Carmelo Anthony did not have a season befitting a star in 2017-18. His lone run with the Oklahoma City Thunder was tumultuous. He averaged career-worsts of 16.2 points and 1.3 assists per game, and this summer Melo and the Thunder decided to go their separate ways.
Earlier this week, Melo issued a thank you letter to OKC, making it clear he wanted the situation to work out and felt badly about the result. The Houston Rockets, however, were happy to scoop him up at the veteran's minimum—quite a bargain price.
Nene, who played with Carmelo in Denver and is reunited with him in Houston, still has faith in the former Nuggets and Knicks sensation. Nene even thinks Melo is still one of the league's best players—you read that sentence correctly.
.@NeneHilario42 on @carmeloanthony: "He can be whatever he wants to be. He's talented. It doesn't matter how old he is. When he commits to do the right thing and they use his talent, man get out of the way.Simple as that. For me he's a top-10 player in the league, still" #Rockets
For reference, here are this year's top two All-NBA teams—in other words, the real top 10. Hard to imagine Anthony cracking this list.
LeBron James
James Harden
Anthony Davis
Damian Lillard
Kevin Durant
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Russell Westbrook
Joel Embiid
LaMarcus Aldridge
DeMar DeRozan
Nene, 35, remains a valuable piece in the modern NBA. He played in 52 games with Houston last season, averaging 14.6 minutes, 6.5 points, and 3.4 rebounds per game.
