SATURDAY, 11:33pm: Anthony is still torn between Chicago and New York, and a decision is expected by Monday, tweets Zwerling.
2:40pm: The Lakers get the sense that Anthony is indeed down to just the Knicks and Bulls, but since they haven’t heard from him, they’re holding out hope, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
2:06pm: The Lakers haven’t been told they’re out of the running for Anthony, a source tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 12:15pm: Carmelo Anthony has narrowed his choices to the Knicks and Bulls, a source close to the star forward tells Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link). Presumably that means the Lakers are out of the hunt, though it seems Anthony, who was reportedly expected to re-sign with the Knicks as of two days ago, is a ways off from a decision. He isn’t going to make his call today, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
The Rockets and Mavs also met with Anthony last week, but they were already reportedly out of the running. The primary focus of free agency shifts to Anthony, No. 2 on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, now that LeBron James, No. 1 on that list, is headed to the Cavs.
The Bulls would have to make a series of moves to clear the necessary cap space to sign Anthony, and if the Lakers are truly out of the picture, that would seem to make it more difficult for the Bulls to coerce the Knicks into a sign-and-trade. He’s eligible for a starting salary of nearly $22.5MM, and while the Knicks have offered that salary, plus the maximum 7.5% raises over the length of a five-year deal, Anthony has indicated that he’d be willing to take less. He’d have to take significantly less to sign with the Bulls, particularly if the Knicks don’t agree to a sign-and-trade.
I wouldn’t count out the Lakers. If New York balks at a sign and trade, you’d have to think they’d come back into play. They’re still a better overall situation than New York and can give him a max deal.
how are the lakers a better overall situation? they don’t have a coach, they don’t have a team, where Kobe is at in his career is still up in the air, Buss hasn’t proved to be competent yet. The bulls are the best situation but no way are the lakers a definitive better overall situation than NY
Ummm…it would be Kobe, Melo, Gasol (he’ll resign if Carmelo signs) and their first round pick Randle who is pretty polished. They would compete now. New York may never compete. Certainly not this year, and next year Melo will be in his decline years. He needs to win now.
that team would not be a lock to compete in the competitive west, they couldn’t keep up with some of those younger run and gun style teams(Portland, OKC, Houston, Suns, Clippers, GS), the east is wide open
Gasol has been banged up the past few years, who knows what they’ll get out of Kobe. god forbid gasol and Kobe go down for an extended period of time & Melo will be stuck playing iso ball again. now it is looking like the lakers picked up Jeremy Lin(I don’t think Melo will be enamored about playing with him)
Kobe and Melo are two of the three best pure scorers in the NBA. That immediately makes it a better/more intriguing option, as the option in New York involves carrying terrible players.
only 1 basketball. Someone would have to sacrifice touches and make an impact on the game in other ways, conceding that the other needs to be the #1 option for them to win. That someone would have to be Kobe, and there is NO way he does that. Even saying that, they still would have to be able to guard the PG position, which they havent been able to do for years
If Bosh leaves the Heat as well, which I hope doesnt happen, they technically have a ton of cap space. Could they possibly sign Melo, Pau Gasol, Ariza/Deng?
Haha why would Melo do that? That team would be terrible.
Miami needs to rebuild.
Agreed. No point. Plus remember, Heat will probably keep the aging wade (who probably got the most screwed out of this deal since he was signed for 19 mill or something before opting out) and he opted out to make room for a Lebron who is now in Cleveland. Heat will pony up a bit for him, and the most, but it will probably still be around 13 or 14 mill a year.
but the Lakers would be amazing? lol…I think a team of Rio, Wade, Ariza/Deng, Melo, Gasol, Granger, McRoberts, Cole, Napier, Haslem, Ennis is pretty good, and there are still 4 more roster spaces and cap room in that scenario…
lol Manchershaw this heat team would be better than the laker team of Kobe/Pau/Melo you mentioned below, in a much less competitive conference
exactly. I would question them a little bit defensively, but they would probably be pretty good, especially in the east. its all hypothetical though
Kobe is a much better player than you give him credit for. It’s beside the point. Doing this in Miami would be akin to resigning in New York. There are already younger, better teams in the East that they’d never get past before Melo retires.
in what universe would that be the same as signing in New York? Have you seen the Knicks roster heading into next season? Then you talk about better and younger teams in the East…THE LAKERS PLAY IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE. Kobe Bryant is 35 years old. He is coming off a torn achilles and a fractured knee. He isnt near the player he used to be defensively. I admit that he had arguably his best season of his career before injuring his achilles, but thats 2 years ago now. You cant seriously continue with that thought process can you? Look at the hypothetical talent that would be on the team I mentioned, and then consider that they would have room to make other moves. I’m not saying they would guaranteed get back to the finals. I’m just saying they’d have a really good shot, and a much better one than the Lakers currently have
Would rather let Gasol walk completely without a S&T. Save the space for another FA like Ariza.