Carmelo To Meet With Rockets, Mavs, Bulls Once Free Agency Begins

[RealGM Wiretap]

Carmelo Anthony will visit the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls once free agency begins on July 1.

The Bulls have widely been considered the frontrunner for Anthony should he decide to leave the Knicks.

Via Chris Broussard/ESPN

[Sam195]

I feel like Anthony is finally beginning to think about his legacy. If he wants the money - there would be no reason for him to meet with other teams because the knicks can offer him 5 years 129M on top of the large amount of endorsement income he already makes in New York. If he joins forces with the big 3 in Miami - he will likely will not be remembered for winning potential titles but for taking the extremely easy route to winning a championship. The most the bulls or rockets can offer him is 4 years 96M but neither team may be able to even offer most of that because of cap restraints. I think he;s going to play for the bulls because you can put a price on winning a title. He can't even be guaranteed a viable opportunity if he stays with the knicks.

[DarkoNeedsAfro]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship? Personally I don't see a problem because it would show he actually wants to win. But, many people have criticized Lebron for doing the same(you even mention Miami as the 'easy route'). How can going to a team with 2 superstars be good for one players legacy but bad for anothers? And I know some will say Noah isn't a superstar, but he is defensive player of the year and first team all-nba. I think he adds more to a team than Bosh personally.

I think many of the same people who are applauding the thought of Carmelo getting serious about winning would be the first to jump all over Lebron if he would go to a team like Houston, or Chicago for that matter. Just a funny double standard that I've noticed in the past week.

[AngryPistonsGuy]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship? Personally I don't see a problem because it would show he actually wants to win. But, many people have criticized Lebron for doing the same(you even mention Miami as the 'easy route'). How can going to a team with 2 superstars be good for one players legacy but bad for anothers? And I know some will say Noah isn't a superstar, but he is defensive player of the year and first team all-nba. I think he adds more to a team than Bosh personally.

I think many of the same people who are applauding the thought of Carmelo getting serious about winning would be the first to jump all over Lebron if he would go to a team like Houston, or Chicago for that matter. Just a funny double standard that I've noticed in the past week.

I don't think the situations are very similar, you are just wording them to seem similar. Lebron colluded with Bosh and Wade to form a big three, with Lebron and Bosh leaving their respective teams to join forces all at a discounted rate to increase their chances of winning, with Lebron doing it on a live TV special after allowing nerves to build all summer. This was also the summer after reaffirming he would bring a title to Cleveland. It was kinda seen as a crappy thing to do, as evidenced by the near rioting in Ohio. Especially since it was his hometown team.

Carmelo already strong armed his way to New York, and he did his time, and now he wants to win. He wanted to have "his own team", which the Knicks were. It was not successful. If he goes to Chicago, he's no longer looking to have his own big market. He's going to play second fiddle to Rose and Noah's team as his prime years won't last forever. That's not uncommon for stars near their end years to do that.

If Lebron goes to Houston, or Chicago, something like that, yea, people are gonna call him a mercenary, and it's gonna hurt his legacy. Because he couldn't win with the Cavs, so he went to Miami. Won there, and when they got old, he wants to jump to the next winning team. That's a way different situation than Melo, who WAS winning in Denver, he just wanted his own bigger market. He was looking for cash. Lebron is looking to fill his jewelry box. Not Melo realizes his legacy...isn't a whole lot, and wants a ring like a lot of stars do before retiring. Pretty normal. Look at the 90s, stars hitting 30 and swapping squads were a regular occurrence.

[10acious]

I feel like Anthony is finally beginning to think about his legacy. If he wants the money - there would be no reason for him to meet with other teams because the knicks can offer him 5 years 129M on top of the large amount of endorsement income he already makes in New York. If he joins forces with the big 3 in Miami - he will likely will not be remembered for winning potential titles but for taking the extremely easy route to winning a championship. The most the bulls or rockets can offer him is 4 years 96M but neither team may be able to even offer most of that because of cap restraints. I think he;s going to play for the bulls because you can put a price on winning a title. He can't even be guaranteed a viable opportunity if he stays with the knicks.

Anthony may be thinking about his legacy but he wants his max money too. Also, there is no easy route to winning a championship. If either the Bulls or Rockets sign him outright (assuming no significant assets need to be conveyed other than draft choices or lower level rotational players), both will still be flawed teams. In broad terms, the Bulls still will need perimeter shooting and the Rockets will need defenders next season. Anthony gets no guarantees for the LO'B trophy in 2015.

[pistons]

I don't think the situations are very similar, you are just wording them to seem similar. Lebron colluded with Bosh and Wade to form a big three, with Lebron and Bosh leaving their respective teams to join forces all at a discounted rate to increase their chances of winning, with Lebron doing it on a live TV special after allowing nerves to build all summer. This was also the summer after reaffirming he would bring a title to Cleveland. It was kinda seen as a crappy thing to do, as evidenced by the near rioting in Ohio. Especially since it was his hometown team.

Carmelo already strong armed his way to New York, and he did his time, and now he wants to win. He wanted to have "his own team", which the Knicks were. It was not successful. If he goes to Chicago, he's no longer looking to have his own big market. He's going to play second fiddle to Rose and Noah's team as his prime years won't last forever. That's not uncommon for stars near their end years to do that.

If Lebron goes to Houston, or Chicago, something like that, yea, people are gonna call him a mercenary, and it's gonna hurt his legacy. Because he couldn't win with the Cavs, so he went to Miami. Won there, and when they got old, he wants to jump to the next winning team. That's a way different situation than Melo, who WAS winning in Denver, he just wanted his own bigger market. He was looking for cash. Lebron is looking to fill his jewelry box. Not Melo realizes his legacy...isn't a whole lot, and wants a ring like a lot of stars do before retiring. Pretty normal. Look at the 90s, stars hitting 30 and swapping squads were a regular occurrence.

Had a few issues with your statement that just came off as biased :

You say Carmelo wanted a bigger market in New York and that is OK . . But LeBron going to a bigger market in Miami is not OK ?

You say Carmelo wanted to "have his own team" in New York , as if Denver was not HIS team ?

You say that LeBron was not winning in Cleveland , and Melo was winning in Denver , yet by pretty much every standard , LeBron's teams were better than Melo's ?

You say that Melo realizing his legacy is lacking in his 30s is OK , but LeBron taking the necessary steps to make sure his legacy doesn't lack in his mid-20s is not OK ?

I feel like you are perpetuating the anti-LeBron sentiment that was so popular a few years ago , died down once he won , but now seems like the cool thing to do again . . .

Let him do what other greats before him have done ( Shaq , Wilt ) or tried to do ( Kobe ) , and that is continue to put pressure on the organizations they are with to build championship teams , by using free agency as either leverage or an alternative. It's bad enough he gets criticized for doing something that is perfectly fine . .. It's worse still when a comparable talent does the same thing yet is praised for it.

[I beg to differ]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship?

LeBron and Wade were considered the 2 top players in the league when they teamed up. Rose hasn't played in 3 straight playoffs.

[my2bits]

If Melo teams up with D-Rose and Noah that would be similar to Miami's big three in that Melo, a superstar in his own right, would leave his Knicks team to go and join an established Bulls team. Where this differs from da kings decision is that Rose and Noah are not free agents and can not willingly collaborate to join forces. Also, no one has ever called Melo "the best player in the world". Popular opinion has consistently placed Lebron above Carmelo as a player. The public has often attempted to compare James to Jordan or Kobe. Since James did nothing to dissuade these comparisons it is safe to assume that he welcomed them and privately perhaps, believed they were warranted. If he is on the same level as Jordan and Kobe then he should have been able to eventually elevate his team to championship level without seeking to join up with his contemporaries. Since Melo is not included in the greatest ever conversations then he should not be held to the same scrutiny as Lebron is. He is just another free agent who is seeking a chance to win a title. Instead of helping James win another title and adding to his legacy, Melo wants to beat James and knock him out of the playoffs. Who knows, if he can win a couple of rings and mvp's with the Bulls by going through James' teams maybe Melo can usurp the title of best player in the world.

[thinktellectual]

...

So much stupid in that post ...

Lebron colluded with Bosh and Wade to form a big three

You obviously don't understand that word, so please stop using it.


Also, how come so many people have such deep ingrained slave mentalities ?

I mean, for many it was ok for McFail to "collude" with Ainge and trade Garnett for nothing, but if 3 FAs plan something together, everybody screams bloody murder.

It's ok when the owners/masters do it. If the players do it, it upsets the "natural order of things", right ?

Carmelo already strong armed his way to New York, and he did his time

Mmmm, how did he do his time if he strongarmed his way to NY ?
If he was to do his time, he'd still be in Colorado.

He wanted to have "his own team"

He had his own team. It was called "The Nuggets". "The Denver Nuggets", to be more exact.

Because he couldn't win with the Cavs, so he went to Miami.
That's a way different situation than Melo, who WAS winning in Denver

What the **** was Melo winning in Denver ?
He only got out of the 1st round ONCE !!!

Lebron went to the finals and nearly took down Boston in the ECF in g7 (Cavs lost by 4 points).
Lebron was doing more winning in Cle than Melo was in Den.

he just wanted his own bigger market. He was looking for cash. Lebron is looking to fill his jewelry box.

So wait, wanting cash is ok ?
Wanting to win is wrong now ?

For 15 years I have been hearing the exact opposite from fans and the media.
But apparently when Lebron chose winning over cash, wanting cash became ok, wanting to win became bad.

Also, do you realize that a MERCENARY is someone who is fighting FOR CASH ????
A real mercenary goes where he can make the most cash.
So from that POV, Melo is more of a mercenary than Lebron.

I guess you don't know what "mercenary" means either, so better stop using that one as well.

You know what, you seem to not know A LOT of stuff - a quite common affliction among haters.
I suggest you stop posting for a while, so you don't embarrass yourself any further.

[Fellow72]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship? Personally I don't see a problem because it would show he actually wants to win. But, many people have criticized Lebron for doing the same(you even mention Miami as the 'easy route'). How can going to a team with 2 superstars be good for one players legacy but bad for anothers? And I know some will say Noah isn't a superstar, but he is defensive player of the year and first team all-nba. I think he adds more to a team than Bosh personally.

I think many of the same people who are applauding the thought of Carmelo getting serious about winning would be the first to jump all over Lebron if he would go to a team like Houston, or Chicago for that matter. Just a funny double standard that I've noticed in the past week.

Lebron going to Chicago wouldn't get people as upset as when lebron chose to team up with the 3rd best player in the NBA (at the time) in addition to a very proven perennial all star (top 10 player at the time). A lot of people back then were actually ok with Lebron going toe Chi at the time. However, now things are different. If lebron leaves for a team like houston with melo, it would permanently damage peoples perception of him since it would show that superteams are the only way lebron believes he can get rings, which is somewhat pathetic if you are the undisputed best player in the world.

Derrick Rose and Noah are nothing close to what wade and bosh were when they all joined up. The term Superstar is used too losely. There are like only at most 7-8 of them left. LBJ, Kobe(maybe), Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo, Tony Parker, Stephen Curry (if he has one more season like last year), Anthony Davis (inevitably will be one if healthy), and arguably Blake Griffin.

Derrick rose Had a single season worthy of the superstar status. But you can't have a single amazing season to be called a superstar, since being one also revolves on their ability to consistently put up superstar numbers over the years. Noah doesn't come anywhere close to the people that were mentioned. And he can't do what he did last season consistently to top it off, especially when rose comes back.

If melo joins Houston, he isn't joining 3 of the top 10 players in the league. Harden is terrible defensively, one reason why I am still against him being on my team. Plus he is a high volume shooter. His terrible playoff performances are clear indications for that. Melo would only be joining 2 perennial allstars, in houston, which is far more fair and commendable. In chi, he would be joining a washed up perennial allstar in Rose, and only a star in Noah. Whose numbers will never see anything past what he displayed this year if melo were to join and would definitely see a decline.

[thinktellectual]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship?

Don't even bother.
Haters do impressive mental gymnastics to "justify" their hatred - at least to themselves, so at least they don't appear stupid in their own eyes.

In 99% of the cases the hate boils down to "whaaaaaaaaa, Lebron didn't choose my team" + Kobe fans trying to take down Lebron to make Kobe look better + Celtics fans pissed off that Lebron & the Heat finished off their Big 3 run.

[Freshtolife]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship? Personally I don't see a problem because it would show he actually wants to win. But, many people have criticized Lebron for doing the same(you even mention Miami as the 'easy route'). How can going to a team with 2 superstars be good for one players legacy but bad for anothers? And I know some will say Noah isn't a superstar, but he is defensive player of the year and first team all-nba. I think he adds more to a team than Bosh personally.

I think many of the same people who are applauding the thought of Carmelo getting serious about winning would be the first to jump all over Lebron if he would go to a team like Houston, or Chicago for that matter. Just a funny double standard that I've noticed in the past week.

Lebron going to Chicago wouldn't get people as upset as when lebron chose to team up with the 3rd best player in the NBA (at the time) in addition to a very proven perennial all star (top 10 player at the time). A lot of people back then were actually ok with Lebron going toe Chi at the time. However, now things are different. If lebron leaves for a team like houston with melo, it would permanently damage peoples perception of him since it would show that superteams are the only way lebron believes he can get rings, which is somewhat pathetic if you are the undisputed best player in the world.

Derrick Rose and Noah are nothing close to what wade and bosh were when they all joined up. The term Superstar is used too losely. There are like only at most 7-8 of them left. LBJ, Kobe(maybe), Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo, Tony Parker, Stephen Curry (if he has one more season like last year), Anthony Davis (inevitably will be one if healthy), and arguably Blake Griffin.

Derrick rose Had a single season worthy of the superstar status. But you can't have a single amazing season to be called a superstar, since being one also revolves on their ability to consistently put up superstar numbers over the years. Noah doesn't come anywhere close to the people that were mentioned. And he can't do what he did last season consistently to top it off, especially when rose comes back.

If melo joins Houston, he isn't joining 3 of the top 10 players in the league. Harden is terrible defensively, one reason why I am still against him being on my team. Plus he is a high volume shooter. His terrible playoff performances are clear indications for that. Melo would only be joining 2 perennial allstars, in houston, which is far more fair and commendable. In chi, he would be joining a washed up perennial allstar in Rose, and only a star in Noah. Whose numbers will never see anything past what he displayed this year if melo were to join and would definitely see a decline.

Tony Parker is not a superstar bro. An all star but not a superstar.

[Fellow72]

I have a question for....well, a lot of people. If Carmelo goes to Chicago and teams with Rose and Noah how is this different than Lebron going to Miami in terms of "teaming up" to win a championship? Personally I don't see a problem because it would show he actually wants to win. But, many people have criticized Lebron for doing the same(you even mention Miami as the 'easy route'). How can going to a team with 2 superstars be good for one players legacy but bad for anothers? And I know some will say Noah isn't a superstar, but he is defensive player of the year and first team all-nba. I think he adds more to a team than Bosh personally.

I think many of the same people who are applauding the thought of Carmelo getting serious about winning would be the first to jump all over Lebron if he would go to a team like Houston, or Chicago for that matter. Just a funny double standard that I've noticed in the past week.

Lebron going to Chicago wouldn't get people as upset as when lebron chose to team up with the 3rd best player in the NBA (at the time) in addition to a very proven perennial all star (top 10 player at the time). A lot of people back then were actually ok with Lebron going toe Chi at the time. However, now things are different. If lebron leaves for a team like houston with melo, it would permanently damage peoples perception of him since it would show that superteams are the only way lebron believes he can get rings, which is somewhat pathetic if you are the undisputed best player in the world.

Derrick Rose and Noah are nothing close to what wade and bosh were when they all joined up. The term Superstar is used too losely. There are like only at most 7-8 of them left. LBJ, Kobe(maybe), Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo, Tony Parker, Stephen Curry (if he has one more season like last year), Anthony Davis (inevitably will be one if healthy), and arguably Blake Griffin.

Derrick rose Had a single season worthy of the superstar status. But you can't have a single amazing season to be called a superstar, since being one also revolves on their ability to consistently put up superstar numbers over the years. Noah doesn't come anywhere close to the people that were mentioned. And he can't do what he did last season consistently to top it off, especially when rose comes back.

If melo joins Houston, he isn't joining 3 of the top 10 players in the league. Harden is terrible defensively, one reason why I am still against him being on my team. Plus he is a high volume shooter. His terrible playoff performances are clear indications for that. Melo would only be joining 2 perennial allstars, in houston, which is far more fair and commendable. In chi, he would be joining a washed up perennial allstar in Rose, and only a star in Noah. Whose numbers will never see anything past what he displayed this year if melo were to join and would definitely see a decline.

Tony Parker is not a superstar bro. An all star but not a superstar.

Well, yeah, i can see why you'd say that. I used to say the same thing. But if he had his own team, where he was the main focus of their game, he'd be putting up higher numbers. I wouldn't fully disagree with anyone who says that, but i put him in there since there are a few purists who believe otherwise.

[zeebo]

I bet Anthony ends up with the Lakers! The Lakers always get what they want!

[AngryPistonsGuy]

...

So much stupid in that post ...

Lebron colluded with Bosh and Wade to form a big three

You obviously don't understand that word, so please stop using it.


Also, how come so many people have such deep ingrained slave mentalities ?

I mean, for many it was ok for McFail to "collude" with Ainge and trade Garnett for nothing, but if 3 FAs plan something together, everybody screams bloody murder.

It's ok when the owners/masters do it. If the players do it, it upsets the "natural order of things", right ?

Carmelo already strong armed his way to New York, and he did his time

Mmmm, how did he do his time if he strongarmed his way to NY ?
If he was to do his time, he'd still be in Colorado.

He wanted to have "his own team"

He had his own team. It was called "The Nuggets". "The Denver Nuggets", to be more exact.

Because he couldn't win with the Cavs, so he went to Miami.
That's a way different situation than Melo, who WAS winning in Denver

What the **** was Melo winning in Denver ?
He only got out of the 1st round ONCE !!!

Lebron went to the finals and nearly took down Boston in the ECF in g7 (Cavs lost by 4 points).
Lebron was doing more winning in Cle than Melo was in Den.

he just wanted his own bigger market. He was looking for cash. Lebron is looking to fill his jewelry box.

So wait, wanting cash is ok ?
Wanting to win is wrong now ?

For 15 years I have been hearing the exact opposite from fans and the media.
But apparently when Lebron chose winning over cash, wanting cash became ok, wanting to win became bad.

Also, do you realize that a MERCENARY is someone who is fighting FOR CASH ????
A real mercenary goes where he can make the most cash.
So from that POV, Melo is more of a mercenary than Lebron.

I guess you don't know what "mercenary" means either, so better stop using that one as well.

You know what, you seem to not know A LOT of stuff - a quite common affliction among haters.
I suggest you stop posting for a while, so you don't embarrass yourself any further.

I clearly worded my post poorly, I'm sorry you felt that insults were your only way of expressing that. I do like how you break apart all of my statements though to inaccurately portray what I was trying to say. Anything sounds like you want it to out of context. I am not a Lebron hater, nor a Melo hater. I am not gonna go line for line correcting you, though I will say the "mercenary" quote came straight from a Grantland article, and I was reiterating the point made there.

I never said wanting cash or winning is not okay or is okay. What?

You completely and entirely misunderstood what I was saying, and I'll take the blame if I worded something poorly but I'm not gonna get into some heated debate if your response is just a stack of insults.