With a new champion crowned, the eyes of the NBA world are glued to the upcoming free-agency period which begins July 1, and one name many teams are interested in is Carmelo Anthony.
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Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard became the latest player to advocate his team as a landing spot for the Knicks' All-Star.
Anthony hasn't officially declared himself a free agent yet, though he must inform the Knicks by Monday if he will opt out of his current contract. In anticipation of Anthony hitting the open market, Howard pitched Houston as a good place for Anthony.
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"I've always been a Melo fan," Howard told USA Today. "One thing he said in an interview a long time ago, I think my first or second year in the league, I remember him saying that if he could play with one guy in the league he would play with Dwight Howard, so you never know. You never know what could happen. Right now, I don't know, but for Melo's sake I just hope he goes somewhere where he feels like he has a chance to win and be successful for the next four or five years of his career."
Howard isn't alone in being a fan of Anthony as Dirk Nowitzki said that he would "love" for Anthony to come to the Dallas Mavericks this summer and play alongside him next season. ESPN has previously reported that Houston, Dallas and the Chicago Bulls are all teams that Anthony would consider going to.
Houston would have to make some roster moves to be able to afford offering Anthony a max-contract, and Howard said he hasn't spoken with him because it could be considered tampering under the NBA's rules.
"I know this is a time for him when he has to really just focus on what's going to be best for him. And I really believe that in this point in Melo's career, he just wants to win. He's done everything -- we both have that kind of same mentality to where all the individual accolades, we've got them," Howard said. "We've got a gold medal, he has been in tops in scoring for a while, but those are all individual things. I think at this point he just wants to win, so it would be great to have him here because I know what his focus would be. It's up to him, where he's at in his career. But I want people on my team who are all about winning. That's my focus."
Howard didn't care to speculate on where Anthony will end up, but he did say that winning trumps the amount of money he could make.
"I don't know what [Anthony] is going to do, but he wants to win," Howard said. "So he's going to be looking for a place to go where he can win. He's made enough money. He's done everything. I think he just wants to win right now. That's his only goal."
Anthony has said before that he'd like to stay in New York, but as Howard intimates it's also important for Anthony to have a chance to win. The Knicks were declared a championship-caliber team by owner James Dolan heading into the 2013-14 campaign, but the team struggled mightily under head coach Mike Woodson and missed the playoffs.
Woodson was fired and replaced by Derek Fisher as the team's head coach while Phil Jackson stepped in as president in March and brings a winning pedigree to the franchise. Still, the changes and the fact that Anthony could make the most money by staying with the Knicks may not be enough to keep him in the Big Apple.
It will be an interesting offseason for Anthony and he has a lot of options to weigh, and while he may not end up in Houston, Howard would still love to have him on board.
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