Members of the Bulls front office are concerned that free agent Carmelo Anthony will choose to stay with the New York Knicks, according to ESPN New York’s Ian Begley:

“They’re worried that he’s headed back to New York,” a source with knowledge of theteam’s thinking said of early Tuesday morning. “They’re more pessimistic than optimistic.”

The source wasn’t speaking for the entire Bulls front office, just a small segment. So there is reason to believe that not all members of the team’s hierarchy shared this opinion.Anthony’s wife would prefer that he re-signs with the Knicks, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.According to two sources, Anthony’s wife, La La Vasquez, also a Brooklyn native, is very happy in New York and is opposed to Melo leaving the Knicks. He became a free agent for the first time in his career at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, but Anthony said in a video interview posted last week he’s worried about uprooting his family and 7-year-old son, Kiyan.

“There’s reason to believe he’s staying,” said one individual with ties to Anthony’s inner circle. “There’s just too much money out there. He’s doing to the right things, though. He’s got to make the rounds.”

His free-agent tour starts on Tuesday in Chicago, and the Bulls have been preparing for this day for a long time. The odds might favor Anthony returning to New York, but it’s too early to count out his other suitors. That said, this looks like another waste of time with the Bulls likely to again come up empty handed like the have in the past(LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Tracy McGrady etc).Despite all the hubbub about Derrick Rose not being a recruiter, the Tribune’s K.C. Johnson reported that he’ll talk to Anthony if that’s what Anthony wants:

Bottom line is, this is what happens when you are in “Basketball Hell” by winning too much and getting minimal help in the draft and nothing batter than a Carlos Boozer,Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson via Free Agency.