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Portland Trail Blazers free agent Carmelo Anthony may be gaining interest from the Los Angeles Lakers. ESPN’s Jordan Schultz highlights the potential attraction between Anthony and LA.
#Lakers are “very interested” in the prospect of signing Carmelo Anthony, per a league source. Melo has been linked to the Lakers as a possibility, given his friendship w/LeBron dating back to high school. Anthony drilled a career-best 40.9 percent from 3 last season w/Portland.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 31, 2021
Anthony and Lakers superstar LeBron James have been friends since high school before they were selected third and first respectively in the 2003 draft. Outside of Team USA appearances the pair have never played together.
Anthony has spent the past two seasons in Portland providing much needed offense off the Blazers’ bench. At age 37, Anthony might be looking to play with James while also competing for a title on a star studded Lakers squad.
In his two Portland seasons, Anthony averaged 14.3 points on just under 40 percent three point shooting as well as 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
The veteran forward also spent eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets, seven with the New York Knicks, one with the Oklahoma City Thunder and a few games with the Houston Rockets. He signed with Portland in November 2019 after a year out of the league.