5 best superstars the Chicago Bulls (almost) landed since 2000

5. Carmelo Anthony

Year: 2014

Team he ended up with: New York Knicks

There were two occasions where the former NBA Scoring Champion and volume scorer forward Carmelo Anthony hit headlines as a premier free agent or trade target. The first was in 2011 when he was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks. He spent a good portion of his prime with the Knicks.

The second was the 2014 free agent cycle when Melo received a lot of interest from the Chicago Bulls instead of staying with the Knicks. In July 2014, Melo did opt to re-sign with the Knicks instead of joining another competitive team in the Eastern Conference like the Bulls. Apparently the Bulls just couldn’t offer him the combination of enough money and a solid enough supporting cast.

In a discussion with Stephen A. Smith of ESPN First Take, Melo spilled his thoughts on potentially joining the Bulls back in 2014. He stated that he nearly joined the Bulls in the summer of 2014 where he had a couple good years of production left in store. Melo would be an All-Star selection three more times with the Knicks before he landed with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017.

If Melo joined up with another one of his free agent suitors in the summer of 2014, he then would’ve been a member of the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, or the Bulls. The idea of a potentially healthy D-Rose teaming up with Melo could’ve got the Bulls one step closer to winning an NBA Title.