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LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony could eventually be teammates this season.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers “maintain interest in Anthony” and “are a possible destination,” although they are not looking to create a roster spot for the Syracuse product by waiving a guaranteed player. However, they could add him if a roster spot becomes available.
This comes after Wojnarowski reported the Houston Rockets traded Anthony and cash considerations to the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Don’t expect to see Anthony in a Bulls uniform, though, as Wojnarowski reported he will not play for the team. Still, he noted Chicago may attempt to trade him in a potential one-for-one deal before waiving him, although it can’t “aggregate his contract in another deal.”
This comes after Marc Stein of the New York Times reported in December the Lakers were one of the teams that “resisted the idea” of acquiring Anthony from the Rockets.
While Anthony is a future Hall of Famer who led the league in scoring in 2012-13 and has 10 All-Star Game nods and six All-NBA selections on his resume, the Lakers wouldn’t be getting that version of him.
He would likely resemble the player who averaged 13.4 points and 0.5 assists a night in the 10 games he played for the Rockets earlier this season or the one who struggled in 2017-18 for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished with career-low totals in points (16.2), field-goal percentage (40.4) and assists (1.3) per game last season for a team that lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The best-case scenario for the Lakers would revolve around Anthony—a 34.7 percent shooter from long range—taking advantage of the openings created by playing alongside James. Los Angeles will need outside shooters to make opponents pay for clogging the lane against the King, and Anthony could theoretically stay on the perimeter and hit those shots.
Anthony could also serve as a playoff-tested veteran with 72 postseason games under his belt and play for stretches as a scoring spark off the bench.
Just don’t expect him to be the one who puts the Lakers over the top in any hypothetical series with the Golden State Warriors.
from Viral News Show http://bit.ly/2DpRdT4
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