Could Carmelo Anthony be reunited with the Chicago Bulls under new head coach Billy Donovan?
For what seemed like far too long, Carmelo Anthony was without a job. After essentially being left for dead, even by the helpless Chicago Bulls once upon a time after a meaningless trade, Anthony finally reached a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers this past season.
All he did was prove he had more than enough left in the tank to contribute at a high level. The Blazers had next to no depth at the forward position, which allowed Anthony to come in and start.
Last year with Portland, Anthony averaged over 15 points per game while shooting the three ball at a 38.5 percent clip. In the playoffs, he continued averaging 15 points but upped that three-point percentage to 42 percent while adding in five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Now, Anthony’s future is up in the air. He looks like he can still play while adding tons of experience and potentially a mentorship role for the right youngsters. Could he fit in with the Bulls, under his former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan?
Anthony told veteran JJ Redick he actually enjoyed his one season in Oklahoma City on a recent podcast.
“For me personally, I actually really enjoyed my time at OKC. That team, I enjoyed it. Being around those guys, I enjoyed it. Granted, we didn’t do what we were supposed to do. The goal was to win with that team. We didn’t do it. We underachieved.”
This now begs the question, if Anthony relished his time under Donovan, would he be open to reuniting in Chicago?
It seems kind of funny that the Bulls would entertain the possibility of bringing Anthony into the fold after buying him out of a trade back in 2019.
But, we have gone into detail multiple times about new general manager Marc Eversley wanting to retool instead of calling this a “rebuild.” If that’s true, then Anthony would come in and play a major role backing up a guy like Otto Porter Jr., or even potentially starting if the Bulls were able to trade Porter’s contract.
There is no doubt the Bulls will end up making a move or two this offseason. The way Eversley spoke about believing in this being more than a 22-win team, most would agree that Chicago will be aggressive from the get-go. They aren’t going to simply wait until next offseason when the free agent pool looks a lot more tantalizing.
They may wait until 2021 to spend a ton of money, but that doesn’t rule out a trade or two, or even a middle-ground free agent signing.
For Bulls fans who wanted Anthony to sign in Chicago versus the New York Knicks back in the day, this could be a chance to finally see him lace up in the black and red.
