Brooklyn Nets’ combo-forward, Taurean Prince, shed new light on the ongoing Carmelo Anthony free agency saga.
With Wilson Chandler all but likely to face a 25-game suspension because of “accidental” PED use, and with Rodions Kurucs facing ugly off-court allegations, the Brooklyn Nets‘ power forward slot looks drier than a California desert during the month of July.
As such, the Nets franchise is shrouded in a cloud of doubt regarding potential reinforcements. Many names have been thrown out: Lance Thomas, Dante Cunningham, who enjoyed a brief cup of tea with the Nets in 2018, and even Joe Johnson, who appears to be leaning toward the Detroit Pistons, per Frank Isola of The Athletic.
With every passing day, the list of potential forwards shortens as alternates fall like dominos. Yet one name keeps reappearing like a pesky pop-up ad.
A Carmelo Anthony-centric future seems to be in store for the Brooklyn Nets.
Current Net and potential Melo teammate, Taurean Prince shed new light on the former Syracuse prodigy. Last month, it was reported by SNY’s Anthony Puccio and Ian Begley that Carmelo Anthony was “working out with Nets players in Los Angeles.” Per NetsDaily, a source described these scrimmages as nothing more than “friends working out with friends.”
Well, according to Prince, apparently these “friendly workouts” lasted a healthy duration. According to Taurean’s Twitter account, Prince was forced to guard Melo “for a month straight.”
Guarded him for a month straight. Same Melo only thing diff is the narrative ppl throw on his name ???♂️ https://t.co/nrM8mtRrgJ
— TP (@taureanprince) September 10, 2019
That, my friends, is a healthy cup of coffee for a former NBA superstar. As a reminder, Melo’s most recent NBA tenure occurred in Houston, where he averaged 5.4 rebounds and 13.4 points on suboptimal shooting percentages (40.5% from the field; 32.8% from three).
If Carmelo Anthony were to land on Brooklyn’s roster, it likely won’t happen right away. Per ESPN’s cap expert, Bobby Marks, Brooklyn will have the option to add a 16th player to the roster on the date that Wilson Chandler’s suspension begins (Nov. 2). Knowing what we know about the creative Sean Marks, I’ll bet Brooklyn’s general manager takes advantage of this rule. We’ll have a pretty clear idea if Carmelo Anthony is Brooklyn bound by early November.
