Upon losing Howard to the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles' plans changed. Superman could no longer be part of the Lakers' free-agency sales pitch in 2014. He wouldn't help them get a third superstar to pair with Kobe Bryant.
Attention shifted elsewhere, to Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. The former is especially interesting because of his ties (LaLa, his wife) to Los Angeles. Per the New York Daily News' Frank Isola, 'Melo has already hinted his free-agency decision will come down to Los Angeles and New York.
"What other team would they say?" he said of the belief that the Lakers would pursue him. "I don’t think they would say any other team. If you look at situations, that’s the only team that they probably would say."
Mitch Kupchak, make a Post-it note: Anthony seems intrigued.
“I don’t want to go anywhere,’’ Anthony also said of leaving the Knicks, via the New York Post's Marc Berman.
Make another note, Mitch: He'll need some convincing.
But is the prospect of pairing him with Kobe worth the trouble?
Why the Lakers Should
Friends First, Co-Scoring Champs Later?
Finding teammates Kobe actually likes, trusts to shoot and doesn't want to eviscerate after games is difficult. Asking-Howard-what-he-wants-for-dinner difficult.
Kobe has clashed with many a teammate for 17 years, including, but not limited to, Shaquille O'Neal, Smush Parker and Howard himself. Word at the "We Miss Kobe's Afro" conventions I most definitely do not attend is that he once bit a cotton-candy merchant for giving him blue instead of pink-colored samples. So, yeah.
Keeping the Mamba happy while contending for a title remains the L...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
