New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, left, visited the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks as his free agency tour continued. Anthony opted out of his contract with the Knicks last month.

DALLAS — For the third summer in a row, the Dallas Mavericks will try to make the “covert operation” approach work for them in free agency.

So far, they are 0-for-2, but there is one major reason they hope it will be different with Carmelo Anthony.

The potential front line of Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Anthony has a chance to be one of the best the league has seen in the short term. And the possibility of another maximum-level free agent next summer (LaMarcus Aldridge comes to mind) could make it even better in the future.

The Mavericks met with Anthony for about three hours Wednesday evening. This came after he’d spent more than four hours with the Houston Rockets earlier in the day.

Just as they did with the Dwight Howard pursuit last summer and the less-than-full-court press they put on Deron Williams in 2012, the Mavericks elected to keep all details of their meeting with Anthony hush-hush.

They met at an undisclosed location and did not advertise any bullet points from the meeting that started around 5 p.m. and went well into the evening.

This, after Chicago and Houston both did whatever they could to draw attention to Anthony’s arrival in the respective cities.

In Houston on Wednesday morning, a billboard was unveiled, and the Rockets had a large video screen with Anthony in a Houston uniform waiting for him when he arrived.

We won’t know as much about the Mavericks’ pitch because that’s the way owner Mark Cuban wants it.

Cuban, coach Rick Carlisle, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and face of the franchise Dirk Nowitzki all were at the meeting. None commented about it.

But it’s logical to assume the Mavericks framed their sales pitch with Anthony becoming part of an epic front line.

That, plus the chance to win championships, would likely get Anthony’s attention. Word already has filtered out of his previous meetings with Chicago and the Rockets that winning a title or more is paramount for the 30-year-old forward.

The Mavericks, like Houston and Chicago, can offer a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $85 million to $95 million.

If Anthony returns to New York, the Knicks can offer five years and $130 million.

The Mavericks probably can’t get to $95 million but can get close enough to be competitive with Houston and Chicago. Anthony will visit the Los Angeles Lakers today.