The Chicago Bulls took another step in their pursuit of Carmelo Anthony at the NBA draft, as the team pulled off a trade for Doug McDermott, sending Gary Harris to the Denver Nuggets and now the team has a great scorer and outside shooter to put with Derrick Rose and Melo, if they can sign him in free agency away from the Knicks.
The Bulls traded their pick of Gary Harris along with another first round pick and now they get McDermott along with Anthony Randolph and a future second round pick. The team likely will try and use Mike Dunleavy in a sign and trade to clear more space to sign Anthony and now the team has a great long range shooter and potential scorer. Rose needs more scoring on the team and adding McDermott and possibly Anthony could be huge.
The Bulls were rumored before the draft to be looking at trades in the first round and instead of trading for a high pick, the team targeted a player they like a lot and now McDermott comes in after being a top five all-time scorer in college basketball while playing at Creighton. The Knicks did not have a first round pick this season and they are still gunning to sign Anthony and they can give him $30 million more than everyone else. The team picked Cleanthony Early in the second round and now they are trying to make moves as well after trading away Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler.
Anthony has officially opted out if his contract with the New York Knicks to test the waters as a free agent and teams like the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are all in the mix to sign him, while NY may also look at sign and trade options if they can't keep Melo in the big apple.
The Knicks feel they have the best chance to sign Anthony because they can offer him the longest contract and the highest amount of money, but that is no guarantee with the way the team played last season. According to ESPN.com, the Chicago Bulls are the current front runners for Anthony after he opted out and reports have at least four teams apart from the Knicks looking to pitch Melo once the July 1 free agency date hits the calendar.
The Miami Heat are one team reportedly considering signing Anthony and that would take some very create moves if the team wants to keep LeBron James and the Big 3. SI.com reports that Anthony could potentially leave $50 million on the table to sign in Miami to play with LeBron and that could be worth it for him to compete for a title, but that's a long shot over the Bulls or Knicks. The Bulls feel they are a couple moves away from a championship team and this could be the first of many moves.
