Before free agency began, 25-year-old Derrick Rose said that he will not have any part in the recruitment of fellow superstar Carmelo Anthony into the Bulls. 

That's why more than a few thousand people were confused when news broke out that D-Rose was part of the recruitment team. In the report, the former MVP even went to a private work out and let Melo watch, just to assure him that the All-Star guard will be back in his old form when the next NBA season begins. 

However, ESPN's Chris Boussard has a different take on the story. Citing several insider sources who were close to the situation, he reported that Rose was not part of the Bulls' recruitment team when Melo arrived Tuesday. 

In the report, Derrick Rose happened to be in his daily routine workout at the United Center when Carmelo Anthony arrived. A source even mentioned that D-Rose was surprised to see Melo that Tuesday afternoon, as if he were not actually informed that the scoring champion will talk to the management for a potential agreement later that day. 

"Derrick was just working out, shooting jumpers, going through his normal routine," a source said. "He didn't even know what time Melo was coming", the source said.   

The source also mentioned that while teammates Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were requested by the management to help out, while Rose was left out. We do not know why the Bulls management decided not to involve Rose, it was probably due to his statement a couple of days back. 

In the ESPN report, Rose just talked with Melo for about 20 minutes, but he didn't join the Chicago recruitment team during dinner. 

Together with LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony is one of the two top free agents this pre-season and several teams have already expressed their interest and talked to the veteran forward. 

Each team has its own respective pitches to lure Melo in. For the Bulls, it is playing for a title contender with current Defensive Player of the Year Noah, an energetic forward in Gibson, plus Rose who is confident that he will be playing in the first game of the season. 

The Rockets' pitch potentially included building the next big three of the West - composed of Anthony, James Harden and Dwight Howard. The Mavs made a no-nonsense offer to play alongside Dirk Nowitzki, former teammate Tyson Chandler, and scorer Monta Ellis.

The Lakers offered a very generous contract worth more than $90 million over the span of four years. Finally, the Knicks made a maximum deal of 5 years worth $129 million.