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UPDATE: Carmelo Anthony will start in his Trail Blazers debut tonight vs. the Pelicans, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
This story has really escalated quickly. First, it was assumed Melo would play around 20 minutes if he’s available, which he is. Now with Damian Lillard out, the prospect of Melo starting is being thrown around. Keep an eye on this situation leading up to lock at 8:00 p.m. ET.
UPDATE: This coming from Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, but we now that Carmelo Anthony is expected to play around 20 minutes in his Trail Blazers’ debut tonight vs. the Pelicans.
UPDATE: Well this didn’t take long ... Our friends over at DraftKings Sportsbook already have a line on Carmelo Anthony’s point total for his potential debut tonight vs. the Pelicans.
Carmelo Anthony is active for the Trail Blazers tonight against the Pelicans.
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) November 19, 2019
Will he go over his points total? pic.twitter.com/KshTYLbRHU
UPDATE: Per Yahoo Sports’ Chris B. Haynes, Melo will be activated prior to tonight’s game and be available to make his Trail Blazers’ debut.
Portland Trail Blazers new forward Carmelo Anthony will be activated for tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 19, 2019
UPDATE: Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Melo has landed. Also he’ll wear No. 00.
Sources: After passing his physical exam, Carmelo Anthony signed his one-year, non-guaranteed deal with Portland today. It will be worth $2.15M should he remain on roster past guarantee date in January.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2019
The return of Carmelo Anthony could be tonight. The veteran forward is expected to make his Trail Blazers’ debut after signing a non-guaranteed contract last week with the team. At this point, we don’t know what type of role he’ll have, but Portland is in desperate need of some help at forward.
What should you expect from Carmelo Anthony in Fantasy Basketball?
At the beginning, not much really. We don’t know how much Melo will play, what kind of game shape he’s in, what type of role he’ll have. It’s all speculation at this point. But the Blazers dropped to 5-9 with a loss to the Rockets and are fading in the Western Conference playoff picture. They don’t have much size up front with Pau Gasol and Zach Collins sidelined, and even resorted to playing Anthony Tolliver last night.
Anthony at least brings a new element and the threat to score as a compliment to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. It’s clear the Blazers can’t get by with younger players like Nassir Little, Skal Labissiere and Mario Hezonja in the rotation. So if Melo looks up to speed, he could be in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
In DraftKings, he’s $3,600 tonight, and while the price tag is low, I don’t think I can justify rolling him out unless it’s a low-ball GPP. It’s best to wait and see because unless he posts an eye-popping stat line, his price won’t go up too much anyway. In season-long, same goes, I recommended you scoop him up on the waiver wire, but I wouldn’t play him just yet. Be patient.
Editor’s Note: Damian Lillard (back) has been ruled out for tonight’s game vs. the Pelicans. This may change the outlook on Anthony for tonight.