A poor start from Anthony would test that willingness, given his longtime friendship with James.
Monk and Nunn also offer some insurance against aging. Monk is still trending upward after parlaying his evident shooting skill into good 3-point results for the first time in his career in 2020-21. Despite that, Monk apparently didn't have much of a market in free agency after the Charlotte Hornets drafted James Bouknight as a replacement and chose not to extend Monk a qualifying offer.
Having used 24% of Charlotte's plays during his four years with the Hornets, Monk is a bit more of a volume scorer than is ideal around a high-usage trio of Davis, James and Westbrook. Still, his shooting will work in an off-ball role, and the Lakers have to be thrilled to have landed him.
Meanwhile, Nunn is in the middle of his prime after debuting in the NBA at age 24. He started 111 of the 123 games he played during two seasons with the Miami Heat, who couldn't afford to keep him after hard-capping themselves with the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade. Nunn doesn't offer an elite skill but offers a combination of playmaking and shooting the Lakers didn't have on the roster aside from LeBron. (Caruso, who signed with the Chicago Bulls, might have come closest.)
With restricted free agent Talen Horton-Tucker also agreeing to a three-year, $32 million deal, the Lakers' roster is taking shape. They've got 12 players under guaranteed contract along with forward Alfonzo McKinnie, whose salary is non-guaranteed. All things considered, the Lakers' roster has come together as well as could be expected after the Westbrook trade. Still, the limited number of two-way contributors could be an issue at the highest level of playoff competition.
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Where does Carmelo Anthony fit among all these Lakers additions? - ESPN
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