Carmelo Anthony is the most recent league scoring champion and one of the biggest superstars in this year’s free agency. He will be meeting with several teams to discuss possible signing options.
On Tuesday Anthony spent most of his day meeting with the Chicago Bulls. Wednesday he spent time with both the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. Before heading back to New York Anthony has one more stop to make when he travels to the west coast to meet with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Chicago Bulls thought their meeting went well with Anthony and have recently amnestied Carlos Boozer which is another good pitch to land the star power forward because now they have the cap space to sign a max deal. With that said Anthony was reportedly unimpressed with the Bulls contract offer.
The Bulls' pitch to Carmelo Anthony includes Derrick Rose, United Center signs: http://t.co/HyCAhKyNEg pic.twitter.com/WT4iEoiMk1
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 2, 2014
image via Twitter from SportsIllustrated
Kenny Anderson, former Nets point guard, has tweeted saying that he wasn’t happy with their offer via NJ.
My sources say Melo not happy with offer bulls made it may be over Knicks fans can relaxs
— Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) July 2, 2014
On Wednesday the Rockets went a bit over the top to welcome Anthony and make him feel at home. The Rockets hung a banner outside the Toyota Center displaying Anthony wearing a Houston No. 7 jersey next to a statement that read, “The Key to a Championship Formula.” According to NYDailyNews.
Carmelo Anthony, rocking a Rockets jersey is on the wall for today's meeting. "The Key to a Championship Formula." pic.twitter.com/yqY7u9Ibud
— NBA Legion (@MySportsLegion) July 2, 2014
image via Twitter from NBALegion
This created a little controversy as the no. 7 currently belongs to Rockets starting point guard Jeremy Lin. Lin announced his displeasure through Twitter.
Luke 6:29 - If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) July 2, 2014
Rockets star center had this to say, “At the end of the day, we all want to win a championship. That’s why I came here. He would be a big part of that,” Howard told Fox. “This is his time. This is his moment to make the best decision for Carmelo. Not for me. Not for anybody else but Carmelo.”
Moving on the Mavericks, it was the shortest stop of the day for Anthony. After spending just about six hours with the Rockets he only spent two with the Mavericks via NJ.
The Mavs didn’t do anything special to draw Anthony to Dallas besides pitching an immediate chance to contend with selfless stars like Dirk Nowitzki and scoring guard Monta Ellis.
Today, Thursday, July 3, 2014, Anthony is set to meet with the Lakers. Late Wednesday night Lakers star Kobe Bryant flew in from Europe to be a key part in their pitch to get Anthony into a Lakers uniform according to ESPN.
The Lakers currently don’t have a coach and will be hold off signing one until they have made a full pitch to LeBron James and Anthony. They are trying to save the cap space to land one of the leagues superstars. Today is their chance to reel Anthony in and they certainly have the budget to do so.
With a lot of offseason left to go Carmelo Anthony surely has a lot to think about but odds are that he will not be in a New York Knicks uniform next season.