Over the last few weeks, Brooklyn Nets fans began to wonder if former player Joe Johnson could make his return to the team. With Joe signing with the Detroit Pistons, will the Nets look to Carmelo Anthony?
It’s no secret that fans wanted to see the sharpshooting Joe Johnson back in a Brooklyn Nets uniform. After his dazzling performances in the Big3 league, several NBA franchises granted Joe the ability to work out for them, and the Detroit Pistons landed his services. With limited free agent options left, and a power forward rotation that has recently seen some misfortune, could Carmelo be the option?
The Nets have a tough decision on their hands. After the suspension of Wilson Chandler for the opening 25 games of the season for violating the NBA’s performance enhancing drug policy, as well as the recent news that the NY Daily News broke surrounding Rodions Kurucs – Brooklyn has a depth issue.
When discussing potential options to fill the hole that’s been left, those options are certainly lacking to say the least. Many people will likely roll their eyes at the continuous “Carmelo Anthony should be in Brooklyn” narrative, but it’s almost becoming a necessity. Carmelo has been on record within the last two months admitting his willingness to accept a bench role, which slashes most of the negative rhetoric thrown around about him – saying that he refuses to do just that.
The biggest difference between Joe Johnson and Carmelo Anthony – Joe was willing to put his pride aside and prove his value in a league like the Big3, a platform that largely consists of former NBA players. This was more significant than him playing overseas, because fans and executives alike could witness first hand that Joe still has some gas left in the tank.
There are a lot of questions surrounding Carmelo. Nobody knows if he can truly contribute to an NBA team anymore. But at the end of the day, Joe Johnson got a roster spot playing the exact same way Carmelo has his whole career, so who’s to say it can’t happen?
The Nets would need to release or trade a player in order to alleviate the necessary space to add Carmelo, and the question then becomes – Is the player that gets released likely to contribute to the team’s success more than Carmelo would? The answer would undoubtedly be no, but it’s something the team would still have to consider.
The Brooklyn Nets have limited options, and Carmelo Anthony has been waiting for too long.