NBA 2014 News: Is Miami Heat Trying To Get Carmelo Anthony?

The Miami Heat may be planning to add another all-star to its already powerful "Big Three". According to reports, Pat Riley, head of the Heat, may be interested in acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks.

ESPN.com writes that the top players and officials of the Miami Heat have begun to review the possibility of acquiring Carmelo Anthony as the small forward enters the free agent market in the summer of 2014. Carmelo has been a hot commodity and several NBA teams have expressed their interest in acquiring him. Anthony averaged 27.4 points and 8.1 rebounds during the 2014 NBA regular season. The Knicks, however, failed to make the playoffs, which prompted Anthony to want to consider other teams with the ultimate goal of earning a championship ring.

In an article by USA TODAY, LeBron James, a very close friend of Carmelo Anthony, is reportedly open to work with him. In the meantime, Boston.com reports that the New York Knicks have the first opportunity to make Anthony a good offer to stay with them. Anthony has until June 23, 2014 to make his decision or tell the Knicks that he will opt out of his final year. He has a $23.5 million player option with the next for the 2014-2015 NBA season.

According to Bleacher Report, should Anthony sign with the Heat, he will be joining two other stars in the same rookie year - LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Such a move is possible but the Heat will have to sacrifice pay cuts. Should its "Big Three", James, Wade and Bosh opt out of their contracts, the Heat will have around $8 million in payroll. The NBA luxury tax threshold is set to increase to $77 million while the salary cap will rise to $63.2 million. Adding Anthony to the roster will also spur LeBron to lower his potential salary and look for other income opportunities off the court.

Although the league rules continue to adjust to avoid the creation of super teams, officials try to find ways to work around the system to create a "Big Three" or "Big Four" line up. Such would cause an imbalance in the competition. However, Carmelo also needs to consider if he would be willing to step down and reduce his scoring average to give way to superstar LeBron James as well as other scorers in the Heat roster. If his main goal is to get a ring, it would be a smart, although somewhat undignified step to join the defending champions.