Joining the Houston Rockets would mean that Carmelo Anthony chose a team vying for the NBA's championship title. The 34-year-old agreed to a surprising minimum contract when compared to his over 20 million dollar contract in the previous season. Here we take a look back at Melo's career and how he came to the final decision of signing with Houston.

Anthony was not how he is now. Drafted in 2003, Melo impressed the Denver Nuggets crowd with his competitiveness and motivation to win. After playing in all 82 games in his rookie season, Anthony soon grew into one of the stars in the NBA. In 2009, Melo led the Nuggets to their first Conference Finals appearance since 1985. 

With a strong performance in before he got traded to the New York Knicks just days prior to the NBA trade deadline. On Jan. 24, 2014, against the Charlotte Bobcats, Anthony set the Madison Square Garden and Knicks' single-game scoring record with a career-high 62 points. Anthony is also one of six players to record at least 24,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 3-point field goals.

Anthony cleared waivers on Wednesday, making him a free agent, opening the way for the 34-year-old forward to pursue a deal with the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets created a roster opening on Wednesday by trading forward Chinanu Onuaku and cash to the Dallas Mavericks for a second-round draft pick in 2020. Onuaku played in six NBA games over the past two seasons and averaged 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds.

Anthony was waived by the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. He has recently been working out with Houston stars James Harden and Chris Paul.

Anthony, who is entering his 16th NBA season, has a career scoring average of 24.1 points per game with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder. Last season, he averaged a career-low 16.2 points in 32.1 minutes in his lone season for the Thunder.

The Hawks acquired Anthony on July 25 as part of a three-team transaction, with Atlanta also receiving a protected 2022 first-round draft pick from the Thunder and Justin Anderson from the Philadelphia 76ers. To complete the trade, the Hawks traded Mike Muscala to Philadelphia and Dennis Schröder to Oklahoma City, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot moved from Philadelphia to Oklahoma City.