Yahoo Sports Carmelo Anthony warned Chris Paul after Rockets exit to 'just be careful'
Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul have 19 All-Star nods and four All-NBA selections combined.
They also share headline-breaking ousters from the Houston Rockets, which happened within the last calendar year.
Anthony, now succeeding with the Portland Trail Blazers after a full year out of basketball, said he warned Paul, who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason, about the Rockets potentially putting him in a similar situation.
Anthony warns Paul about Rockets
Anthony said Paul’s trade to the Thunder, which netted the Rockets Russell Westbrook, didn’t come as a shock to him. And Anthony had even warned Paul last November when he left the team that something could be amiss.
"No, I wasn't surprised at all," Anthony said. "When my situation happened in Houston, he was the first person that I called to come to my room. And we had to clear some things up, and I wanted to know if he had anything to do with it. And that was the first thing that I wanted to know, and he told me, 'No.' And from that point on, I told him, looked him in his eyes and said, 'Look, just be careful.' You know what I mean? Just be careful. And damn sure if [the same situation] didn't happen to him."
Paul told The Undefeated that a few days before the trade, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told him he wouldn’t trade the star to OKC. Per Marc J. Spears at The Undefeated, Paul was reportedly told there was a “slim chance” it would happen, not that it wouldn’t at all.
The trade came after months of talk that Paul and Rockets leader James Harden were not getting along, and had issues on the court in the playoffs. The relationship was deemed “unsalvageable.”
Ten-day trials are ‘new analytics’
When asked if there’s a feeling in the league that the Rockets aren’t “straight shooters,” Anthony said, via ESPN, no one has the answers and it’s the new way of doing things on a short trial.
He signed a one-year contract with the Rockets, but was let go after 10 games and was eventually traded to the Chicago Bulls in January. Those 10 games were enough.
And the veteran referenced the New York Knicks, one of his former teams, publicly assessing the team 10 games in. President Steve Mills spoke with reporters about his 2-8 team in November to admit the team was struggling.
Anthony said, via ESPN:
“So that's the new analytics. That's the new game. Everything's based off of your first 10 games. And once you know that, it gives you clarity on a lot of things."
Anthony is exactly 10 games into his stay with the Trail Blazers, and it’s looking clear for him the rest of the way. He’s averaging 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 31.8 minutes per game and earned Player of the Week honors for his first six games. His one-year contract is now guaranteed.
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