Carmelo Anthony is one of the best players in the NBA, and there's no surprise that his yet to be announced free agency decision is gaining so much attention.
But reports now suggest that Carmelo has made his mind up on where he will be playing basketball next season. The 30-year-old All-Star has been linked with the LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls the most, but those options seem to have fallen by the wayside in recent days.
No LeBron link-up
According to the New York Daily News, Carmelo's NBA free agency plan has been calculated from the word go. It's understood that Anthony only had two plans from the start of this process.
Now one of them was obviously to stay with the New York Knicks. But the other choice could have landed him at several different destinations.
This is because his other choice would have been to link-up with LeBron James. Now where this link-up could have actually happened is open to debate, but it's not going to happen now regardless, according to reports.
No decision yet
Reports regarding Carmelo staying put in New York can't hide the fact that he's not actually announced his decision to stay with the Knicks yet.
USA Today is reporting that his agent, Leon Rose, is stating to them that Carmelo has not made a decision on his future. This contradicts information from the Daily News, who even suggest Melo will announce a new Knicks deal on Thursday.
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Lakers talk
The simply facts are that the Knicks can offer Carmelo more money than any other team in the NBA. Staying in the Big Apple could enable him to pick up a deal of five years and $129 million. However, a move to the Lakers would give him $96 million and the Chicago Bulls would be even less at $77 million.
These facts haven't stopped Kobe Bryant hoping that he will be joined by Carmelo next season at the Lakers.
"I'm answering questions assuming that the person that we're talking about is Carmelo (Anthony). I'm making a bold assumptions. But yeah, I would love to play (with him), We've really clicked since 2008. I would love to see him out here."
Watch this space.
