Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Lakers 'Have No Interest'; LeBron Hasn't Spoken to Magic - Bleacher Report NBA

Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly have no interest in signing veteran free agent Carmelo Anthony.

According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Melo's representatives reached out to the Lakers, but LeBron James has not spoken with team president Magic Johnson or general manager Rob Pelinka about signing Anthony.

This is despite the fact that James and Anthony are close personal friends.

The Athletic's Joe Vardon reported Thursday that LeBron does have interest in playing alongside Melo due to his belief that he could help the Lakers' young roster.

An anonymous executive spoke with Vardon and said they don't believe there is much of a market for Anthony.

That executive also said Magic should "fight" LeBron on the idea of signing Melo if James does indeed lobby to do so.

The 34-year-old Anthony was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks during the offseason, and he then signed with the Houston Rockets after getting waived.

Melo appeared in just 10 games for the Rockets this season before they parted ways with him as well.

Anthony averaged a career-low 13.4 points per game with Houston, while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from three-point range.

Melo seemingly struggled to adjust to a bench role after starting for the first 15 years of his NBA career.

Anthony spent parts of seven seasons with the New York Knicks and averaged 24.7 points per game during his tenure there, but his production dropped off considerably with the Thunder last season to the tune of 16.2 points per game.

With James leading the way, the Lakers are fifth in the Western Conference at 15-9, and they trail the first-place Denver Nuggets by just two games.

Adding a 10-time All-Star in Anthony to the team may look like a good idea on paper, but it may be ill-advised for the Lakers to shake things up significantly given the fact that they are trending toward their first playoff appearance since 2012-13.  

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