The Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes seem to be winding down, and reports are now starting to come out about his meetings with teams. Previously, it was reported that while meeting with the Bulls, Derrick Rose had worked out to show Melo he would be full strength this upcoming season. This seemed a bit peculiar, as Rose has gone on record to say he does not want to recruit players to Chicago if they don’t want to be there, so working out as part of a recruitment seems odd for the former MVP.
Turns out, it was even weirder than we thought. According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard (SOURCES!), Rose was never a part of the official pitch for Melo. In fact, it seems the Bull sprung Anthony on Rose while he was in the middle of a workout.
Rose, Chicago’s star point guard, just happened to be in the middle of his daily workout routine when Bulls officials brought Anthony into the United Center on Tuesday afternoon, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Rose actually was surprised to see Anthony, one source said. He had no idea what time the Knicks’ free agent would be visiting the Bulls.
Rose broke up his workout to approach Anthony and said a brief hello, but that was the extent of his participation in the Bulls’ recruitment.
Chicago took Anthony through a prepared recruitment presentation for Anthony, and Rose’s impression was that teammates Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were officially part of it, sources said.
But the Bulls’ front office never asked Rose to join in.
Well that’s.. awkward. If the Bulls wanted Rose and Melo to speak, there had to be a better way than just showing up in the middle of his daily workout. For Anthony, it couldn’t be a good thing that the teams best player was surprised to see him. The whole situation just seems odd and forced.
