NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers not likely to land Carmelo Anthony
By Josh Hill
This upcoming offseason sees one of the premiere scorers in the NBA hit the open market as New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is going to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. This has many around the NBA speculating as to where he’ll go, as his landing spots include anywhere from New York to Chicago and even Los Angeles.
While the Lakers are almost always mentioned when a big free agent hits the market, it would appear that they’re more undesirable than they’ve been in years. The once premiere destination for an NBA star has become a wasteland of losing and it seems no one wants to sign there anytime soon.
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Lakers current losing funk, combined with the fact that their current head coach isn’t high on Melo’s list, makes it highly unlikely that the Lakers will be able to land Carmelo Anthony in the offseason.
"D’Antoni, however, thought Anthony never bought into the spread-the-wealth, speed-ball attack that earned him the offensive genius label in Phoenix. It seems farfetched Anthony, a free agent this summer, and D’Antoni would make the perfect marriage in Los Angeles. But you never say never."
The Chicago Bulls are apparently the early frontrunners to land Melo, at least according to a report from NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski, and the flaws the Lakers have mean the Knicks may move ahead of them in the race to land Melo.