Report: Knicks 'optimistic' they can re-sign Carmelo Anthony, planning to recruit Pau Gasol

The Carmelo Anthony Free Agency Saga continues, and now Pau Gasol's involved. 

Here's the latest from ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne on Carmelo and the Knicks:

Sources told ESPN.com that Knicks officials, while not willing to trumpet it publicly with free agency fast approaching, are quietly confident about their odds of retaining Anthony thanks in part to the idea that new team president Phil Jackson and the high-scoring forward have "connected" to some degree.

Why would Knicks officials trumpet it publicly? Nobody likes a Knicks official who trumpets in public. 

But what about Gasol, you're asking. Here: 

Furthermore, one source close to the process told ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne that Jackson is planning to make a determined attempt to try to recruit his former Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol to replace the freshly traded Tyson Chandler alongside Anthony on the Knicks' front line, despite the fact New York is limited to offering Gasol less than $4 million for next season.

Anthony, of course, opted out of his contract earlier this week, becoming a free agent. Gasol, meanwhile, is set to hit the market on July 1, too, his time in Lakers yellow having come to an end. 

So the Knicks are optimistic, but so is, well, everyone else linked to 'Melo:

It also must be noted, as July 1 draws near, that the Bulls and Rockets have likewise been radiating no shortage of positivity about their chances of stealing Anthony away from the Knicks.

The Knicks traded Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to Dallas earlier in the week, for Jose Calderon and others, and Jackson said on Thursday about Anthony's future, "we really don't know." He went on:

It's a big question because there are so many things that can happen out there. With LeBron getting in this free agency ... we don't know what all that means. But we have every confidence that Carmelo is good for what his word is, that he wants to be in New York, he likes playing in New York, he wants to compete, he wants to be part of a playoff team that is competitive toward a championship.

The Knicks, of course, can offer 'Melo $129 million, a figure no other team can match, and that has the Knicks feeling pretty good, Stein writes, behind the scenes. 

The departed Chandler, for his part, said he's willing to do what it takes to bring Anthony to Dallas:

I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team and the organization. At the end of the day, free agency is kind of an individual thing ... But I'll tell you one thing: Dallas isn't a bad place to be; it's a great opportunity and clearly we've done it in the past. It's not a hard place to sell. I'm going to do whatever it takes.

So the more we know, the less we know, in a sense. Only 'Melo knows. Hell, maybe 'Melo doesn't even know. 

Like we said a few days ago: it will all be over soon. But you'll always remember where you were when you read the latest Anthony speculation.