Free agency has once again jumped off in the NBA. A few big names in this year’s pool will include LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.
So far the biggest move has been star point guard Kyrie Irving agreeing to a five year, $90 million deal with Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs were expected to pursue James, but they offered a max contract sheet to former Utah Jazz shooting guard Gordon Hayward. If he agrees to this, they would be out of the running for James as they would not have enough cap space.
As for the Houston Rockets, they held a meeting with star forward Carmelo Anthony today. They were aggressive, even displaying a billboard of Anthony wearing a Houston Rockets jersey with the No. 7, which coincidentally is Jeremy Lin’s current number.
The Rockets will host Carmelo Anthony and have pictures of Carmelo in Rockets uniforms on Toyota Center marquis pic.twitter.com/2VfycvqlkN
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) July 2, 2014
Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander and General Manager Daryl Morey were there, along with former UH great Clyde Drexler, according to Fox 26 sports director Mark Berman, to make their pitch to Anthony. Morey is also expected to meet with free agent guard Kyle Lowry in Philadelphia tonight.
“Any time you have a chance to get a guy of that magnitude, you got to pull out all the stops,” Drexler said to Fox 26.
Current Rockets stars Dwight Howard and James Harden were also in attendance, and the representatives for the Rockets believed the meeting went well.
“At the end of the day we all want to win a championship. That’s why I came here. He would be a big part of that,” Howard said. “This is his moment to make the best decision for Carmelo. Not for me. Not for anybody else but Carmelo.”
Moves so far in free agency:
Marcin Gortat has agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract extension with the Washington Wizards.
Shaun Livingston has agreed to a three-year, $16 million contract with the Golden State Warriors.
Avery Bradley has agreed to a four-year, $32 million contract with the Boston Celtics.
Ben Gordon has agreed to a two-year, $9 million contract with the Orlando Magic.
Jodie Meeks has agreed to a three-year, more than $19 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.
C. J. Miles has agreed to a four-year, $18 million contract with the Indiana Pacers.
