Lakers, Cavaliers, Hawks want to pair LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony
By Bryan Rose
The idea of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony playing together seems to be a bit of a pipe dream, but many would have suggested a similar sentiment back in 2010 when the Miami Heat signed James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Needless to say, the idea of signing two marquee players seems unlikely, but not completely outlandish.
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Given that, it appears as if the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks wait to pair both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony together, this according to ESPN.
"In addition to the Miami Heat’s obvious desire to retain LeBron James by any means necessary and pursue Anthony if he urges them to do so, sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks are among the teams already mulling potential trades designed to clear enough cap space to be able to recruit the two stars and close friends."
So can the teams afford it? Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers can certainly put forth a solid offer as they only have $36 million in guaranteed contracts next season and they’d be able to pair both players with Kyrie Irving and the likely No. 1 pick. Of course, they could also opt to trade the selection for a veteran talent as well.
As for the Atlanta Hawks, they have $46 million dollars on the books, so they’d need to make a few trades to clear up the needed cash.
Lastly, the Los Angeles Lakers, like the Cleveland Cavaliers have the available money to make reasonable offers to both players however, unlike the Cavaliers, the Lakers have only three players under contract next season and would need to get rather creative to fill out their roster.
All that said, the two pairing together doesn’t look likely, but that doesn’t mean teams will give up the ghost on trying.