Should Carmelo Anthony Take Los Angeles’ 4-Year, $97 Million Max Offer?

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Could Melo be soon living in LaLa land? The Buss Family & Kobe Bryant are making a late push.

The Los Angeles Lakers media circus over the last few years has been something even the casual viewers will not be able to forget in the near future.

From Dwight Howard leaving the team in free agency, Steve Nash’s unsure health status, Mike D’Antoni’s inability to incorporate Pau Gasol into his system and even Kobe Bryant missing an entire season with an Achilles tendon tear – the purple and gold are still reaching for the stars (literally) with the heavy pursuit of the not-so-under-the-radar acquisition of Carmelo Anthony.

And they just made him an offer he might not refuse.

UPDATE 1: Adrian Wojnarowski for Yahoo! reports that the Lakers are in serious contention to land Carmelo Anthony in the free agent sweepstakes.
UPDATE 2: Frank Isola of New York Times reports Melo will return to Knicks after speaking with inner-circle, scenario joining LeBron James never discussed.

In comparison to other stars, the Mamba has shown great admiration for Melo over the years and even cites him as the closest non-teammate in the NBA. The pair’s friendship has led to them discussing the possibility of joining forces in recent years too. Kobe Bryant inked a 2-year, $48.7 million contract last November, which was surprisingly a decrease in his last two years of pay verses the $30 million he received this season for minimal play.

The Buss family, Mitch Kupchak and Kobe Bryant are trying to convey Melo and his entertainer wife La La Vasquez to a new home in Los Angeles, but have a difficult task at hand. The team was successful in landing rookie power forward Julius Randle during last month’s NBA Draft and still have no head coach. With the limited availability of head coaches in the market remaining in the off-season (with the exception of Mark Jackson), the Lakers are far behind in competition from the playing field. Melo concluded his free agency visits Thursday night, with Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks making the expected maximum contract offer of 5-Years, $129 million.

We’re assuming Anthony’s heart is with the Knicks and the city of New York, but doesn’t want to see himself in a potential lame-duck season for 2015. Amar’e Stoudemire’s $100 million deal is finally coming to an end, and Phil Jackson will have unlimited flexibility in the off-season to pair his star with one or two more superstars. The Zen Master did show signs he was trying to make immediate moves of landing Jose Calderon and even a draft pick in the draft.

New York is still a season or two away from being a legitimate title contender, but Melo might have to trust Phil, Derick Fisher and the rest of the facelift Knicks organization for a better future. Anthony had visits with the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets; all which were trying to persuade him to join their teams.

The most interesting visit of the bunch thus far has been the Houston Rockets showcasing a digital image of Anthony wearing the team’s jersey no. 7, currently linked to point guard Jeremy Lin. Lin went to twitter and voiced his opinions about the situation through bible script, but wasn’t aware Carmelo is only wearing that particular number due to the Knicks no. 15 jersey retiring of Dick McGuire. Melo would gladly like to have his original jersey number back if he were to join to the Rockets but we think that pairing is unlikely due to some questioning Dwight Howard’s competitive seriousness and James Harden’s health (and defense).

So where do you think Carmelo Anthony should sign this off-season?

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