As expected, former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony will sign with Rockets

When Carmelo Anthony’s departure from the New York Knicks seemed inevitable last summer, he wanted to go to the Houston Rockets. He ended up with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Then, when the Thunder were hoping to offload his $28 million salary for 2018-19, the hope was also that Houston would be the destination. Though it was by way of the Atlanta Hawks, Melo will make it to the Rockets to play with friend Chris Paul, according to a report from the New York Times’ Marc Stein.

The Rockets were the No. 1 seed in the West last year, but after earning a 3-2 lead over the Warriors, Paul was injured and Houston dropped the final two games. Key cog Trevor Ariza left the team this offseason, as did Luc Mbah a Moute. Clint Capela also isn’t back yet, and who knows if he ends up on the roster for this season.

The Carmelo experiment this year will in part be dictated by expectations. If he’s expected to potentially replace the production of those three players, it’s unlikely to happen. Houston also needs to create lineup combinations that don’t necessarily hide Melo, but do minimize his defense as a key role. OKC was able to do it last year was Andre Roberson was healthy. However, Houston just lost at least one of its top defenders in Mbah a Moute.

In any case, Melo should be able to fit a bit better here than he was with the Thunder. Now we wait to see if that’s fit is exactly what he needs to come back from the worst statistical season of his pro career.

The rest of your Syracuse-related links below:

Carmelo Anthony is set to sign with Rockets (The New York Times)

Anthony will clear waivers 48 hours after Atlanta formally lets him go, enabling him to then sign with the team of his choice. Rockets officials have been operating under the strong belief that Anthony will soon be Houston-bound since meeting with him face-to-face during summer-league play in Las Vegas this month.

Justyn Knight, Chris Fox to stay together at professional level (Daily Orange)

Fox and Knight will be joined by two more familiar faces from SU: Martin Hehir, who was a senior on the 2015 men’s cross country national championship team, and Adam Smith, who assisted Fox at Syracuse.

Syracuse football makes Top 10 for DE Adisa Isaac, New York’s top 2019 recruit (Syracuse.com)

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Isaac is rated four stars, the No. 9 weak-side defensive end in this cycle and the No. 148 overall recruit by 247Sports.com’s composite rankings. He’s told multiple media outlets that he’s planning to commit this fall, around September or October, after another round of visits.

This is what each football program in the ACC would be if they were vehicles (Streaking the Lawn)

We can’t really argue with the comparison of your plucky Virginia Cavaliers with a party boat. We really were having a great time until Navy came along. (We don’t need to point out that it’d more likely be the Coast Guard in this scenario...but we just did.)

Malachi Richardson’s post-Syracuse career hasn’t changed him (Daily Orange)

To help him realize his dream of playing in the NBA regularly, Richardson, 22, is living and working out in Philadelphia with Eric Evans, the brother of Indiana Pacers shooting guard Tyreke Evans. Eric, known as Pooh, played guard at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and used to help Tyreke develop his jab step and ball handling.

From high school to the G League, Darius Bazley is riding his own wave (SLAM)

Several CNY lacrosse players earn medals at World Championships (Syracuse.com)

College basketball all-sleeper team: Look for these guys to bust out in 2018-19 (NCAA.com)

Former Syracuse LB Zaire Franklin provides uniforms to Philadelphia school (Syracuse.com)