NBA notes: Bulls make their pitch to Carmelo

The Chicago Bulls made the hard sell for Carmelo Anthony and brought their stars along for the presentation on Tuesday.

That included Derrick Rose, no fan of recruiting. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were there, too, trying to convince the New York Knicks' free agent to choose the Bulls.

Anthony arrived at a decked-out United Center in the afternoon with agent Leon Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau, a police SUV trailing their oversized limousine.

He walked past the Michael Jordan statue, waving to a small group of cheering fans as he went inside, where he spent much of the afternoon before getting a look at the soon-to-open practice facility across the street.

The Bulls believe they have a strong pitch and a simple selling point: Anthony can transform a playoff team into a championship contender.

They believe uniting Anthony with Rose and Noah would put them in position to contend for their first title since Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the way to two three-peats in the 1990s.

Anthony, a top target in NBA free agency, is expected to visit other teams.

Cavs, Irving agree to $90M extension

Sitting on a stage last week alongside No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins and new coach David Blatt, general manager David Griffin said he hoped this would be a monumental offseason for the Cavaliers.

It's already been quite a summer.

And LeBron is still out there.

Cleveland kept its momentum rolling early Tuesday by getting All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving to agree to a new, five-year, $90 million contract extension.

Irving's deal, completed with a handshake in New York with owner Dan Gilbert, cements a commitment with Cleveland that wasn't always so strong.

"I'm here for the long haul Cleveland!!!! And I'm ecstatic!!" Irving wrote on his Twitter account shortly after the agreement was reached. "Super excited and blessed to be here and a part of something special."

Nets go to work on replacing Kidd

Jason Kidd's jersey hung on the wall just to the right of Billy King, a reminder that the Brooklyn Nets lost more than a coach. They lost a franchise icon.

No time to worry about that now. The only focus for King is replacing him.

"I think no one person — and this is not just talking about Jason — but no one person can be bigger than a franchise or an organization, because an organization has got to stand on itself," the Nets general manager said Tuesday. "Players come, coaches come, ownerships come and go, but the brand of the Nets will stay."

Kidd was hired Tuesday morning by the Milwaukee Bucks, a day after they sent two second-round picks to the Nets as compensation.

King and his assistants had dinner Monday night with former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, and they planned to meet again Tuesday. King said he wants a coach in place "soon."