Rockets' Mike D'Antoni leaning toward bringing Carmelo Anthony off the bench, per report

Mike D'Antoni is apparently more interested in starting Eric Gordon and using Anthony as a sixth man

Carmelo Anthony famously shot down the possibility of coming off the bench last season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he's shown himself more flexible in his new role with the Houston Rockets.

Rather than a sarcastic, "Who, me?" response when asked about coming off the bench for the Rockets during media day on Monday, Anthony was open to doing anything to help his team win.

"At the end of the day, we're all going to camp to figure out what works in order for this team to try to win a championship," Anthony said via ESPN. "If that time comes, we'll have that conversation. My goal is to go into training camp, be the best player I can be, be in the best shape I can be and do what I have to do to help this team get over the hump and win a championship. That's all it is.

"All the questions of coming off the bench, I don't want to answer those questions at the end of the day. Whatever I have to do to help this team win a championship, that's what's going to be done."

He's talked the talk, but we'll soon see if he's ready to walk the walk. The Rockets have their first preseason game in less than a week, and according to a report from ESPN's Tim MacMahon, head coach Mike D'Antoni is indeed leaning toward using Anthony off the bench. 

Sources: Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is strongly leaning toward using Eric Gordon as a starter and Carmelo Anthony as a sixth man. Houston outscored opponents by 71 points in 148 minutes when Gordon joined James Harden and Chris Paul on the court last regular season, putting up 134.7 points per 100 possessions. D'Anthoni would also like to pair Anthony with James Ennis, a strong defender, as much as possible.

Anthony posted career-lows with the Thunder last season in points per game, field-goal percentage and minutes played, but the 34-year-old remains confident he can help Houston get over the hump. 

Anthony was traded from OKC to the Atlanta Hawks, where he was bought out of the final year of his contract. He signed a one-year, $2.2 million deal with Houston this offseason, joining a Rockets team that had an NBA-best 65 wins in the regular season, but failed to reach the NBA Finals after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.