Miami Heat star LeBron James is a free agent after opting out of the final year of his contract with the team and now he has the chance to hear pitches from other teams in free agency this summer and the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Clippers and New York Knicks all could potentially chase him, while some rumors have a team-up with Carmelo Anthony also a possibility.
James is the best player in the NBA and he is a free agent right now and while most people in the league see him staying with Miami, he is on the market and taking pitches. According to ESPN.com, there are a number of teams in the league looking to sign both players in LeBron and Carmelo, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks, although some of those teams have no way of doing that, even with trades.
ESPN reports that the Los Angeles Lakers have been thinking about trying to sign both players even before the two opted out of their contracts to become free agents, but they have to make moves to make that happen as well. The team is looking at trading Steve Nash and their number seven pick in the draft to help clear space to enable the team to sign both Anthony and LeBron as free agents. The Knicks obviously are looking to bring back Melo and they have to battle teams and now this potential team up option as well.
The Knicks have the chance to give Anthony the most money and the longest contract and that could play into his decision as well. Reports have the Miami Heat trying to sign both stars and keep the Big 3 together, but that could mean Melo has to leave upwards of $50 million on the table and that could be too much to pass up. The Knicks are in a tough spot, as they know Anthony leaving would be hard to deal with, but Phil Jackson has plans if he leaves and the team could look at Kyle Lowry or Luol Deng if Anthony bounces out of town.
The Bulls and Rockets have moves to make if they want to make deals in free agency and those could be coming soon. Carlos Boozer likely will be traded for the Bulls to sign Anthony it James and the Rockets will need to make trades as well. The Rockets have Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to deal and reports say the team has deals lined up for the two players already. The two stars are taking up a ton of money on the cap and Daryl Morey will have to make trades for any chance of signing the stars. Morey envisions a Big 3 or even 4 with Dwight Howard and James Harden, but it will take some creativity to get there.
