NBA Rumors: Lakers ‘not out of the discussion’ with Carmelo Anthony
Now that it looks like Carmelo Anthony’s time with the New York Knicks may be coming to a close, several teams, perhaps most notably the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets, are expected to get into the mix to acquire Anthony.
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Another team that could be a player for Anthony is the Los Angeles Lakers.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports the Lakers are “not out of the discussion with Carmelo.”
"The LA Lakers are not out of the discussion with Carmelo, they just are not front and center for a couple of reasons. Carmelo by himself doesn’t do much for the Lakers, howvere if Carmelo wants to bring a friend or two along for the ride the Lakers would gladly entertain that.The Lakers are sitting on three guaranteed contracts next season – Kobe Bryant’s $23.5 million, Steve Nash’s $9.7 million and Robert Sacre’s $915,000. Nick Young has a player option that he is not exercising and the Lakers have a few million likely to be tied up in retaining Kendall Marshall, their lottery pick and a qualifying offer to Kent Bazemore. All in the Lakers are looking at roughly $24 million in usable cap space, which is more than enough to land Carmelo outright from the Knicks.The problem is a core of Bryant, Carmelo and Nash might win the lottery next year, but it’s not winning a championship and the Lakers know it."
Anthony put up 27.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season and shot 45.2% from the field, 40.2% from beyond the arc and 84.8% from the free throw line.