Ask any college coach in any sport — recruitment is almost never about one call, one visit. It’s about multiple texts and repeated calls, it’s kissing up to family and friends, and all sorts of ways big and small to show your interest in a particular player and why he/she fits the university, the team, etc.
Along those lines, Joakim Noah’s recruitment of Carmelo Anthony to come to the Bulls has not been just one conversation All-Star Weekend.
It has continued and still continues, a source told the Chicago Sun.According to several sources, including a teammate, Noah’s All-Star Weekend “conversation’’ with New York Knicks standout Carmelo Anthony didn’t end in New Orleans. They had discussions via text the rest of the season, including the day after the Bulls were eliminated in the playoffs by the Washington Wizards.
“I was kidding Jo that they were boys now,’’ a source said in a phone interview Friday. “ ‘Well, get your boy to come to Chicago.’’’
‘Melo has said he wants the “full Dwight Howard treatment” in terms of being a recruited free agent, and certainly the full-court-press by Chandler Parsons on Howard impacted that decision. So Noah is on the right path.
But one other thing Noah has made clear through this is he doesn’t want to get Anthony at the expense of Taj Gibson, according to the report. If it is one of the other, Noah wants to keep his teammate.
Which means a steep pay cut for Anthony (down into the four years, $60 million range, maybe a little more depending on the moves).
There are conflicting reports about what Carmelo Anthony wants to do this summer, most likely because Carmelo Anthony doesn’t know what he wants to do this summer. How important is being in New York and leading the Knicks? Does he trust Phil Jackson to rebuild (and James Dolan to stay out of his way)? How important is winning (the Knicks can and should improve but the Bulls or Rockets are several big steps ahead)? How important is money? What is important to his family?
He has a lot of questions to figure out for himself. The Knicks retaining him remains the morning line favorite, but we have to see how the race plays out.
If you want to influence that decision, recruiting him now is a smart play.