• Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant in Team USA, 2012

Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant in Team USA, 2012 (Photo : Cameron Spencer | Getty Images Sport)

Kobe Bryant is on his farewell tour, but his opinion still holds a lot of weight for the team.

That might include the Lakers' next star, which could actually come sooner.

Anthony shared his thoughts on Kobe's retirement and how the Black Mamba pushed for the Lakers to trade for him, as stated on NY Daily News.

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"He did. Kobe did. He wanted it to happen," Anthony said after a rare practice at Madison Square Garden. "I don't know who was going to be part of that deal. There was a lot of talk of (Andrew) Bynum, Lamar Odom and Nene. There was a lot of talk during that time. For some reason I was always connected with the Lakers... Maybe it was just Kobe behind closed doors."

Kobe suggested trading center Andrew Bynum to the Denver Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony in 2011, but it was Jim Buss who vetoed a trade involving Bynum whom he suggested to be drafted and was also a young, promising center.

Anthony was willing to play with Bryant, even though it was rumored that many players did not choose the Lakers because of him. Kobe and Melo developed their friendship and mutual respect in their stints for Team USA.

How about now? With Kevin Durant standing out as the only franchise superstar among the free agents, the Lakers should devise a back-up plan. Rant Sports considered the Lakers as a team who can "realistically trade" for Melo with a package around Julius Randle.

However, with the accelerated development of Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks pressing need is at the point guard and they probably coveted D'Angelo Russell at the draft. The Lakers would include Roy Hibbert's expiring contract for salary purposes and add more pieces, like Larry Nance Jr. to seal the deal.

This trade works on Real GM assuming that Carmelo Anthony would waive his no-trade clause. Melo would become the franchise centerpiece with Randle and Jordan Clarkson, and the Lakers still have cap space to offer a near max for a secondary star in free agency, like Al Horford.