Noah Recruiting Anthony to Chicago

Derrick Rose has stated that he won’t recruit Carmelo Anthony to the Chicago Bulls, but there is at least one Bull who is doing whatever he can to lure the superstar scorer to the Windy City.

Sources close to the situation say that Joakim Noah has been communicating with Anthony in recent weeks. The two have been texting back and forth, and Noah is actively recruiting Anthony to Chicago.

The Bulls are the first team that Anthony will meet with when free agency begins on July 1. He will fly to Chicago to hear the Bulls’ pitch. Sources say that Noah will either be present at the free agency meeting, or will meet with Anthony after the conclusion of the meeting. Noah wants to bring Rose along with him as well, and is trying to persuade the point guard to attend the meeting. Rose has made it clear that he doesn’t view it as his job to recruit free agents.

Noah is no stranger to the role of recruiter. During the 2010 offseason, Noah took free agent Carlos Boozer out to dinner during his visit to Chicago and helped lure the forward to Chicago. Noah also called to LeBron James when he was a free agent 2010, but never got a phone call back. When Noah was at the University of Florida, the school’s football coach Urban Meyer would send Noah to meet with some recruits.

Anthony opted out of his contract with the New York Knicks and is an unrestricted free agent. A return to New York is still a possibility, and the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks among others are expressing interest in him as well.

via Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders