NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls favorites to sign Carmelo Anthony say multiple execs

Dec. 21, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) reacts on the court against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Bulls won 110-106. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Dec. 21, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) reacts on the court against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Bulls won 110-106. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports /
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While the New York Knicks appear to be rather confident in their attempts to re-sign Carmelo Anthony, the Chicago Bulls have been the long rumored favorite to snag the former Syracuse talent in free agency.

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Of course, those ‘rumors’ came from pundits and analysts but according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, a handful of NBA executives believe that the Chicago Bulls are indeed the favorites to sign Carmelo Anthony.

There are only a few teams that have the available funds to pay Anthony and there are even fewer of which he’d actually play, so it seems as if outside of the Bulls, only the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and possibly both the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers have a possible shot at bringing in the multiple time All-Star.

The New York Knicks can offer Carmelo Anthony both the most money and years, but they may not be able to provide him the most stable of winning environments. The Miami Heat could certainly do that, but Carmelo would need to take a significant pay cut and you have to wonder if there would be enough balls to go around in South Beach.

As for the Rockets, they like the Bulls can potentially sign Anthony straight out of free agency, but they won’t be able to pay the same type of money as the New York Knicks who own Anthony’s Bird Rights.

Earlier in the day there were rumors suggesting that former Chicago Bulls legend and current ‘Special Advisor’ to the COO, Scottie Pippen hung out with Melo during a recent trip to Europe.