Carmelo Anthony said he was 2000-percent sure he'd be back playing in the NBA this season, and he was right. Anthony agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and according to ESPN salary-cap guru Bobby Marks, Melo will make $14,490 every day he remains on the Portland roster. If he makes it to January 7th, the contract becomes fully guaranteed for the rest of the season.

That's the business of the deal.

As for the basketball, well, that part is a little more complicated. The first question that popped into every single person's mind when this news broke was very simple: What, if anything, does Melo have left? He hasn't played in an NBA game in a calendar year. The last time we saw Melo he was averaging 13.2 points a game on 40 percent shooting, including 32 percent from three, during a 10-game stint with the Rockets to start last season.

Prior to that, it was the Oklahoma City Thunder who tried to milk the last bit of quality basketball Melo had left in him, and the returns weren't horrible, depending on your perspective. He averaged over 16 points a game that season. He played over 32 minutes a game. He shot over 35 percent from three. He was also a defensive turnstile who became borderline unplayable in OKC's 2018 first-round playoff loss to Utah.

Taking all that into consideration, how can he help the Blazers after all the time away from NBA action? Is it at all reasonable to think -- with absolutely no overall personal rhythm or chemistry with the Blazers -- that he's capable of coming into an NBA game and having a real impact anywhere in the next few weeks? Or even the next month?

After all, the Blazers need him NOW. They have been wasted by injuries and offseason front-court forfeitures. Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless are gone. Zach Collins is out at least four months after having surgery on a dislocated shoulder. Who knows when Jusuf Nurkic will return, or what he'll look like when he does.

There is no hope that Melo can account for even a shred of the defense Aminu and Harkless provided, but a pair of league scouts who spoke with CBS Sports on Thursday night did express some optimism for the Melo-Portland pairing.

"It isn't anything to get overly excited about, but if [Melo] can still make some shots and stretch the floor, which I think he can, that's a weapon that can be utilized next to [Damian] Lillard and [CJ] McCollum," one Western Conference scout said. "And I personally don't think there will be any problem this time around with him accepting his role or anything like maybe we saw on some of his last few stops. He obviously missed playing basketball, and I think you'll see a guy who wants this to work."

A Western Conference executive agreed.

"If he has something left [playing the] four, he will really help offensively," the exec told CBS Sports. "And he will be on his best behavior and effort level due to all the negativity and doubters [these past few years]."

Melo playing the four is the thing that most interests everyone I spoke with around the league Thursday night. This has been the case throughout the latter stages of Anthony's career, when everyone wanted to wish "Olympic Melo" back into existence. With the Blazers, it's the easiest thing to picture -- a floor spacer in the corner who can maybe run some pick and roll with Lillard and score one-on-one off switches.

For years, perhaps the biggest missing piece in Portland's repertoire has been a playmaking/range-shooting four-man who can provide a pick-and-roll outlet for all the blitzes and traps Lillard sees. Draymond Green has punished defenses for years for their aggressive double teams on Steph Curry. Melo isn't going to be that kind of playmaker, but just as a pick-and-pop guy, if he can come in and shoot 35-37 percent from three, he can really make some hay playing off Lillard as a release valve.

"Portland is trying to quickly solve their problems in the front court," an Eastern Conference scout told CBS Sports, via text, Thursday night. "Not sure how much [Melo] has left. Last time he played he couldn't move well. More noticeable on defense. Portland needs a four badly and another player who can put points on the board. I am sure he will be able to score."

Understand, we have heard all these blue-sky outlooks before when Melo has signed with a new team. He can shoot. He can space the floor. He can punish switching mismatches one-on-one. None of it has totally proven to be true, and the defense has been so bad that the few things Melo has had to offer offensively still haven't added up.

But Portland, whether out of desperation or not, is taking a shot.

Here's to hoping Melo can knock down a few of his.