Carmelo Anthony: Kobe Joins Lakers' Welcoming Party In Effort To Lure Knicks' Star

With the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets in the rearview mirror, it's the Los Angeles Lakers' turn to make a pitch for Knicks unrestricted free agent Carmelo Anthony. The parties are scheduled to sit down on Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Lakers plan to leave no stone unturned at that meeting. All-Star shooting guard Kobe Bryant has cut his European vacation short to return to Los Angeles to help woo Anthony, sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Kobe Bryant arrived in L.A. late Wednesday night to play role in Lakers' pitch to Carmelo Anthony today. » https://t.co/ztHR7XC9Z6

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 3, 2014

Bryant's plan to attend the gathering with Anthony and Lakers' brass apparently fell through. The meeting started at a time that prevented Bryant from participating. Bryants does plan, however, to meet with Anthony later in the evening.

Kobe Bryant will not attend Carmelo Anthony's meeting with Los Angeles Lakers https://t.co/kjpL9BG6nB — ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) July 3, 2014

Bryant and Anthony have been close friends for a while; Bryant has been trying to entice Anthony to join him in Los Angeles for the past couple of years. But this is likely Bryant's last chance to convince his friend to put on a Laker uniform.

The possibility of landing the high-scoring forward joining forces with Bryant is a long shot: Indications from teams that have already met with Anthony is that his heart remains in New York and that is he leaning toward returning there. But the Lakers show no sign of being dissuaded.

They have every intention of going all out to sign Anthony and Miami Heat unrestricted free agent LeBron James this off-season. For now, it's all about convincing Anthony that Los Angeles is the best place for him to win NBA titles.

Anthony is one of the most sought-after free agents this year. He is one the NBA's best scorers, averaging 27.4 points last season. He is also a solid rebounder, grabbing 8.1 boards a game during the 2013-2014 campaign.

But throughout last season, Anthony expressed a desire to play for a serious title contender. The Knicks, however, are far from satisfying that criteria. They finished last season with a 37-45 record and did not make the playoffs.

And they are not expected to be much better next season. They have very little salary cap room, which limits their ability to significantly upgrade their curent roster.

But the Knicks are attractive to Anthony in one respect: They can offer him more money than any other team. Anthony can sign a max contract of $129 million over five years with New York. The most any other team can offer him is $96 million over four years.

The star forward has also expressed that he enjoys living in New York City. Anthony was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., though he spent most of his childhood in Baltimore.

While the Knicks are in no position financially to lure top players this year, team president Phil Jackson has traded center Tyson Chandler and point guard Raymond Felton to Dallas for guard Jose Calderon. The move is an upgrade at the point guard poisition, clears some salary cap space and shows Anthony that the team is taking steps now to improve its roster.

The Knicks will have a lot of salary cap room during the 2015 off-season and have promised Anthony they plan to significantly improve their roster at that time.

In case Anthony forgets just how badly the Knicks want him to remain in New York, team president Phil Jackson scheduled a meeting with his forward Thursday night in Los Angeles, hours after the Lakers had their say.