When NBA free agency began on July 1, the Los Angeles Lakers heavily pursued Carmelo Anthony and were reportedly the New York Knicks’ biggest threat after their pitch meeting. There were even reports Pau Gasol would quickly re-sign if the Lakers were able to land Anthony.
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However, after re-signing with New York, the All-Star forward says his decision ultimately came down to the Knicks and the Chicago Bulls according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman:
“I was flip-flopping,” he admitted. “It was hard. It was Chicago, but then after I met with L.A., it was L.A. But it came back to Chicago — and was pretty much always Chicago or New York. That’s a situation where I could have walked in now to an opportunity to compete for the next however many years.”
Heading into the off-season, the Lakers were hoping to land Anthony to form a Big Three with Kobe Bryant and Gasol. Unfortunately, the team had to quickly move in a different direction and their first move was acquiring Jeremy Lin and multiple draft picks from the Houston Rockets. After acquiring the point guard, Los Angeles re-signed numerous players from last season’s roster and signed big men Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis.
While next year’s roster has taken shape, the Lakers are still without a head coach. However, Byron Scott is still considered the front runner despite the Doc Rivers rumors. If the former Laker is indeed the new coach after numerous interviews, Gary Payton is rumored to be a candidate to join his coaching staff.
[divide]Kobe Bryant’s message to Jeremy Lin
