5 Reasons Why Carmelo Anthony is OKC's Kryptonite

#1 The trade-off

#00 Enes Kanter and #7 Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony was roped in by the Thunder but had to let go of their bench strength in the process, with Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott going the other way along with a second-round draft pick.

McDermott, who is playing for the Dallas Mavericks right now, is a perfect role-player. He is an efficient three-point shooter scoring at 42.6 percent from beyond the arc. Kanter, on the other hand, is a brilliant frontcourt player averaging 14 points per game at 59.5 percent accuracy while grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game.

It definitely appears that the Thunder have rather lost more than gained from this trade.

Conclusion

Carmelo Anthony may have a prolific NBA career but he is surely in his twilight now. He is inefficient at what his primary role in the team is, to score. While one may argue that this is his first season in the NBA where he is not the leader of the franchise, his shooting, in general, has been below par.

Despite letting the team down on several occasions this season, he is still given the nod ahead of other players while drawing plays in the clutch. This, in turn, has evidently harmed the Thunder in a season where they have lost numerous games by close margins.

The best possible solution to the Carmelo problem is to move him to the bench where he gets to lead a unit, something he is used to, despite it being comprised of reserves. What remains to be seen, however, is whether coach Billy Donovan decides to go this route and whether Anthony at all accepts this role.