Will be interesting if in the offseason after free agency is mostly decided if Presti attaches a pick or two in order to dump Melos contract and his bad attitude and if the Rockets would have interest at that point IF they miss out on Lebron. Either way though, I don’t do the deal unless there is a thumbs up from Melo and his camp that they would agree to come off the bench where he’d pretty much be providing what Joe Johnson was supposed to provide. Ryan Anderson off the bench as a high pnr three point shooter might still have more value but I’d still be wiling to entertain the offer if we lose out on Lebron.
The first problem which he should have seen was Russ, you're never going to get comfortable with him running the show (another thread/time is OKC needs to decide if Russ is the answer). He could probably go to any team that wants him as a starter but it's not likely on any of the TOP 5 teams.
The problem is Westbrook is an ass and Melo is washed up, all he can do at this point is hoist tons of contested shots, he dosent drive much and dosent post up much and dosent care much about what kind of shots he gets. While Westbrook could create him good looks if he was good pg (which he isint), he still gets the ball plenty.
JVG has a "two knucklehead theory". You can have only one. If you have two, it will tank a team. In a way, this can be applied to the OKC situation. One selfish guy who considers himself a star player is the absolute limit. You can't have two. Carmelo needs to be that guy, and he's going to force OKC to pay him 28 million for it! Awesome.
Off the bench? Agreed, but that's if he still wants the O to flow through him. If he's willing to be a spot up shooter, pnr, and defend, then I'll be open to seeing him preserve his starter ego. But I'll admit, that's asking a lot of him, apparently. Lol. I say we just cut the umbilical chord on that one and focus our efforts on elite talent or team guys though. Melo/OKC pillage would be a contingency plan if nothing else works out.
Agreed. I don't want to jinx anything, but if this playoffs proves fruitful till the end, we might just be best off focusing on bringing everyone back first and foremost. Keeping CP3, Capela, Luc Richard, Ariza, etc. might be more difficult than people think.
I think you're ignoring some Dwight-level delusion and selfishness on Melo's part. What Melo said in that interview is unprofessional regardless of context, kind of like how Dwight went on TNT and had a pity party for himself and blaming all the chemistry issues on Harden. Do you think Dwight would work here next to Harden, Paul, and D'antoni? What makes you think Melo is prepared to sacrifice any part of his game?
He’s really good friends with CP3, I know I’m pretty selfish sometimes but when I’m with people I respect and care about I tend to be more mindful. I didn’t watch the interview, and I don’t care for melo one bit, I was just saying I think we shouldn’t think that he would of been the same player in Houston
MeLo translation - “ I am a volume chunker, that’s my style, who I am!” “Built a career out of chunking” Can’t wait for westbrick/ melo Chapter 2.....
Melo doesn't have a reputation for being mindful and professional. We were expecting him to chuck less if we acquired him, not stay the same. Is there any indication that he would have done that?
Melo seen everything about Russ before the trade. He didn't want to go there. And initially turned down the trade. What happened was the Knicks promised Melo a career-closing roster spot and the opportunity to retire with the Knicks franchise if he so choose to do so at a later date. That's why he finally reluctantly agreed to go to OKC. Melo still loves NY and the Knicks and desperately wants to close his career with a championship run in New York or at least a final season in New York. Melo is going to ask for a trade and will probably be granted his request in June. He does not like playing with Westbrook. He still wants to come here. But we're working on bigger stuff now. He's not our primary consideration at this point.
Again, who has badly wanted Melo on the Rockets? Hint: he just produced his first musical and built a 65 win team this season. Melo demonstrated more than any other NBA player in Olympic competition that he could sacrifice for team chemistry and success -- comparing the current situation in OKC and Houston shows a lack of interest beyond just wanting to say "I told you so" on the internet. The professionals in the Rockets organization wanted Melo on the team for specific reasons that were well researched -- OKC was a bad fit Houston was not -- playing poorly next to Westbrook doesn't mean he would done the same with Harden and CP3.
Gerald Green has significantly improved this season in Houston's system -- trust the professionals not random people talking **** on the internet.
Anyone thinking Melo cared this season is fooled, he never wanted to be at the thunder, he would have thrived next to Harden and Paul as he would have been happy
Green shot the same percentage from 3 he has his whole career, he has just taken a high volume of 3s. His defense and tendency to foul pushed him out of the 9 man playoff rotation.
The Rocket's inner circle evaluated Green and what he could bring to the team and Gerald has rewarded their decision with one of his most complete, productive seasons as a pro. Trust the process -- you don't know more the experts making the player evaluations for the Rockets if they felt Melo would have been a good fit here they were probably right.
I don't buy the notion that "Olympic Melo" would have lasted over the long 82. A short-term focus to win a gold medal is quite different than the grind of an NBA season. I cannot give Melo the same benefit of the doubt you and some others do. Melo is just a role player now and role players with huge egos can cause serious team chemistry problems. Rockets don't need that. Revolving the universe around Harden and CP3 is quite enough. If Melo was a good 3-point shooter, excelled at seeing the floor and creating, moved without the ball, played good defense, etc, (or any ONE of those) you might have an argument. But a mid-range, isolation playing black hole doesn't fit what Morey and D'Antoni have going on here.
