The Los Angeles Lakers have been awfully patient about seeking a tandem partner for LeBron James, failing to do so during free agency and instead putting a plethora of players on one-year deals around him. As Trevor Ariza slipped past them and joined the Washington Wizards, James has been reportedly contemplating the idea of teaming up with Carmelo Anthony, as the two were spotted together in New York.

Per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports:

James and close friend Carmelo Anthony were spotted dining together Monday night in New York, again prompting the idea of the Lakers picking up Anthony — assuming he’ll be released from the Houston Rockets following a mutual exile.

James and Anthony met prior to the Lakers taking a 115-110 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, as Anthony is currently away from the Rockets and back with his family, who still resides in The Big Apple.

Asked if he could envision a partnership with Anthony, James was as forthcoming as he could be:

“We’ll see,” James said Tuesday night. “I’m not… I don’t run the team and obviously there are some things that need to be worked out on both sides, but I’ve always wanted to play along with Melo, and if the opportunity presents itself, it would be great. So we’ll see what happens.”

The Lakers are still hanging on to the fourth spot in the West, despite losing two in a row and three out of the four games of their recent road trip.

It's unknown if the Lakers will try to force this partnership in hopes to contend in a grueling Western Conference, but the possibility is still hovering as long as the Lakers don't manage to clear a secure path to a playoff race.

Anthony played only 10 games this season with the Rockets before there was a mutual decision made to part ways. He averaged 13.4 points on 40.5 percent shooting and 5.4 rebounds per game in his short stint in Clutch City.