Anthony's Recruitment of Durant Has Begun

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Published on June 28 2016 6:40 am
Last Updated on June 28 2016 6:41 am

New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony told ESPN on Monday that his recruitment of marquee free agent Kevin Durant has already begun and will not be affected "whether [Durant] meets with the Knicks or not."

‎"I'm with KD now; he's right downstairs," Anthony told ESPN. "We've been together. We've been talking.

"I do consider myself part of the Knicks," Anthony continued, "so that meeting has already taken place."

Durant has been in New York for several days in advance of Monday afternoon's official unveilng of the 12-man squad that will represent USA Basketball at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

That has given Anthony and Durant an opportunity to work out together in recent days and likewise afforded Anthony a chance to start selling Durant on the merits of the Knicks.

"We're friends. We hang out," Anthony said. "It's magnified now because he's a free agent and we're in New York. But last year, nobody was talking about us hanging out, going to work out or going to dinner or things like that. So, yeah, those conversations do come up, but it's not something that I'm constantly on him, throwing at him, because I was in that situation before."

Free agency doesn't officially start until Friday at 12:01 a.m., but the league office typically does not police such player interactions, since Anthony and Durant are obviously longtime friends who stay in frequent contact during the season.

 

Bull's Hoiberg, Butler Solid

Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg believes his relationship with Jimmy Butler is solid and believes they can coexist after a rocky first season which included trade rumors surrounding the All-Star swingman last week during the NBA draft.

"Jimmy and I have pretty much been in constant communication since the season's been over," Hoiberg said Monday, during a news conference to introduce first-round pick Denzel Valentine.

Hoiberg acknowledged that he flew out to meet with Butler and several other players in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago.

"Being able to sit with him face-to-face, I talked to him on the phone two days ago, he's in a great frame of mind right now. His focus right now as well as being on this team is what he's going to do in representing Team USA," Hoiberg said. "I believe coming up here meeting with the media in New York in the next few days and then starting training camp out in Las Vegas. The other thing he talked about was coming out and spending a couple days with our young guys out there (in Vegas Summer League). And I think that's huge for Jimmy to be out there with the five players, and Doug [McDermott] is going to practice with our guys here as well. It's important. It's important to be around our young guys. Jimmy, he's in a very good frame of mind right now."

Butler, who rubbed some teammates and executives the wrong way last season as he tried to take a more vocal approach in the locker room, was the subject of many trade rumors last week. The Bulls' front office did not feel it was getting sufficient value in any potential deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Boston Celtics as they tried to move up in the draft. Butler publicly called out Hoiberg in December last season saying the rookie coach had to coach his team "harder." When asked if he could coach Butler in the future, Hoiberg responded quickly.

"Absolutely I can," Hoiberg said. -- By ESPN