New/old Dallas Maverick Tyson Chandler says he has “no problem” recruiting former teammate Carmelo Anthony. Looks like he’ll get his chance pretty quick.
According to an ESPN report, Anthony – along with LeBron James, the gem of this year’s NBA free agency – will visit the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, the first day of the open-market period. On Wednesday, Anthony is expected to be in Texas for meetings with both the Mavs and the Rockets.
The Mavs, as we know all too well, have been disastrous in courting big-fish free agents. They whiffed on Deron Williams in ’12 and Dwight Howard in ’13 despite making face-to-face pitches. But with last week’s trade, they think they’ve landed a valuable recruiting tool in Chandler, who was one of Anthony’s best friends on the Knicks.
“Absolutely, I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team and the organization,” Chandler said on a conference call with Dallas reporters last Thursday. “At the end of the day, free agency is kind of an individual thing. And I know that I was once there and it comes down your family and what's best for you career-wise. But I’ll tell you one thing: Dallas isn't a bad place to be. It's a great opportunity, and clearly we've done it in the past. It's not a hard place to sell. I'm going to do whatever it takes.”
I’ve said before that I’ll only like the six-player, two-draft pick trade for Dallas if it also nets them Anthony. Looks like we’ll find out pretty soon if that’s a realistic possibility.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
