[Bill Simmons] Melo more likely to get bought out than play crunch time minutes for Rockets

I remember when Simmons wasn't as well known, I felt like he had interesting and humorous takes. It's like the more popular he's become, the more he's begun sniffing his own ******* and thinking it smells like flowers. "Well, everyone follows me so it must be like Old Spice down there!"

 

Of course the offense played a big role. Kinda hard to ISO when the defense doesn't have to guard Roberson/Brewer, and Westbrook is watching you from 40' away, taking you turn, with Adams concentrating on blocking out for Rus.

MDA has many different ways to get offensive players the ball in attack positions. Hell, do you think Melo is going to miss all those bunnies that Joe Johnson got but couldn't make. And if defenses double those JoJo walk-in-park looks in the lane, then we've added another form of disruption to our offense that ball-movement will destroy.

 

I don't think Simmons is wrong.

 

Bill Simmons is really emblematic of how ESPN became what it is now. Its more about saying hot take-y things that seem controversial rather than talking about sports on substance.

this quote is more for entertainment than anything else.

 

Doesn't it happen often? Last year Cleveland released two players on minimum contracts that had issues and wanted to play elsewhere: Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose. I think Melo will be a contributor, but he could easily be Wade. He's 34 and past his prime physically, he might be totally washed up.

 

This is Bill Simmons preemptively being upset at Houston for the Astros bouncing his Red Sox in the playoffs.

 

He got voted in on name alone the past couple of years and has not played particularly well doing it. There is a reason he got bought out and in on a vet minimum right now.

 

I don’t care for Simmons opinions in general, but It is pretty funny that we spent an entire offseason debating whether Melo will need to come off the bench and know his role and may not be playable in crunch time... yet now that some national guy says it suddenly he’s an idiot.

The idea that Melo won’t play crunch time against the warriors in the playoffs isn’t some hot take, not even for Rockets fans who I am sure were all laughing hard when Utah was making him utterly unplayable during the playoffs last year

 

This thread won't be complete until @Zboy weighs in.

 

"Let's see... the season's 2/3 over... from what I can tell, we still owe you $47.33."

"Make it an even fifty and we're good."

 

Haha all you have to do is listen to Bill and know this isn’t true. He understands basketball better than any other talking head out there. You can dislike him because of his views or the fact that he’s a Boston homer but the man knows basketball better than anyone out there.

 

Not a big fan of Melo, but that's not a realistic take. Dude is not on a decline like Wade who is just physically destroyed. He's just not got the character to be a franchise player for a real contender. He will just not be of any use against the Warriors, since everyone they throw out there at the 4/5 spot will shut him down.

He is likely to be in better shape, have a more simplified role, and get higher quality looks in Houston. He did this last season against the Warriors, I bet he can at least achieve the same but with higher efficiency against their second unit:

 

to be fair. anyone could also post wade having a good game this past season as well. Especially with a throwback game against the Heat in game 2 of the playoffs. @Deuce pointed out the Paul Pierce reference during his time in washington. That's not a bad comparison at all

 

both those guys were actually traded from CLE. but the point is, this fuking fool simmons said "bought out".......from a vet minimum contract. LOL

 

It's a joke. Technically, you can't be bought out from a minimum contract, because teams aren't allowed to negotiate below that amount.

Simmons must have meant to say cut/waived, or he doesn't know Melo signed for the minimum with us.

 

if he didn't, he knows now bc KOC brought it up in their conversation. his main point he wanted to emphasize is just melo's drop off

 

Simmons basically said Melo was "washed."

 

He would have to go full Royce White. Do not be alarm.

 

Joe Johnson was washed.

Melo will play that role, while also doing High Pick n Pop with Paul, like he's done on the National Team. If teams switch that, good luck. I'm curious if they allow Melo to handle the ball on PnR as well.

I think he's washed on offense only if he pouts about touches and role. I'm hoping he doesn't.

But even with a best-case, happy, team-first, contributing Melo on offense, Simmons can still be right about him being Kantar'd vs GSW. ugh.

 

Nah, it's not the same thing. If Melo could put up 22 starting for OKC, with a poorly run offense, a mediocre passer at PG, being guarded by one of Durant/Green a lot of the time, then it matters. That's relevant because it's possible. Ryno couldn't do that. All that matters is what someone can do against the Warriors. It's cherry picking, intentionally. He had better games than that throughout the season, I'm not out here picking his best game. It is what is is - his highlights in his best game against the Warriors. He won't be able to do that consistently, but if he can do it twice in a series off the bench, it shifts things a bit.

He's not as washed up as Pierce in Washington or Wade right now. He's simply not. At the same time, he has bigger holes in his game than both those guys and a less resilient attitude. He can put up points off the bench, absolutely no doubt about that. This is overblown, and I am hugely pessimistic about Melo's fit on this team.