At this point of the 2019 NBA offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers and all 30 teams are waiting for their 2019-20 NBA schedules and slowly filling out their training camp rosters.
For the Lakers, they still have one roster spot available. And at this time, it appears general manager Rob Pelinka is waiting to see if Andre Iguodala is ultimately bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies, who are still trying to trade him.
As the Lakers ideally could use another small forward, Carmelo Anthony’s name has resurfaced in free agency.
In a recent interview with Stephen A. Smith, Anthony is interested in playing with LeBron James, via ESPN:
“1,000%. We’ve talked about that since we were 18, 19 years old.”
Anthony also revealed his representatives have reached out to the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers in free agency:
“We reached out to a lot of people… the Lakers has been one of them… the Clippers has been one of them. We’re reaching out, we’re talking. There’s dialogue with certain teams. I don’t want to get into specifics, but there’s conversation.”
While Anthony is one of the greatest scorers in league history, it appears teams are hesitant to sign him. At this stage of his career, there are questions about if the 35-year-old is truly willing to accept a lesser role on a 15-man roster.
As this is up for debate, Kyle Kuzma believes Anthony is ‘easily better than half the league right now’ after working out with him. However, Kuzma stated he will leave this Anthony decision up to general manager Rob Pelinka.
As it currently stands, it appears the Lakers will either sign Iguodala or keep their roster spot open for the February trade and/or March buyout deadline. Although Los Angeles is currently ‘an unlikely option’ for Anthony, that could change in the later stages of the 2019-20 NBA season.
While Anthony is a future Hall of Famer, it is becoming difficult seeing him end his career on his own terms.