Bulls understood to lead race if Melo decides to leave New York.
New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony has yet to reveal how he will approach free agency, but it is understood that there several teams ready to chase him.
The interested parties will have to wait until July 1 before they are able to make their pitches to the 30-year-old, and Anthony is expected to be busy with several meetings likely to be set up.
However, the Chicago Bulls are widely regarded as the early favourites to secure his signature, particularly given that they have been making moves since January which would on the face it seem as part of a bigger strategy to sign Anthony.
While Luol Deng was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Bulls also signed the likes of Mike James and Ronnie Brewer to very tradeable contracts, which ultimately would have been made in order to use them in a potential sign-and-trade with the Knicks for Anthony.
Nevertheless, the Houston Rockets are understood to be ready to make their own moves to accommodate the Knicks star, with both Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin likely to be sacrificed in order to create the necessary cap space.
However, that isn’t where the interest ends, as the Dallas Mavericks are also said to be closely monitoring the situation, as are the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat.
The Los Angeles Lakers are also in the mix, but it is reported that Anthony would not be willing to move to the Staples Center to be paired up with Kobe Bryant if the franchise did not have plans to significantly strengthen the roster around them.
Melo spoke to the media earlier this week regarding the difficulty of moving his family out of New York, but it appears as though he is ready to listen to those offers.
COMMENTS