Carmelo Anthony finally, mercifully, got traded this past Saturday. This was a long time coming. I was at work, and the news buzzed that Melo had been traded. Naturally I assumed it was to the Rockets. That was all the talk for the entire summer, so I figured both teams finally pulled the trigger.

Well, it wasn't the Rockets. My next thought was the Trailblazers. I knew they were a long shot, but at the "eleventh hour", it seemed like a deal was in the works. If this was the destination, I was actually on board. I didn't think it would make them a title contender, but I loved the idea of a McCollum, Lillard and Anthony backcourt. There wouldn't have been much defense, but they would have scored a ton.

Well, it wasn't the Trailblazers. The next team I assumed was the Cavs. I read that he had opened up to being traded to a few new teams, and the one team that was number one on that list was the Cavs. He could finally unite with is buddy LeBron, and he would add some much needed scoring now that Kyrie Irving is gone. He could also make that team a little bit harder to defend. They would have been horrendous on defense, but they could have scored 120 a night.

It wasn't the Cavs though either. Much to mine, and almost everyone else's surprise, Melo was traded to the Thunder. The OKC Thunder pulled off two of the most unexpected, crazy moves of the summer. I was floored when they traded Victor Oladipo and Domantis Sabonis for George. I was SHOCKED when they got Melo for Doug McDermott and Enes Kanter! Absolutely shocked. I didn't see this coming at all. The Thunder were never, ever in the mix for Melo. No one mentioned their name, especially after they pulled off the Paul George trade. My hat goes off to Sam Presti and the Thunder organization for what they did this summer. They may only have this "big 3" for one season, but in the process they were able to unload terrible contracts, Oladipo and Kanter, an unproven rookie, Sabonis and a poor man's JJ Redick in Dougie McBuckets. If they do lose all three of these guys after one lone season, they will have a ton of money to spend on free agents.

But, lets deal with that topic next summer. I want to look at this current lineup that the Thunder will trot out there this season. There assumed starting 5 will be Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Paul George, Carmelo and Steven Adams. That is a pretty damn good starting 5, if they can mesh. That will be the biggest problem they will face early on. I read a stat a few days back that said that George, Westbrook and Carmelo were numbers 1, 2 and 3 in isolation plays last year. This is a classic case of, "there is only one ball" talk. They will have to learn to share the ball. I'm pretty confident that they will figure it out, but Westbrook will have the toughest transition. He is coming of an incredible season where we won the MVP and averaged a triple double. But, he did those things because he had too. He didn't have many weapons at his disposal. He has those weapons now, and he will have to learn to share the ball. I think that Paul George is a perfect guy to play next to Westbrook. George is an awesome defender. He is one of the better ones in the league. He is also a good scorer, and I think he will thrive playing off the ball. He had to do too much while in Indiana. Now, with Westbrook running the point, he can roam and find open spots. He will eventually score in bunches. I'm very curious to see how Melo fits in. He has been "the man" in both Denver and New York. Now, he is the third option. He is older, a poor defender, but he can fill it up. He can score and score and score again. He will get a TON of open shots on this team. With Westbrook and George being more of the driving type player, he will get a lot of catch and shoot chances. That is when he is at his best. That is what he does on Team USA, and he always shows out at the Olympics. He is old though, at least in the NBA. He will be a liability on defense. He may get mad at the lack of touches he will get. But, he is a top 20 NBA player, don't buy that stupid ranking that ESPN, or whoever did prior to this season.

As far as the other starters, Steven Adams will be needed for toughness and rebounding, which is what he does already. And Andre Roberson won't have to worry about shooting and can strictly focus on defending one of the better players on the other team, which he is best at. They both benefit from these 2 trades. As far as their bench, the Patrick Paterson signing is great, but he will lose some minutes to Carmelo. It's not a big deal, but they will need Paterson in the playoffs. Jerami Grant will get a chance at being the backup point and 2, and he should do well in short bursts here and there. Alex Abrines will be a minor scoring threat off the bench. Semaji Christon was awesome in Summer League. I'd like to see that translate to the NBA. And who knows with Terrance Ferguson, their first round draft pick. He is a great scorer, but no one really knows all that much about his overall game.

This Thunder team will be all about Westbrook, George and Carmelo, as it should be. I think this team, once they figure it out, will be very good. I could see them winning 50-55 games. I think they could be the 2 or 3 seed in the West. That all depends on how well James Harden and Chris Paul mesh. But, the Thunder will be better than the Rockets.

With all this being said though, it does not matter. They are still nowhere near the level of the Warriors. The Warriors are the best team, by a wide, wide margin, in the NBA. I love that teams are trying to pull in stars and band together to try and beat the Warriors, but all their best players are some of the best at their positions, and they are all in their primes. The Warriors are too good. But, I love this trade and I'm super excited to watch the Thunder again. I'm still sticking with the Timberwolves and Spurs as my new teams, but these 2 trades make the Thunder must watch basketball for me this year.

I'm still shocked they got Carmelo Anthony.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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