Carmelo Anthony could be headed to the Dallas Mavericks — at least if Dirk Nowitzki gets his way.
The New York Knicks forward has reportedly decided to test the free agent market this summer, and rumors have been already circulating about his landing point. There are reports that the Miami Heat have been looking into shifting the payroll necessary to bring in the high-scoring Anthony, and several other teams including the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets have reportedly expressed interest.
Count the Dallas Mavericks as one of them. Dirk Nowitzki said in an interview this week that he would love to have Carmelo Anthony join the squad.
“If Carmelo would really love to come here, we’d love to have him,” Nowitzki said in an interview on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
The Mavericks could have an inside track in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes. The team is in a good salary cap position, and would have enough to make a run at Carmelo. The team is also close to contention, winning 49 games last year and giving the San Antonio Spurs all they could handle in a first-round playoff matchup.
Though they are both scorers and the first option for their teams on offense, Nowitzki said he would have no problem co-existing with Carmelo Anthony on the Mavericks.
“Listen, I think I’ve showed over my 16 years that I can play with anybody,” Nowitzki said. “The only tough season I think we’ve had is when we had [Antawn] Jamison and Antoine Walker and myself who are all three kind of the same four-men, but other than that I think I’ve shown over my career that I can play with anybody. I’ll adjust, whether I have to get out of the way or go to the corner more, post up, pass. I’ll do whatever, really, that needs to be done out there to win or for this franchise to be a winner.”
A source told ESPN.com that Knicks president Phil Jackson urged Anthony to use his $23.3 million player option, but Carmelo would reportedly rather try free agency and sign with a team that has a better chance of winning a title.
“I told him it might be a good idea to hang in here and see what it’s like for a year and go out the next year,” Jackson said. “But that’s his option, that’s what he’s earned, and that’s what’s part of his contractual agreement. He has the right to do that. But I just offered that as, ‘Look, this gives you an opportunity to see how this is going to change, see how we’re going to get going, your relationship to the team and the coach and the system or whatever, the system we impose.’”
The Carmelo Anthony rumors are only expected to grow in the coming days as he prepares for free agency on July 1.