Carmelo Anthony rumors: Lakers now in ‘serious’ contention for Melo
By Jack Crosby
Lately the word around the NBA has been that Carmelo Anthony might not be going anywhere in free agency because the New York Knicks and Phil Jackson made quite the impression on him. But folks might want to hold the phone on that because the Los Angeles Lakers made an impression of their own on the star, and it might be larger than that of the Knicks.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers, once thought maybe to be on the outside looking in, are now in serious contention to land the services of Anthony, and ultimately pair him up with Kobe Bryant.
Lakers have moved into serious contention on Carmelo Anthony, multiple sources tell Yahoo. "In the game now," one source close to Melo says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2014
Anthony met with the Lakers at the end of this past week out in Los Angeles, and then he met with the Knicks in the same location shortly thereafter.
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Wojnarowski also pointed out that the Lakers are prepared to dig into the wallet to get him to come out west by offering him a max deal of four years and $97 million dollars. And the best part about that is they don’t have to make any roster moves to create the space.
The race for Melo is quickly coming to a close, and with that, the Lakers have definitely turned on the afterburners in the final stretch to see if they can get the best help on the market for Bryant, which could ultimately led into a return trip to the postseason.