Lakers make long-awaited Carmelo Anthony contract move originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Los Angeles Lakers made a move with Carmelo Anthony’s contract rights on Wednesday.
Yes, as in ‘Melo, the retired legend who is now in broadcasting.
Anthony was one of a bunch of names, including LeBron James and Dwight Howard, who had their rights renounced by the Lakers.
The full list was shared by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype:
The Los Angeles Lakers have officially renounced the free agent rights to LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Dion Waiters, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Maxi Kleber, Nick Smith Jr, Jared Dudley, Avery Bradley, Jaxson Hayes, Markieff Morris, and Wayne Ellington.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 8, 2026
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Teams often don’t have immediate reason to renounce rights when players first leave, especially at the end of careers.
The rights on a salary cap sheet can occasionally be helpful, but a team can also only have so many players’ rights held at once.
With the busy offseason the Lakers have had, they needed to get some rights off their books for good.
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That’s not going to affect anything with Anthony in the present. He’s not planning a surprise NBA return.
It’s more just a trip down memory lane for Lakers fans with a lot of fascinating names grouped together in that one list.
‘Melo is an all-time great, and he definitely did his best work elsewhere, but the Lakers held his rights — at least until Wednesday.
