Carmelo Anthony wants to play with Miami Heat, LeBron James says Stephen A. Smith
By Bryan Rose
The Miami Heat will need to get extremely creative financially to bring Carmelo Anthony to Florida, a move that would likely require potential teammates LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to take less money by exercising their early termination options this offseason.
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We’ve heard nothing in regards to their desire to do so or even if players like Wade or Bosh would want Anthony alongside them, though ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes if the Heat can somehow figure out a way to make the money work, Anthony will leave the Big Apple for South Beach.
Speaking on SportsCenter, Smith stated that Anthony desires to play with James and that he’d be willing to take a discount to do so. However, Smith seemed a little less reluctant to suggest Bosh or Wade’s desire to take a hit in the pocket and stated that Pat Riley will need to somehow convince the players to do so, which likely isn’t going to the be the easiest of tasks.
After all, if Anthony did sign with the Heat, Wade and Bosh get moved down in the pecking order as the Heat instantly become James’ team followed by Anthony.
Of course, it’s all pure speculation at this point and Smith has thrown out some strange ideas before which haven’t even come close to being true, so it’s difficult to say just how accurate his report of Anthony wanting to play with James is.
Earlier Saturday, Yahoo Sports reported that the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls were the favorites to sign Anthony in free agency, though like the Heat would need to make some roster moves in effort to do so.