The Los Angeles Lakers are still interested in the recently-waived Carmelo Anthony, a favorite of LeBron James. However, they are likely to wait until after the trade deadline has passed to sign him, focusing all their attention into pulling off a trade for Anthony Davis, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

James still wants Anthony to play alongside him, but the latter won't be nearly as much help as a top-five talent in the league like Davis. Acquiring Davis before the trade deadline would revitalized the Lakers' chances of making the playoffs, and likely help catapult them into a higher seed before the end of the 82-game season.

Los Angeles made the first step by beating the L.A. Clippers in an overtime affair on Thursday night, shaving a game of difference and inching that much closer to the eighth and last spot in a closely-contested Western Conference.

Anthony played only 10 games for the Houston Rockets before being put in limbo for months and finally traded to the Chicago Bulls less than two weeks ago. The Bulls held onto Anthony without asking him to report to the team, hopeful they could squeeze some value out of him by the trade deadline.

After a week-plus of making the rounds, the Bulls waived Anthony to make room for Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, ending yet another minuscule tenure with an Eastern Conference team (hello Atlanta Hawks).

At this point, Melo is not a priority for the Lakers, but if dealing for Davis goes haywire, it won't be long before Lakers brass contact Anthony looking to strike a deal.