One thing we'll never know for sure is how serious the Lakers were about acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets. Some reports said that they had entered preliminary discussions with the team, but pretty much every team talks to every other team at this time of year. We have no idea if those talks ever approached anything close to serious.
What we do know now is that the Lakers "pursuit" of Anthony, no matter how serious it ever got, is likely over, according to Alan Hahn of Newsday. The Knicks are reportedly the last team standing, and that leaves all of the other teams that had shown interest over the past few months left looking for other trade options.
So if not the Knicks, then who? Hahn reports that the Nets remain out of the picture after announcing as much last month, and the Rockets, who were considering making a move around Yao Ming's expiring contract, are also out because Anthony does not want to sign an extension there. The Lakers, who were rumored to have offered Andrew Bynum for Anthony, are out too, though truthfully, they were never really in. That leaves one darkhorse, according to Hahn.
Well, the speculation was kind of fun while it lasted. I don't think the Lakers were ever really serious about Carmelo. But it was enough for ESPN to devote hours of coverage to it, so that has to account for something.