Report: LeBron James interested in playing with Carmelo Anthony
By Jacob Rude
The big news to come out yesterday regarding LeBron James was that the Los Angeles Lakers were holding off their coaching hire in an attempt to lure in superstar free agents like James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade, according to a report from USA Today.
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However, hidden in that report is another interesting factoid, which centers around the idea that James would enjoy playing with friend and fellow Class of 2003 draftmate Anthony.
"Yet according to two people with knowledge of the situation, Anthony’s part in this fluid free agency situation is worth monitoring as James is known to be interested in eventually playing with his close friend. Anthony also has a player option on his deal for next season (worth $23.5 million), and his connection to James has teams like the Lakers, Knicks and even the Heat wondering whether he may be able to join the four-time NBA MVP."
If the duo are seriously interested in making the partnership happen this summer, very few teams could financially offer the opportunity for both to play, and even fewer were be a realistic option. The Dallas Mavericks could offer both a contract if they took pay cuts, but a pay cut would be a requirement for any team.
For the Lakers, they could offer each a contract in the neighborhood of $15 million if they used the stretch provision on Steve Nash. If the duo waited until the summer of 2015, both the Lakers and the Knicks could offer a chance for the duo to play together, but it’d still be a tricky situation.