Let's just call it for what it is. This is Melo ordeal is NOT Phil Jackson's fault, because everyone knows the type of player Melo is. Just because Phil Jackson made a few statements doesn't mean Melo changed as a player. Where the Knicks front office REALLY screwed up was 3 years ago giving Melo at 30 years of age a max 5-year deal with a NTC on a Knicks team that was very CLEARLY in rebuilding mode and still had very few assets. I know there was thinking at the time that they might not give him that deal and I personally questioned that decision when it went down. People keep saying "Good for the Knicks, they don't have to take trash in return", well actually, yes they will have to take trash in return because they put themselves in this position with the original deal. These are the possible scenarios and virtually all of them have the Knicks paying up: 1. Knicks trade Melo to teams he wants, get little assets in return (Knicks get screwed) 2. Knicks DON'T trade Melo and hold him HOSTAGE for the next few years trying to wait on a trade partner, he stays on team and becomes thorn in the side of the team performance because he has no interest in being there. Knicks end up paying the remaining $54 million on his salary, and restrict their ability to make future roster changes. (Knicks franchise looks bad for holding him hostage, Knicks team sucks because of lockerroom dysfunction, KNICKS GET SCREWED) 3. Knicks buy him out, still have to eat a portion of his big contract the next few years (Knicks get screwed in having to pay his contract). I think the buy out will end up being their best option, which is odd because that was the first thing people thought would happen.
Exactly! They might as well get in bed with eric considering how hard they will get screwed. Thanks for agreeing with me
#2 only applies to competent franchises. The Knicjs don't just deal with dysfunction..... they ARE dysfunction. Hell a pissed of Carmelo wouldn't even be their biggest media circus in recent memory* *See Charles Oakley vs James Dolan
Phil Jackson if I recall didn't necessarily want to sign him. What I actually meant was that Phil Jackson's comments about Melo this past season were not the reason the Knicks have no strong trade partners. Its almost entirely because of the NTC in Melo's contract.
Phil talked **** and then gave Melo the biggest contract possible with a NTC. At the time people wondered if this was some masterful zentype move by Phil. Nowadays we know that Phil just flat out sucked at his job. So the sentence "This Melo ordeal is NOT Phil Jackson's fault" is incorrect. This is all on Phil. Whether it's the contract, the NTC, the ostracizing of Melo, or the disinterest from teams because of the constant Melo trash talking Phil did... it's all on Phil.
I don't think the knicks get screwed either way. I think the Knicks hold a bit more power than we are letting on. Will they get 95 cents on the dollar for Melo? Not quite, but they could get some picks, players and with some luck flip those pieces into meaningful talent. The issue is, the knicks don't have to resolve a damn thing. People keep saying Melo's trade value lowers as time goes on. I don't know if I buy it. Look, let's say this drags out to February and the trade deadline. Are you seriously telling me Morey doesn't still offer Anderson for Melo? Or that the Blazers don't offer the garbage they have? The Knicks aren't getting stellar offers here either. Partly, Melo is forcing the issue, and partly the market isn't there right now. The best thing for NYK is to wait. Come later in the season, a team on the cusp of irrelevance might even agree to a trade and buyout of Melo in exchange for stuff from NYK. This would instantly open NYK's cap, Melo would agree to it because he would get his buyout, and the team picking him up might like to gamble on some knicks picks (or other picks NYK acquires). All in all, waiting is the best game for the Knicks.
The Knicks are already screwed lol, no matter what happens with Melo...that organization is like fish, it stinks from the head.
Yeah but most people blame the trash talking alone as the reason. Are NBA teams really that focused on rhetoric? It seems more like a financial issue than a PR issue. The teams Melo wants don't have the assets.
I think this is where Melo and his agent decides how much damage they want to do to the Knicks at that point. When the season starts, Melo can either bite his toungue and continue to play like he should, or hold out. Melo is still giving the Knicks the consideration of waiving his NTC to 2 teams. Melo is going to stand up and say, "hey, I did you guys a favor. Get me out, or I'll cause some damage." .... or so I assume.
Isn't there a limit to getting screwed. You bet Knickers have reached the absolute top (or bottom ) of that limit
