Carmelo Anthony wants to be recruited. He wants to be told how much he’s wanted, more than that how much he’s needed. How he can help them win. How they can market him. He wants teams to come to him.
In other words, he wants the full Dwight Howard treatment.
That’s not my words, that’s what an associate of Anthony told Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.“He wants to be in a situation where he can start winning, and he is going to look at teams based on that,” the source said. “Coaching is only a part of the equation. What they do now is not going to be as important as can they win?”
Free agency opens on July 1, and, the source said, Anthony would like, “the Dwight Howard treatment.” That means he wants to go through the same sort of process that Howard went through last summer, when Howard set up shop in Los Angeles and set up meetings with five teams—Houston, the Lakers, Dallas, Golden State and Atlanta—each of whom came in and made formal presentations.
The one thing that Howard — and hopefully ‘Melo — did better than LeBron James was keep this all under wraps. LeBron had ESPN camped out in front, Howard kept it under wraps.
In the end New York is still the favorite to keep him. Anthony has said to me and many others that his preference was to stay in New York if he saw a plan. Phil Jackson is a plan. Is it a better plan than Chicago, where a structure and defense is in place? The Bulls seems to be more confident, according to reports, because they can offer winning.
Anthony has to decide what really matters most: The money the Knicks can offer and his clear love of New York or a vastly improved chance for a ring?
Anthony can be recruited all he wants, he has to answer that question for himself or he will not be happy with his decision.
