The Los Angeles Lakers are not interested in pursuing a deal for Carmelo Anthony despite what LeBron James might want.

On Thursday, The Athletic's Joe Vardon reported that James wants Melo to join him in L.A. as he still believes the forward, who is a close, personal friend, is still able to contribute.

It was even noted that the Lakers could attempt to deal Michael Beasley in order to make a move for Anthony possible. But, per Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, the team has no interest in having the nine-time All-Star join them.

RELATED: LeBRON JAMES WANTS CARMELO ANTHONY TO SIGN FOR LAKERS

Turner reports that Anthony's representatives have even reached out to the Lakers, however, James has not spoken to president Magic Johnson or general manager Rob Pelinka regarding the issue.

"Lakers have no interest in acquiring Carmelo Anthony, per sources," Turner tweeted on Friday. "Sources said people want to attach players to Lakers now. Sources said Melo people called Lakers a while back and that LeBron hasn’t talked to Lakers prez Magic Johnson/Rob Pelinka about getting Melo."

A rival NBA executive did tell The Athletic that Magic would never sanction such and would probably fight LeBron over it if it ever came to that.

“Not really, no,” the anonymous exec said. “If LeBron really wants him, it might not matter. Magic should fight him on it. I know I would.”

Anthony played 10 games for the Rockets before they decided that they had seen enough. He averaged a career-low 13.4 points per game in a Houston jersey and appeared to struggle in his bench role after starting for the first 15 years of his career.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey recently admitted that the acquisition of Anthony did not go down the way he'd envisioned it would have.

"But in terms of like how things evolved for us and our heavy use of the switching defense...that was one thing that wasn't a perfect fit," he said. "It really is mostly on me, honestly. I saw the fit there and really didn't go the way I thought it would."

via foxsports.ph

What This Means

It appears that there isn't a very large market for Anthony at the moment, but it is expected that he lands another NBA team after he leaves the Rockets.

Incidentally, however, the team's struggles haven't slowed since the player's exile, begging the question: Was he really the problem?

NEXT: ROCKETS LOOKING TO MAKE A TRADE BY THE END OF THE WEEK