LeBron James Free Agency: LBJ-Melo Pairing in Phoenix Possible
The Phoenix Suns are planning to form a powerhouse squad consisting of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Goran Dragic and a bunch of young talented players, according to a source close to situation.
The Suns have emerged as potential landing spot for two of the most-coveted free-agents this offseason because of their ability in signing two max contracts without unloading their young talents.
"James has privately expressed a desire to play with Carmelo Anthony, which the Suns can offer without gutting a roster or asking the players to accept a reduction in pay," according to Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to the insider, the Suns are planning to make an aggressive move in netting the two free-agents when the free-agency period officially begins on Tuesday.
Armed with $33.5 million in salary cap space, the Suns can easily create an additional $10 million in cap space to accommodate two max contracts without trading Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Miles Plumlee.
"Within hours of free agency starting on Tuesday, James ($20.7 million) and Anthony ($22.4 million) have max contract starting salaries that are easily reachable for the Suns," Yahoo Sports reported.
The Suns are also looking into the possibility of pairing James with his Miami Heat teammate Chris Bosh, if Anthony decides to play elsewhere.
"Suns leadership - managing partner Robert Sarver, president of basketball operations Lon Babby and general manager Ryan McDonough - are trying to get a meeting with James to make their pitch of a James-Anthony or James-Bosh pairing in Phoenix, league sources confirmed," according to Arizona Central.
The Suns joined the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors in the list of teams trying to get the service of the best basketball player in the world. However, despite LeBron's decision to opt out, the possibility of staying put in South Beach remains likely.
"It is not clear if James would even entertain meetings with a new team, like Phoenix. His opt-out move could be in concert with Dwyane Wade's opt out and Chris Bosh's pending opt-out decision to create leverage in Miami for the Heat to retool before re-signing there," AZ Central Paul Coro reported.