The LA Lakers and a number of other teams are targeting both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in free agency this offseason after the two players opted out of their contracts to become free agents and teams like the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers along with the Miami Heat potentially could be in the running to bring in the tandem to team-up.
James set off a flurry of stories and rumors after surprising everyone and opting out of his contract on June 24 rather than the deadline date of June 30 and now teams are lining up to try and convince him to join up. According to ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Lakers have been considering positioning themselves to make this move since before Anthony and James opted out of their contracts and other teams like the Hawks and Clippers have started looking into whether they can actually get in the ring to chase the stars. ESPN writes that each team will have to orchestrate certain trades and other moves to clear enough cap space and the next step is obviously convincing the two to join up.
Brian Windhorst on ESPN has covered LeBron since high school and knows him better than most reporters and while he said it's very likely that he will stay in Miami, he said that this moment is the best time for a team to swoop in. Windhorst said that James wants to see Miami make some more moves and add some free agents and that could give teams like the Rockets and Bulls the chance to convince him to move on again. James left Cleveland in the Decision and now with the possibility of teaming up with Anthony out there, LeBron could leave again.
The Lakers have freed up cap space in the future over the past couple years and they still likely will have to make other moves to even have the chance at signing James or Anthony or both. The report from ESPN.com says that the Lakers have been trying to put together a trade package with Steve Nash and the number seven pick in the draft to clear more space to try and sign Melo and LeBron and one reason they need to free up so much is the size of Kobe Bryant's contract.
ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne reports that the Rockets and the Clippers also are interested in luring the stars and they would have to make multiple trades and moves to get enough space to do it. The Rockets have Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin and they will have to move both of those players for any chance at signing Anthony or James. The team was mentioned in the Kevin Love trade rumors, but they likely are not in play for that deal anymore and reports say they have deals lined up for Lin and Asik when they are ready to deal.
