Carmelo Anthony joined the Los Angeles Lakers for two reasons this offseason: to win a title and play alongside his good friend, LeBron James. Melo comes to a Lakers team that was fully revamped in the summer and in year 19, he's just pumped to be a helping hand in their hopeful championship run. Via ESPN's Dave McMenamin:
“At this point, man, whatever we need to do, let's do it,” Anthony said. “It ain't … ‘I can't sit,' and, ‘Oh, I want to start,' ‘I want to come off the bench.' Whatever it is, it is.”
Before coming to the Lakers, Anthony was strictly a bench guy for the Portland Trail Blazers across two seasons, but he did have a pretty important role in the team. At this point, we don't exactly know what role he will have in LA, but it's good to know that Melo is open to whatever Frank Vogel wants.
Those pair of years with the Blazers were actually the first time he was used as a reserve in his illustrious NBA career. But with the Lakers roster pretty stacked, there's a good chance that will be the case once again. However, Vogel said on Friday that he made it clear to Anthony his role will be big for this team:
“When we spoke before he signed here, I told him that I envisioned a big role on this team,” Vogel said. “I don't know what that's going to look like, whether he's going to start, whether he's going to come off the bench, but that he's going to be a factor for us.”
Carmelo Anthony shot 40.9% from three-point range last season, his second-best mark since coming into the Association. With the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma now out of town, Melo will certainly be relied on to be one of the Lakers' more efficient sharpshooters; starter or not.
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