Los Angeles Lakers
While this may be just as long of a shot as Dallas, you can never say never when it comes to the Lakers.
First, the obvious. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Robert Sacre and Kendall Marshall under contract for next season and will also have Julius Randle soon. And that’s it. Los Angeles is in a position where they can offer Melo the max and then stretch Nash’s contract to create enough cap space for one mid-level star (Pau Gasol back?), but the team is limited in what it can do with it’s money. This season.
The Lakers however have the advantage of Kobe Bryant being great friends with Anthony. While that obviously not being enough of a reason for Melo to head to Los Angeles, the Lakers believe it is enough of a reason to have some confidence that they can persuade Anthony to join the purple and gold.
It doesn’t feel like this is a likely pairing however, but since it is the Lakers, I won’t count them out of the running completely. While Kobe was unable to make the Laker meeting with Melo, a private meeting between the two could help push Anthony towards Hollywood.
However, Melo teaming up with Kobe in purple and gold would be a huge surprise.
Melo Fit: 5/10
While it seems obvious to me that the Bulls are the best-suited team for Anthony, I would not be shocked at all to see him take the money and go back to the Knicks. Chicago offers Melo the best roster in terms of talent and fit from top to bottom, and will give him the opportunity to focus solely on doing what he does best. But the Knicks have $34 million reasons to believe Anthony will head back to the Big Apple.
My gut tells me Melo will be a Knick again next season, but in terms of pure fit, his best decision would be to head to the Windy City and join the Chicago Bulls.