Derrick Rose does not like recruiting players to join his team. As K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune put it, Rose has an old-school mentality and believes trying to convince a player to sign with the Bulls would undermine his current teammates. He made an exception for Carmelo Anthony.
Rose spoke to Anthony inside the Bulls locker room on Tuesday for about 20 minutes to help state Chicago’s case. Perhaps more importantly, the former Memphis star reportedly spent some time proving to Anthony that he is healthy and ready to play.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports that Rose went through a private workout with Anthony present. The goal was to prove that he has recovered from two major knee injuries that have limited him to just 49 games since the 2011-2012 season. Rose has supposedly looked sharp in five-on-five drills during practice.
K.C. Johnson noted that Taj Gibson also spoke to Anthony, which could be of importance since Anthony will likely want the Bulls to keep Gibson so he can play with Rose, Gibson and Joakim Noah. However, keeping Gibson and his $8 million salary would likely mean Anthony would have to take less money than he is entitled to.
From the sound of it, the Bulls did everything right on Tuesday. They had all of their star players present and plastered Anthony’s photo and name all over the United Center. Despite that, it still appears that Carmelo returning to New York is the most likely scenario. At the very least, Rose and company have given Anthony a lot to think about.
