Carmelo Anthony Isn't Sure Kobe Bryant a Star Worthy of Joining

Imagining a one-two scoring combo of Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony might be fun, but the likelihood of the coming together looks like a long shot.

When Bryant signed his new two-year, $48.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, it was only a matter of time before the free agent speculation began.

The Lakers will have a ton of cap space this summer. Only Steve Nash, Robert Sacre, Xavier Henry and now Bryant are on the books after this season. So naturally, people are wondering if another big name might join Kobe in Hollywood.

Melo was asked about the possibility before his game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. According to Sam Amick from USA Today, Carmelo isn't sure big-name free agents would take the risk of joining a 35-year old, recently injured Bryant:

"

I mean you'll have to see. It's hard to gauge at this point, not until he comes back (from his April Achilles tendon tear) and figures some things out. So I don't know. They might have some plans up their sleeve.

"

It probably doesn't help that the last big fish who tried to swim alongside Kobe promptly bolted as soon as he could either. Dwight Howard may have thought he was going to take the reins from Kobe, but that obviously wasn't the case.

So would someone like Anthony, LeBron James or Dirk Nowitzki leave their current homes to play with a star in the twilight of his career who will likely still want to be the top dog?

Until this summer, all we can do is imagine.

For 140-character pearls of wisdom from Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey, follow him on Twitter: @AndrewDBailey.