Carmelo Anthony
LeBron bringing one of the members of the banana boat crew to LA? You gotta love it.
This particular free agent acquisition, if it were to happen, would be a signing over a decade in the making.
Since the Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss days, the purple and gold have been vying for Carmelo Anthony’s signature.
It was the late great Hall of Fame Lakers legend Kobe “Bean” Bryant (R.I.P Mamba) who was the biggest advocate of Carmelo Anthony and his game and while Carmelo has gotten older and his skill set isn’t as sharp as it once was, he is still capable of some magic.
With trade rumors surrounding Kyle Kuzma since the end of the season, Carmelo Anthony might be the perfect ready-made replacement if they were to move on from Kuz.
Melo in his prime was an unstoppable small forward who couldn’t be contained and would regularly torch teams on a nightly basis.
As an older player, his body type and his aging body fit significantly better with the power forward position.
Anthony would be an ideal stretch 4 in this Lakers system which relies heavily on floor spacing in order to get the Lakers shooters some open shots and also stops teams from clogging the paint when Anthony Davis is working down low.
Carmelo Anthony has the potential to be the 3rd scorer the Lakers need. He doesn’t need to be on every single night and more than likely he won’t be asked to start games, but he offers the Lakers a consistent scoring threat who demands respect otherwise he will punish you severely.
Carmelo and LeBron have known each other since high school, they will have a natural chemistry together which has the chance to give them an added advantage on the court.
If Melo is willing to take another veteran minimum contract which he did last season with Portland then it wouldn’t surprise to see the future Hall of Famer be a member of the purple and gold next season.