It may be a year later, but Carmelo Anthony is finally a Houston Rockets player. The franchise attempted to acquire the veteran last year in a trade with the New York Knicks but were unable to come to a deal. He had agreed to waive his no-trade clause to move to Houston but he didn't get the move he wanted. With the Knicks keen to move him on, he eventually accepted a trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he struggled to co-exist alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George and had his least productive season. The two parties decided to part ways this summer which opened the door for him to finally join Houston. There's an expectation within the Rockets organisation that Carmelo will fit in better on their roster. 

Familiarity

One huge reason is due to the presence of his longtime friend Chris Paul who pushed for the team to sign him when he became a free agent.

CP3 is excited by the prospect of teaming up with the 34-year-old next season.

"That’s my brother," Paul said in an interview with Houston station FOX26, via Yahoo Sports. "I'm not only happy for our team, but I'm happy for him.

"Obviously, everyone is always going to speculate, this, that. I think, for us, we decided to get to work and see how we're going to put this thing together.

"I'm just ready to get started and get going. Because, when you know a guy that well you’re able to push each other and motivate each other.

"And, to know that we both have a common goal, wanting to win a championship, it should be even more special."

The Thunder traded the 10-time All-Star to the Atlanta Hawks and he quickly secured a buyout to head to Texas on a one-year deal. 

There will be a keen interest to see how he fits alongside Paul and MVP James Harden as he's likely to be the third wheel in Mike D'Antoni's offence too.

He shot just 42 percent from the field last year and posted a career-low 16.2 points in his one season with OKC. 

The Rockets finished with the best record in the Western Conference in the previous campaign and they'll hope that Anthony can add more firepower to their already potent offence.

Their scoring numbers may remain high but they could see a drop off on the defensive end after the departures of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute.

Carmelo has often been criticised for his defence or lack thereof so it'll be intriguing to see if his presence affects them on that side of the floor.

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