UPDATE (2:16 PST)- KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune also tweeted out that the Chicago Bulls haven’t been told anything.
FWIW, and obviously a fluid story, but Bulls haven’t been told they’re not getting Carmelo Anthony as of yet.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 9, 2014
The door is still partially open but the scenario could very well be similar to Dwight Howard’s free agency situation last offseason in which he made a decision but teams were not informed at the time the news broke.
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UPDATE (1:16 PST)- Mark Medina of the LA Daily News is now tweeting sources say there is no decision made yet.
Source close to Carmelo Anthony insists “there is no decision yet.” Adds “still up in the air.” — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 9, 2014
This remains a continuing trend of conflicting reports this offseason. While it is more than likely Isola is correct, it seems the door hasn’t completely closed just yet.
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After months of chatter and a quiet free agency, it seems we have the first real news of the NBA offseason- Carmelo Anthony plans to stay with the New York Knicks. The story was first reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
A person close to Anthony told The News on Wednesday that barring a last minute change of heart Anthony will re-sign with the Knicks after “agonizing over this” for the past week.
The news doesn’t come as too much of a shock. Though he stated a desire to play for a winning team and Chicago is widely considered the best fit for him, Carmelo Anthony has expressed that it would be difficult to uproot his family and leave New York. The addition of Phil Jackson certainly helped matters for New York as his addition gave the organization a sense of direction for the first time in years. Following the release of the report, Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted out the following:
Within Anthony’s circle, belief’s been this, sources tell Y: Get NY’s $129M now, figure out destination later. You can always get a trade. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 9, 2014
Assuming this is true, and given the source it likely is, it seems Anthony did not learn from forcing a trade from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks.
The writing isn’t in stone yet but given the two sources reporting the story it seems the Bulls have struck out on a superstar free agent once again. The Chicago front office will shift their attention to other options in the coming days and may possibly explore a trade for Kevin Love.
We’ll update you more on the story as more news becomes availableC
Difficult to uproot his family ? Give me a break. Can we go get Love now ?