Carmelo Anthony Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Ponder Run At Carmelo Anthony

June 24th, 2014 at 9:05am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks are thinking about launching a run at Carmelo Anthony, according to Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who deem Atlanta a “sleeper” team in the race for the star forward. A run at ‘Melo reminiscent of last year’s darkhorse pitch to Dwight Howard is one of many options that Hawks GM Danny Ferry is considering, though it would require that the team clear a significant amount of cap space.

Atlanta and the Heat are on the fringes of an Anthony sweepstakes that more prominently features the Rockets, Mavs and Lakers, as well as the Bulls, who appear to have taken the lead, as Shelburne and Stein write. The Knicks are in the running, too, as they bid to keep Anthony from leaving New York.

The Knicks can re-sign him using Bird rights, but the Lakers have the most cap flexibility among the teams in the race. Still, Anthony wants the Lakers to upgrade their roster before he would consider them, according to Shelburne and Stein. That’s why rumors involving No. 7 pick and Steve Nash have cropped up, as Lakers look to part with them in search of improvements, as the ESPN scribes explain. Sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that ‘Melo met recently with Kobe Bryant in Europe, and while Bryant denies that any meeting took place, he said a meeting with Anthony is indeed on his agenda (Twitter link).

Ferry would have to make a few trades of his own just to open up room for a competitive contract offer. The Hawks have slightly more than $47MM in commitments to eight players next season, not counting their first-round pick at No. 15 overall. If the Hawks renounced all of their free agents, roster charges would bring Atlanta’s cap hits to about $49MM, leaving only about $14.2MM under the $63.2MM projected salary cap to bid for Anthony, who can make a starting salary of nearly $22.5MM.

Atlantic Notes: ‘Melo, Garnett, Felton, Draft

June 23rd, 2014 at 3:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

Neither New York team has a pick in either round of Thursday’s draft, but it seems there’s a decent chance that will change. The Knicks are thinking about trading Iman Shumpert for the first-rounder they’re seemingly intent on landing, and the Nets have scheduled workouts for this week with a bunch of potential second-round prospects, as we detail below amid the latest from the Big Apple:

Carmelo Anthony has opted out of his deal with New York, but it wasn’t news to the Knicks. He told the team three weeks ago that he still planned to opt out and reiterated as much during their meeting a little more than a week ago, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks nonetheless like their chances of re-signing him, Berman also notes.
The Nets are quietly optimistic that Kevin Garnett will return next season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His willingness to play out the final year of his contract, worth $12MM, is reportedly key to the future of soon-to-be free agent Paul Pierce, as Stein notes.
Raymond Felton avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement to resolve felony gun-related charges stemming from a February incident, reports Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks point guard has been a part of trade rumors.
C.J. Fair, Semaj Christon, James Michael McAdoo, Johnny O’Bryant III, Xavier Thames, Ronald Roberts Jr., Langston Hall, Branden Frazier, Cameron Clark, Kyle Casey, Akil Mitchell, Cory Jefferson and Artem Klimenko are all working out for the Nets this week, the team announced.

Carmelo Anthony Talks Free Agent Decision

June 23rd, 2014 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony has opted out of his contract with the Knicks for next season and will hit free agency, as has been the plan since October. The Leon Rose client opened up in a video interview with Vice Sports about his thinking as he considers where he’ll sign next month, as Marc Berman of the New York Post and RealGM transcribe. We’ll share some of ‘Melo’s most noteworthy quotes from the interview, which was taped on June 3rd:

On his desire to help shape the roster of his team:

“As far as player personnel goes, I would love to be involved in that. At the end of the day, you’re creating a family.”

On the practical implications of his decision:

“The average person sees the opportunity to say ‘Melo should go here, ‘Melo should go there, he should do this, I think he should do that. They don’t take in consideration the family aspect of it. Where are you going to be living at? Do you want your kids to grow up in that place or that city? Do I want to stay the rest of my career in that situation and city? All that stuff comes into play.”

On how his family will come into play:

“My son goes to school and loves it here. To take him out and take him somewhere else, he has to learn that system all over again. He has to get new friends. I know how hard it was for me when I moved from New York to Baltimore at a young age, having to work to make friends and fit in and try to figure out the culture in that area. As far as basketball goes, it’s hard to just say OK I’m going to go there. Everybody is affected by it.”

On the importance of the 2014/15 season:

“The average person is looking at it next year — like it’s one year — you can win a championship if you go here. We’re looking at the big picture. You’re looking at the next six to eight years of your career.”

Carmelo Anthony Opts Out, Will Hit Free Agency

June 23rd, 2014 at 10:33am CST by Zachary Links

MONDAY, 10:33am: Agent Leon Rose confirms that Anthony has opted out, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports via Twitter.

“Carmelo loves being a Knick, he loves the City and the fans,” Rose said. “At this stage of his career he just wants to explore his options.”

SUNDAY, 1:01pm: Knicks star Carmelo Anthony will file paperwork tomorrow to notify the Knicks that he will be opting out of his contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal (on Twitter) hears that Anthony actually submitted his formal early termination option letter on Friday stating his intentions to hit the open market.

It has long been expected that Anthony would exercise his ETO in order to explore free agency beginning on July 1st. Tomorrow marks the official opt-out deadline for Anthony, one of the league’s very best scorers, and it appears he will forgo a guaranteed $23.5MM from the Knicks to see what else is out there.

The Knicks, of course, can offer Anthony more money than anyone with a five-year, $125MM+ contract. However, Anthony is said to be intrigued by the opportunity to win right away with a team like the Bulls or Rockets. Phil Jackson may have a plan to turn the Knicks into contenders over the next few years, but it seems highly unlikely that they can vault themselves into the title mix in 2014/15.

It was reported last week that the Bulls are the frontrunners for the former Syracuse star, though it’s not clear if that means Chicago is ahead of New York in the running or if they’re just the top option outside of the Knicks. Anthony forced the Nuggets to trade him to the Knicks just three-and-a-half years ago and this summer there has been rampant speculation that Anthony is ready to take his talents to a third team.

Signing with the Bulls, Rockets, Mavs, or any other club would mean a maximum contract of $90MM over five seasons for Anthony. However, it has been rumored that Anthony is open to sacrificing dollars, and maybe even taking less than the max, to help his club add more talent. Both the Bulls and Rockets will have to do some shuffling before they can sign Melo to such a deal, however.

Eastern Notes: Hornets, Draft, Bulls

June 21st, 2014 at 8:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hornets‘ top priority this offseason is finding players who can shoot from the outside, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte GM Rich Cho said, “I think shooting is hard to find – especially mid-range shooting. You don’t see a lot of kids practicing that. Shooting is at a premium now because a lot of teams want to take threes instead of long twos, just from an efficiency standpoint. In an ideal world you want a shooter who can also really defend. But in the real world, there’s not a lot of that.”

Atlantic Notes: ‘Melo, Rondo, Celtics, Lowry

June 21st, 2014 at 4:01pm CST by Charlie Adams

Joakim Noah is still actively attempting to persuade Carmelo Anthony into signing with the Bulls, reveals Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Derrick Rose would prefer to see Chicago strike a trade for Kevin Love, adds Lawrence, who reports that Rose sees Love as a better team player than ‘Melo. Let’s round up more from the Atlantic:

Rajon Rondo appeared on ESPN’s Numbers Never Lie and admitted that he hopes the Celtics make a run to sign Anthony and “an additional piece” this summer (video link).
Celtics GM Danny Ainge said he wouldn’t be against trading for a second-round pick if there’s a player available that the team likes, reports Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, who runs down the list of all 60 prospects Boston auditioned with their pre-draft workouts.
Although Kyle Lowry is comfortable playing for the Raptors, it’s not a sure thing that the unrestricted free agent returns to Toronto next season, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
We passed along a report indicating that the Nets might be discussing a deal with Cleveland involving a swap of Marcus Thornton and Jarrett Jack.

Bulls Pursuing Trade For Arron Afflalo

June 21st, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Cray Allred

12:19pm: The Magic are asking for “a bundle” in return for the shooting guard, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. The Hornets remain interested in acquiring Afflalo, a reality that Bonnell notes has been “no secret” for months.

9:39am: The Bulls are pursuing a trade with the Magic to acquire shooting guard Arron Afflalo, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. League executives believe Orlando is prioritizing a trade of Afflalo over reaching an agreement on an extension with the shooting guard. Afflalo has two years and $15MM total left on his contract, but owns an early termination option for the 2015/16 season.

The Bulls are considered a front-runner for landing Carmelo Anthony this offseason, and a trade for Afflalo could complicate that pursuit. Wojnarowski writes that it is unclear how the Afflalo movement in Chicago is affecting their thinking about Anthony. A league source told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that the Bulls are the most likely destination for Anthony, but Chicago would need to shed major salary to acquire Anthony as is, let alone if Afflalo was another permanent piece on the books.

At 29, Afflalo is one of the oldest players on a Magic roster loaded with youth. The Magic are still in the process of a rebuild that started when Dwight Howard departed, and aren’t expected to contend at least for another year. That combination led to Afflalo’s reported openness to being traded to a contender.

Western Notes: LeBron, Gentry, Honeycutt

June 20th, 2014 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

If LeBron James opts out of his contract with the Heat, the Rockets will have as an enticing a situation to offer him as any team in the league, writes Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. Beck lays out what options Houston has to fit James’ salary in, plus notes the team views Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh as secondary options if they fail to land James, provided Bosh and Anthony also exercise their ETO’s.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Draft, Heat, Hairston

June 20th, 2014 at 8:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link) that the Lakers and the Sixers are discussing a deal that would send the seventh-overall pick to Philly, but it wasn’t known what the Lakers would receive in return. The Sixers most desirable player assets are Thaddeus Young and Michael Carter-Williams. Trading Carter-Williams would open the door for Philadelphia to grab Dante Exum with the third pick, but that’s pure speculation on my part.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, ‘Melo, Pelicans

June 20th, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Randolph is No. 10 in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, but it seems like he’ll be off-limits to other suitors come July, as agent Raymond Brothers and the Grizzlies appear to be making significant progress toward a deal. That might have the effect of driving up the value of other free agents amid a class that’s highlighted by players with option clauses and restricted free agents. Here’s the latest on the Grizzlies and their Southwest Division rivals:

Dirk Nowitzki has encouraged the Mavs to consider signing Carmelo Anthony, but he nonetheless believes that ‘Melo ending up in Dallas is not a realistic outcome, as Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com observes. Still, a recent report indicated that the Mavs are among the three top teams on Anthony’s list of preferred destinations.
Executives around the league believe it’ll be an active offseason for the Pelicans, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. That’s in spite of more than $54MM in salary commitments for next season and comments from GM Dell Demps, who said in April that he wants to see more of the team’s existing core together.
Aaron Craft, Markel Brown, Viktor Gaddefors, Jordan Morgan and Ojars Silins are among the draft prospects who’ll work out for the Grizzlies on Sunday, the team announced.