NBA Rumors: Carmelo Anthony is ‘Plan A’ for Chicago Bulls
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Bulls have been rumored to be making a big move this offseason and while earlier in the year many scoffed at the idea of the team adding Carmelo Anthony, that now appears to be the main focus heading into the summer.
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According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Bulls remain focused on signing Carmelo Anthony this offseason and are waiting on the Knicks to start moving ahead with a deal that would land them the All-Star forward.
"Carmelo Anthony is still Plan A as the Bulls and the rest of the NBA await to see if the Knicks forward will opt out of his contract. But the Bulls are more active in their pursuit of Kevin Love than initially rumored. Also, don’t rule out LeBron James coming into play again if the four-time MVP opts out of his deal."
Cowley mentions in the same piece that the Bulls view everyone not named Derrick Rose as expendable assets and that would seemingly include center Joakim Noah. It has been said that Noah and Taj Gibson could be needed to make a Melo deal happen, but they could also help the Bulls land Kevin Love as well.
If it comes down to the two though, Love and Melo, Cowley says that the Bulls will lean towards acquiring Melo over the Timberwolves star. That’s a tough choice, as Love seems to fit Tom Thibodeau’s love for defense and rebounding more than Melo does, but the Bulls front office has never seen eye-to-eye with Thibs and at the end of the day both players would markedly improve the Bulls in one way or another.