FA Rumors: Durant, Arthur, Wizards, Lakers, Bulls

The Knicks would like to set up a meeting to make their pitch to Kevin Durant, but nothing has been agree to or scheduled yet, and it remains to be seen whether that sit-down will take place. Still, that hasn’t stopped Carmelo Anthony from making his own recruiting pitch to his friend and Olympic teammate, as ESPN’s Marc Stein details.

“I’m with KD now; he’s right downstairs. We’ve been together. We’ve been talking,” Anthony told ESPN. “I do consider myself part of the Knicks, so that (free agent) meeting has already taken place.”

While tampering policies prevent teams from making contact with free-agents-to-be or their agents to discuss deals before July 1st at 12:00am, the NBA typically doesn’t police interactions between players, leaving players like Anthony and James Harden free to attempt to woo Durant, even though the Knicks and Rockets may not formally meet with him.

Let’s check in on a few other free agency notes…

  • Durant may not be the only free agent to receive a call or a text from Carmelo. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets that Anthony has been selling the Knicks to a few other players as well.
  • The Wizards have interest in Darrell Arthur, who has declined his player option with the Nuggets to become a free agent, writes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Washington will be in the market for big men this summer, and Michael believes Arthur could be a nice complementary piece to Markieff Morris at power forward.
  • According to Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, one could make the case that his team should target frontcourt players in free agency. However, as Kupchak explains to ESPN (video link), he isn’t entering free agency intent on upgrading a specific position — he believes the Lakers could use help everywhere.
  • Asked today about the Bulls‘ pending free agents, GM Gar Forman spoke positively about E’Twaun Moore, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com observes. Moore seems more likely to re-sign in Chicago than players like Joakim Noah or Pau Gasol, but the 27-year-old guard will generate a fair amount of interest on the open market as well.
  • Bobby Marks of The Vertical provides a breakdown of Durant’s various options in free agency and outlines the moves some of his suitors would have to make to land him.
  • Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star identifies five potential free agent targets for the Pacers, including three who finished the season with Charlotte.
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