Portland Trail Blazers President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey had tried to get Carmelo Anthony in trades with the New York Knicks, tried to get him as a free agent post-Oklahoma City. Now, they were together on a call Thursday morning. Time had passed, circumstances had changed.
"You need us," sources said Olshey told Anthony. "And we need you."
Out of basketball for a year, one of the game's great scorers needed someone to believe in him again. This time, Portland made an offer Anthony couldn't refuse -- a non-guaranteed contract, a chance to revitalize a reigning Western Conference finalist fighting injury and inconsistency, an NBA job.