Report: Anthony, Bulls Will Meet Tuesday
(CBS) Star forward Carmelo Anthony will meet with the Bulls on Tuesday, the first day of free agency, ESPN.com reported.
Following the planned meeting in Chicago, Anthony will travel to Texas to meet with the Rockets and Mavericks on Wednesday, according to ESPN.com. He's also planning to meet with the Lakers and Knicks as well.
Teams can begin talking to free agents on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m Eastern time. Contracts aren't allowed to be signed until July 10, but the sides can reach verbal agreements before then.
New York can offer Anthony a five-year contract up to $129 million, while other suitors can only offer him a four-year deal worth around $96 million.
If the Bulls were to use the amnesty provision on Carlos Boozer, they'd have around $12 million in salary cap space. They could keep their core intact -- Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson -- and get to around $16 million-$17 million if they traded a couple contributors without taking any salary back.
To offer Anthony anything near a max deal, Chicago would most certainly have to trade Gibson.
Speaking generally on Thursday, Bulls general manager Gar Forman said that while Chicago can't offer the most money to star free agents, the team is confident in its selling points.
"What we're always going to sell is obviously the great city of Chicago, our fan base, the culture that's being created here, the success we've had up to this point," Forman said. "We feel like we've got a lot to sell, but again, it's going to be a fluid situation."
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau also emphasized his main pitch.
"We have a good team, a great city, great organization, and we have a team that has depth," Thibodeau said.
"The real value is in our team."