The Chicago Bulls have made their pitch and now they are waiting to see what Carmelo Anthony decides to do and as this goes on the team is looking at potential signing Pau Gasol as another free agent option to convince Melo to come to Chicago and the team also has the option of trading or using the amnesty clause on Carlos Boozer, who is making a ton of money and could free up cap space for the team.
Anthony has heard pitches from the Lakers, Bulls, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks and now he is working on making his decision about signing. According to ESPN.com, the Lakers have moved into second position behind the Knicks as the likely options for Melo, which was where many felt the Bulls were coming into free agency. The Bulls have Derrick Rose coming back healthy and Taj Gibson as well and they have a championship roster nearly complete and Melo would be the missing piece of that puzzle.
The Bulls have also been on the Kevin Love trade talks and they have also looked into signing LeBron James, but Melo will be the first domino to fall for the team. According to ESPN.com, Derrick Rose did not try top recruit Anthony, but he saw him while he was working out at the United Center and spoke to him about joining up. The report from ESPN says that Gibson and Joakim Noah were the players officially involved in the meeting with Anthony and now the Bulls are hoping to bring him in.
The Knicks feel confident that they can sign Anthony and right now the Lakers are the top competition. The Knicks can offer the longest contract at five years and the most money at $129 million, while the Lakers can offer four years and $97 million. The Lakers impressed Anthony with their pitch and they described a franchise that has shown it can bounce back to win championships and they also put together a move for him made by producer Joel Silver and narrated by Tobey Maguire.
The Knicks are coming into the offseason after missing the playoffs and they won just 37 games last season after winning 54 the previous year and now they are hoping Melo stays. The team has options if he leaves, but right now all signs point to him staying, as the Lakers and Knicks are in similar positions, so why wouldn't he take the larger contract? Anthony is looking to team up with Gasol and that could be in LA or NY, but the Lakers have his Bird rights and that likely means he will stay there. Phil Jackson has been doing his work this offseason and now he has the chance to try and keep Melo in the fold.
Anthony could be the first major domino to fall on the free agent market and LeBron James could be right behind him.
