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Since the announcement that Carmelo Anthony would opt out of his final year with the New York Knicks and then the announcement that LeBron James would exercise his early termination option with the Miami Heat, the NBA Free Agency rumor mill has kicked into full gear. However, the Phoenix Suns haven’t played much of a part in the ballyhoo.
The Phoenix Suns are now going to try and become the epicenter of the ballyhoo.
According to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo!, the Suns are planning to “aggressively” pursue both Anthony and James this summer. Though teams like the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets have also announced their intentions to pursue at least one of the big-name free agents if they choose not to return to their respective teams, the Suns actually present a compelling case to team-up the immensely talented forwards.
While teams like the Bulls and Rockets would have to work some magic with their roster to get under the salary cap to sign either Anthony or James, the Suns come into the offseason with around $33.5 million in cap-space. Moreover, they also have the luxury of shedding about $10 million in cap-fodder this summer. The importance of that approximate $43.5 million is that they would be able to sign both James and Anthony to max-contracts.
Possibly the most important piece of their pursuit of LeBron and Carmelo is the fact that the Suns would offer a talented core for the two All-Star forwards to take the court with. Even with shedding the $10 million in cap-space, Phoenix would still retain Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, as well as center Miles Plumlee. Those three players were major components in the Suns nearly making the playoffs this past season in the loaded Western Conference.
Speaking strictly on how Melo and LeBron would coexist on the floor, they actually seem to fit each other quite well. Melo possesses the ability to create his own shot, which would take some of the pressure off of James in that aspect. Conversely, when LeBron is playing his role as a point forward, Anthony will have the opportunity at a ton of open looks at the rim and on the perimeter, as will a player like Dragic.
If James and Anthony were to join forces in Phoenix, you have to imagine there would be some growing pains from jump-street, just as there were in 2010 with the Heat when the Big Three came together. However, once James, Anthony, Bledsoe and Dragic began to develop a rapport with one another, it’d be hard to say that Phoenix wouldn’t be a favorite, even out West. It seems the only question that remains is whether or not LeBron and Carmelo would want to end up in Phoenix.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
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