Suddenly, there is immediate hope for the Los Angeles Lakers in the form of a certain sharpshooter last seen in a No. 7 New York Knicks uniform.
Carmelo Anthony trying to lure Pau Gasol to the Knicks?
Multiple media outlets are reporting that the Lakers have become the Knicks' primary contender for the services of Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 27.4 points and 8.1 rebounds last season.
Both have offered Anthony the maximum value contract. According to ESPN.com, the Knicks can offer Anthony a five-year deal worth $129 million. The Lakers can offer him a four-year deal worth $97 million.
But while the Knicks' other major lures involve former Lakers Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher, who are New York's team president and head coach, respectively, the Lakers biggest assets are still on the court in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and incoming draft pick Julius Randle.
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That possibility gets Anthony closer to his goal of competing for championships while still earning top dollar to play basketball.
Los Angeles may have one other trick up its sleeve if it can somehow lure Miami Heat free agent LeBron James to the West Coast. The Knicks have not talked to James and has no such dreams of competing for a championship in 2014-15.
According to ESPN, Anthony is training and living in Los Angeles this summer, which can't be good news for the Knicks. Jackson did sign guard Jose Calderon to bolster the roster, but most pundits believed that move was to entice Gasol to come to New York to reunite with Jackson and Fisher. The trio won a pair of titles with the Lakers in 2009-10.
The Knicks, however, can offer Gasol only the $3.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception, Newsday reports.
Anthony is expected to make a decision Sunday or Monday, and if he ends up in the Purple and Gold, LeBron James stops becoming a pipe dream and starts to become a potential Lakers pickup.
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