Carmelo Anthony admitted in the documentary “Carmelo: Made in New York,” which aired Tuesday night, that he chose not to sign with the Lakers predominantly because of the Lakers poor roster situation.
"Anthony also was impressed by the Lakers, Frazier said, as Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson were involved in the recruiting process. However, the Lakers’ poor roster played a factor in Anthony’s decision.“It would have just been me and Kobe on that team, and then you would have had to throw in pieces in there until next year,” Anthony said. “So I figured why pick up and leave when New York is in the same situation? I’d have to really want to get out of New York and come to almost the same situation.”"
This should really come as a surprise to no one. The Lakers always had a pipe dream of bringing in one of the superstars in Anthony, LeBron James, or Chris Bosh. However, the Lakers plan on how to do so clearly had an ill effect on free agents.
Mitch Kupchak and the rest of the front office shaped the Lakers roster to have maximum flexibility coming into last summer, giving them room to land one of the big names. However, with just Bryant and an ailing Steve Nash the only players of note on the roster, it would be a long shot to convince anyone to come.
Which raises questions about this summer. If Anthony didn’t want to join because of the Lakers roster situation, why would anyone else? Going into this summer, the Lakers are only guaranteed to have Bryant, Nick Young, Julius Randle, and Ryan Kelly, with options for a handful of others. Would Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo, or Kevin Love leave their situations to join a barren Lakers roster?
What do you think? Will free agents want to come to LA? Let us know in the comments below!