Syracuse Basketball: Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trailblazers fulfill destiny

Former Syracuse basketball star Carmelo Anthony is back in the NBA after signing with the Portland Trailblazers. Here are all the details.

Thursday night was the culmination of years and years of talking between former Syracuse basketball star Carmelo Anthony and the Portland Trailblazers.

Portland has been trying for years to land Melo through trade talks and free agency inquiries.

As a matter of fact, the brightest stars on the Trailblazers (Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum) tried multiple times to lure Carmelo to the Trailblazers and even gave him their sales pitch:

"“I’ve spoken to him because obviously he would make us a better team. The interest is mutual between our team and Carmelo. He’s a guy that can score the ball. I can only imagine what it’d be like to have him iso on one side, CJ, me, and Nurkić. That would be hard to defend.”"

Well, imagine no more because now it’s a reality. ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski was first on the news that Carmelo and the Trailblazers have agreed to a non-guaranteed contract.

They’ve been speaking since the preseason and talks heated up over the last couple of days, per Woj, but actually these guys have spoken several times over the last few years but the timing was never right.

Carmelo was in conversations with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors (pre-Steph Curry injury). His main goal was to join a championship ready team, but that didn’t materialize for several reasons which helped change his stance on joining the Trailblazers.

Last week we spoke with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (Heavy.com and Scoop B Radio) and he shared with us that Carmelo and Portland was a real possibility.

"“When you look at Portland right now with Zach Collins being hurt, Carmelo Anthony made a ton of sense. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are very talented, but they obviously need some help. If Melo can come in and give you 15-20 points per game in their system they’ll be good.I think a good comparison to look at is Dwight Howard with the LA Lakers. He came into a situation where he’s making a little bit of money and Dwight is one of the league leaders in blocks right now. This is a good situation for Melo and this can be an opportunity for him to re-write his legacy. Portland is looking for buckets and that’s something Carmelo is capable of providing.”"

There’s no question Portland needs help, right now they’re 4-8 and at the bottom of the western conference standings.

On top of struggling in general, the team has struggled to get production out of its forwards this season:

"“Ranking 27th in points per game (36.3), tied for 28th in assists per game (5.5) and last in field goal percentage (39%),” per ESPN Stats and Information."

So what are fair expectations for Carmelo?

"“Expectations on both sides is to win ball games point-blank. There are a lot of talented teams in the western conference, but there’s no reason why Portland should be a bottom-tier team. Melo brings instant offense and he can help fill the void offensively for the Trailblazers.”"

Carmelo is a changed man, he doesn’t seem to care about starting anymore what he wants is that elusive NBA Championship.

"Per ESPN, “Melo is one of 19 players in NBA history with 25,000 points and 6,500 rebounds, and only four have not won an NBA title: Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins, and Alex English.”"

There’s no question that Anthony will eventually end up in the Hall of Fame, but the last piece missing to complete his resume is a ring.