There's no telling what lies in stored for the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming season after an offseason that saw the team be torn apart for various reasons that included Dwight Howard joining the Houston Rockets, Earl Clark signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Metta World Peace being amnestied.
The current roster won't have an identity like last season, and the same is expected to be a possibility for the 2014-15 season as well.
The Lakers are due to have a lot of money coming of the books next summer, thus giving them a lot of flexibility and cap space left at their disposal. Although there will be plenty of talent to choose from, it remains untold at this point whether or not the storied franchise can land one or two big-named players.
The top two players to hit the free agency market next season are the Miami Heat's LeBron James and New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony. James is considered a stretch being that he and his Heat are working on a three-peat next season, but Anthony seems to appear a more attractive option each day.
Recently Vanessa Bryant and La La Anthony had dinner together in West Los Angeles, which only fueled rumors that Anthony could be heading towards Hollywood.
Although this might just be a casual dinner outing between friends, you can't help but to thing that this could potentially help the Lakers land Anthony after this season. If Vanessa were to find a way to convince La La that the Lakers and Los Angeles would be the best landing destination for Anthony and his family, the Lakers could potentially have a shot at getting Carmelo to skip town out of New York.
It's a bit of a long shot, however, a friendship between the wives could benefit the Lakers' pitch.
If Anthony opts out of N.Y. he would lose a significant amount of money. If he inks another deal with another team, he can sign a four-year contract worth $95,897,372, according to calculations by ESPN salary-cap expert Larry Coon. If Anthony opts out and re-signs with the Knicks, he can sign a five-year contract worth $129,135,806. That's a difference of $33,238,434.
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