Green on Anthony: 'Rockets are going to accept him with open arms'

Once he returns from Africa, Carmelo Anthony will sign a one-year, $2.4 million deal with the Houston Rockets and Gerald Green says the team is going to accept Anthony with open arms.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at his back-to-school shopping spree, Green said the Rockets are adding a future Hall-of-Famer and thinks Anthony will be a good fit on the roster.

"I'm loving it, I really am," Green said. "We're adding a proven player, a future Hall-of-Famer. I don't really think he's ever had a point guard like Chris Paul before. I don't think he's played with a scorer, not like James Harden before. It's gonna work. I want him to be Melo."

According to a report from Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic, the Rockets players feel very positive about Anthony joining the squad. Paul, Anthony’s close pal, has been advocating Houston to sign Anthony.

Anthony’s lone season with the Oklahoma City Thunder was a disappointment. The 34-year-old averaged a career-low 16.2 points per game during the regular season and shot only 40.4 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The playoffs were an even bigger struggle for Anthony. In the six-game series loss to the Utah Jazz, Anthony averaged 11.8 points while shooting a woeful 37.5 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Thunder had an offensive rating of 98.6 when Anthony was on the court compared to 116.8 when he was on the bench.

Despite having a down year with the Thunder, Green believes the city of Houston will embrace Anthony.

"I think the Rockets are going to accept him with open arms just like they accepted me," Green said. "If they accepted me and I ain't did nothing, believe me, we're gonna accept Melo. Houston's going to embrace him. We know we have that chance to win a championship. We want to run it back."

The Rockets lost to the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the Western Conference Finals. Houston took a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6, but Paul missed Games 6 and 7 with a hamstring injury and the Rockets weren't able to close out the series without their All-Star point guard.

Anthony, Paul and Harden had a training session together before Anthony left for Africa and the trio "played unbelievable together," according to Anthony's trainer, Chris Brickley.