Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony
Will Carmelo Anthony sign with the Los Angeles Lakers?
News today from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says it is iffy.
The Los Angeles Lakers and free agent Carmelo Anthony are pausing talks on a possible contract agreement unless the franchise makes a turn back toward pursuit of Western Conference playoffs contention, league sources told ESPN.
The Lakers had been leaning toward signing Anthony for the rest of the season — until losses in four of the past five games left the organization and Anthony’s camp wondering if it made sense to bring the veteran into an unsettled environment with suddenly so little chance of making the playoffs, league sources said.
A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets this summer after clearing waivers in a trade that shipped him from the Oklahoma City Thunder the Atlanta Hawks.In an interview with Taryn Finley of the Huffington Post on Friday, Melo suggested he is at peace with the fact he may not play much longer:
“I’m sure [retirement is] coming soon. I’d be sitting lying to you if I said it’s not coming soon. I think I want it to come soon. I don’t think I want to do this forever, but because you love it so much, it’s hard to give it up. At the end of the day, at anything you do, when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. But as long as you feel good with that.”
So if the Lakers right the ship, will Melo sign with LA?
“He might,” a league source told me via text message last week.
“It’s a reasonably high chance,” Bleacher Report contributor and NBA capologist, Eric Pincus told Scoop B Radio in January.“If a roster spot does open up, you can pretty much lock up that Carmelo Anthony will end up with the Lakers.””It’s all a whirlwind right now,” says one league source”LeBron’s camp is insisting on the front office signing Melo,” another league source with knowledge of the Lakers told me via text message earlier this week.
LeBron James and his camp want Carmelo Anthony to fill the Los Angeles Lakers 15th roster spot.
“He’d be great for the Lakers,” another league source told me in January.
“LeBron can convince him to play off the bench.”
“When the time is right he will speak out,” a source close to Carmelo Anthony told me via e-mail in January.
The third overall pick in the 2003 draft, Anthony’s last appearance with the Houston Rockets came in a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Nov. 8 when he had two points and five rebounds.
LeBron James and his camp want Carmelo Anthony to fill the Los Angeles Lakers 15th roster spot.
“It’s all a whirlwind right now, a league source told me over the weekend.
“LeBron’s camp is insisting on the front office signing Melo,” said another league source with knowledge of the Lakers thinking.
In the meantime, if not Carmelo Anthony, could a Zach Randolph who was seen working out in LA be a viable option for the Lakers at this point?
According to the New York Times’ Mark Stein, Randolph is expected to have a “sizable buyout market” once he’s free to sign with other teams at a more cost-effective deal, which he now is.Though Randolph is just one season removed from averaging 14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25.6 minutes per game, he seems unlikely to receive close to that level of playing time no matter where he might wind up.
“Hearing that Z-Bo to LA is the likely outcome,” a league source shared with me recently.
That falls in line with news out of Los Angeles two weeks ago that Randolph was seen working out in Los Angeles Lakers sweats in LA.
“I bumped into Zach Randolph at the gym in LA and he was in Lakers sweat suit,” an NFL’er told me via text message recently.
Randolph, 37, was part of the trade that shipped Harrison Barnes to the Sacramento Kings.
The actual trade included Randolph and Justin Jackson to the Mavericks in exchange for Harrison Barnes.
Per CBS: The Mavericks most likely agreed to take Randolph back in the deal for salary-matching purposes, as Jackson, a 2017 first-round pick, looks to be the main target here.Randolph was bought out by the Mavericks shortly after the Barnes trade.After striking out on acquiring Anthony Davis at the NBA trade deadline, Randolph could be a viable option.In 17 seasons, Randolph has posted 6.6 points and 9.1 rebounds with five teams. Randolph has been out of the rotation all season in Sacramento, not even logging a single minute of run.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been deliberate in watching their cap space all season.
LA added savvy veterans like Tyson Chandler into the fold along with Michael Beasley and Rajon Rondo during the offseason. Beasley has since been traded, waived and signed with a team in China.
But will he join?