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Here, let me act out my last hour or so for you:
Hearing the Lakers made a MAJOR impact on Melo this week - it's now a legit 3-way battle between LA/Chi/NYK to land him. Crazy NBA weekend.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 5, 2014
Whatever, guy. Everyone else said this is as good as done.
Hearing same RT @BillSimmons: Hearing the Lakers made a MAJOR impact on Melo -it's now a legit 3-way battle between LA/Chi/NYK to land him.
— John Ireland (@LAIreland) July 5, 2014
Yeah, but that's an L.A. reporter. None of the usual people a--
Lakers have moved into serious contention on Carmelo Anthony, multiple sources tell Yahoo. "In the game now," one source close to Melo says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 5, 2014
As one source in process says of Lakers bid, "They can promise max money without any (roster) moves needing to be made." 4 years, $97M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 5, 2014
Oh shit, okay.
First of all, regarding that second Woj tweet: So can the Knicks, but more so.
Second: This is where I remind myself and you that everything leaks for a reason. Why, 48 hours after Carmelo Anthony's meeting with the Lakers, would something like this leak? Is it just that Melo had a change of heart, or that someone spoke up who wasn't talking before?
There's probably more to it than that. It could be a leak intended to put pressure on the Knicks (although they've already reportedly offered the max, so ... what else is there?), or it could be some attempt to make the eventual acceptance of a max offer look better somehow in a way I don't quite understand. It could be the Lakers trying to stir things up. Or it could be genuine and the result of some sort of family thing? Or LeBron somehow!? I don't know. I don't know.
There's that. Whoever leaked it had an agenda. Your guess is as good as mine what that agenda is.
Update: Here's the full Woj article. Includes this: "One thing that still bothers Anthony is Jackson had wanted him to take less than a max contract, sources told Yahoo Sports."