Report: Joakim Noah continues to recruit Carmelo Anthony
After winning Defensive Player of the Year, it looks like Joakim Noah is trying to follow that award up by winning Recruiter of the Year. According to the Chicago-Sun Times, the All-Star center is still attempting to woo Carmelo Anthony to the Chicago Bulls.
"According to several sources, including a teammate, Noah’s All-Star Weekend “conversation’’ with New York Knicks standout Carmelo Anthony didn’t end in New Orleans. They had discussions via text the rest of the season, including the day after the Bulls were eliminated in the playoffs by the Washington Wizards.“I was kidding Jo that they were boys now,’’ a source said in a phone interview Friday. “ ‘Well, get your boy to come to Chicago.’ ’’via Joakim Noah has been recruiting Carmelo Anthony | Chicago-Sun Times"
Losing to the Washington Wizards in five games, it’s clear to Joakim Noah and anyone who has taken time out of their day to view the Chicago Bulls over the course of the regular season and playoffs: no matter how hard they try on defense, they’ll never be able to contend until they can create some consistent offense. Manning the offense was supposed to be Derrick Rose’s job, but due to his inability to remain healthy, missing two of the last three seasons, they’ve been forced to look elsewhere.
And Carmelo Anthony isn’t a bad fall-back option.
With Phil Jackson in New York, it won’t be tough to sell Anthony on the idea of competing for a championship, but at the age of 29 and a season filled with loses that’ll forever burn in the retina of his mind, Melo has realized that if he wants to win it has to be done now. Staying with the Knicks doesn’t do that, but joining a team that could possibly feature himself, Rose (if healthy), Noah, and Taj Gibson, all while being coached by Tom Thibodeau, it must be an enticing option for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent.
Regardless of what Noah says to Anthony, it’ll all come down to what Anthony wants most. Seeing his pals in Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade take less money, resulting in two championships in the last three seasons could influence him to do the same, landing him somewhere like Chicago or Houston. Or he could go the Kobe Bryant route and demand as much money as possible to remain the face of a franchise that’s enthralled in the idea of him being a Knick.
The choice is his.