The Los Angeles Lakers continue to be linked to Carmelo Anthony as the team looks to go bargain shopping in free agency to fill out their roster. According to Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner, Anthony is “waiting on a call from the Lakers” which would finally pair the forward with good friend LeBron James.
“The Lakers need shooting. One name that is coming up is Patty Mills,” Turner detailed. “He can shoot the lights out and would be great off the bench. Wayne Ellington is another shooter who has interest in rejoining the Lakers. Trevor Ariza and Andre Iguodala are veteran wings who are candidates. Carmelo Anthony is interested, just waiting on a call from the Lakers when free agency opens Monday. Guess who might be back for a third time? Yup, Dwight Howard is ready to return and play center. Jeff Green and Goran Dragic also are names to look out for.”
Anthony has undergone an impressive transition late in his career from being a team’s primary scorer to a reliable role player. The ten-time All-Star averaged 13.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 40.9% from behind the three-point line last season with the Blazers. Anthony would give the Lakers some much-needed shooting, especially with the addition of Russell Westbrook who is a career 30.5% three-point shooter.
Lakers Are ‘Very Interested’ in Signing Anthony, Says Insider
ESPN’s Jordan Schultz reported the Lakers are “very interested” in adding Anthony this offseason. Anthony would likely have to agree to sign with the Lakers for the veteran minimum given the team does not have any salary cap room.
“Lakers are ‘very interested’ in the prospect of signing Carmelo Anthony, per a league source,” Schultz tweeted. “Melo has been linked to the Lakers as a possibility, given his friendship w/LeBron dating back to high school. Anthony drilled a career-best 40.9 percent from 3 last season w/Portland.”
Carmelo on Playing With LeBron: ‘We’ve Talked About It Since We Were 18, 19 Years Old’
James has talked numerous times about potentially teaming up with Anthony before their careers end. During a 2017 interview with Bleacher Report, the superstar discussed the idea of playing with his good friends.
“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” James said at the time. “At least one, maybe one or two seasons—me, Melo, D-Wade, CP—we can get a year in. I would actually take a pay cut to do that.”
Years later, Anthony was a free agent and discussed some of the conversations he had with James about becoming teammates. Ultimately, the Lakers passed on adding Anthony, but it appears the team has another opportunity to make it happen.
“One thousand percent. We’ve talked about it since we were 18, 19 years old,” Anthony said on ESPN’s First Take in 2019, per Bleacher Report. “We reached out to a lot of people. The Lakers has been one of them. The Clippers has been one of them. We reaching out, we talking, it’s dialogues with certain teams. I don’t want to get into specifics, but there’s conversations.”
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Former Scoring Champion Is ‘Waiting on Call’ From Lakers, Says Insider