Schuster: Carmelo Still Not Likely To Come Here
By David Schuster--
With Wednesday's news that the New Jersey Nets have (supposedly) pulled out of the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, some local people think that the Bulls might have a chance to get the all star forward. However the chances of that happening remain slim and none.
I said all along that the Bulls would remain patient and see if Denver came back to them at some point and now it appears that's exactly what is happening. The Nuggets have begun testing the waters with numerous teams around the league but once again they are playing bluff poker. Denver knows that Anthony is dead set on playing for the Knicks so now they will try and scare NY into upping their offer. The Knicks however aren't stupid and know that they could actually get Anthony as a free agent down the road without giving up anything provided that there isn't a future league lockout.
Actually Anthony could possibly be cajoled into playing here in Chicago if his agents and Bulls management made a convincing case. They would have to sell him on Chicago being just as cosmopolitan as New York and also a good market for Anthony's wife (aspiring actress, model and singer) to ply her trade. But New York is also Anthony's home town and he's made it pretty clear that he wants to play there.
On top of all that is the fact that the Bulls would be hard pressed to come up with any kind of trade that would satisfy the Nuggets. Joakim Noah is out of any deal and Denver is not interested in Luol Deng. So the slimmest of chances would be to find a 3rd team to take Deng off the Bulls hand while coming up with a player that would interest the Nuggets. The Bulls would also have to greatly sweeten the pot with a 1st round pick or two and more players with likely expiring contracts.
This much is for sure. Though the odds are incredibly slim, the Bulls will listen to Denver and sometimes where there's a will there is a way...albeit incredibly unlikely.
