Carmelo Anthony expecting Knicks to resume trade talks, sources say

Maybe could get Millsap/Lowry money but I'll say 3 years, $75M.

Lowry got 3/100; Millsap 3/90

 

Jeff Van Gundy: Carmelo not ‘a natural fit’ for Rockets

Former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy still lives in Houston and has a good read on that franchise. And Van Gundy, recently named a Team USA coach for the Americas Tournament and World Cup qualifiers, isn’t sure Carmelo Anthony is “a natural fit” for a Houston team trying to dethrone the Warriors.

In Las Vegas working the summer league final four Sunday and Monday for ESPN, Van Gundy told The Post in a phone interview the Rockets need more defense, not more offense, after the Chris Paul bonanza.

“I think they have a lot on their plate integrating Paul and [James] Harden,” Van Gundy said. “They’re not going to be better offensively than they were last year. They were the second-best team in the league offensively. I thought they had defined roles everyone knew. [Coach] Mike D’Antoni did a fabulous job getting them to play on a consistent basis. The Chris Paul trade, there’s going to be some ups and downs, but they’re better equipped to win in the playoffs. Particularly if Harden has a bad night, they still have a superior player to play through. Their improvement is going to have to be defensively. So I’m interested in the Carmelo thing. I don’t necessarily see it as a natural fit.’’

The Knicks and Rockets have halted talks on the four-team trade with the arrival of general manager Scott Perry, who wants a chance to sit down with Anthony to pick his brain.

The Post reported president Steve Mills and Perry want to see whether Anthony is willing to expand his wish list. Portland, which was believed to be involved as a third team, now only wants in if they net Anthony, who has a no-trade clause. Anthony reportedly is only keen on the Rockets.

Van Gundy said he thinks Anthony would have to improve on defense for the Rockets to get a boost. Anthony lost a step on defense last season.

“He’s a very good player, yet they don’t need help offensively,” Van Gundy said. “They were a fabulous offensive team. I’m interested to see if it happens and who’s involved if it does happen. I don’t necessarily see the fit.

“Unfortunately, what they need to combat Golden State is a two-way Hall of Fame-caliber player, and they got one in Paul. So Anthony certainly is a Hall of Fame player, but whether he gives them great defensive versatility. … It is where Ryan Anderson struggled, in pick-and-rolls. So maybe Anthony will be more versatile defensively than Anderson, and maybe that’s the upgrade there.”​

 

The biggest area of 'fit' IMO will be organic, what will the chemistry be like? And I believe if Melo makes 3 (and a healthy Bosh makes 4?) the chemistry will be excellent. This would be a challenging group to coach - - and to compete against.

 

JVG is right, it's not a natural fit, Melo will have to alter his normal style of play which is garbage and instead switch to something more like what he did in the Olympics for it to work. That said, I think he's able to make that adjustment.

 

Silly van Gundy ... Doesn't he know ?

Half the defense , double the offense

 

Still an upgrade over Ryan Anderson defensively tho.

 

I disagree with van Gundy the rockets don't need help offensively. At the end of the day the last year's team was harden and role players, a one star team and it shows in the playoffs when you face better defenses
. The rockets were also a volume shooting team, not really that efficient. That's the difference between us and golden State for example.

 

I respect JVG analysis. He's not saying we will be worse overall in terms of contending.

 

[Begley]
With Perry's hiring from Sacramento and the promotion of Mills to president, the Knicks have paused those trade discussions, in part because New York has been unhappy with the recent proposed returns on an Anthony deal, league sources said.

As Perry starts to shape the front office and impact policy, another realization has washed over the organization: Months of organizational harping on Anthony, driven largely by deposed president of basketball operations Jackson, has dramatically lowered Anthony's trade value.

https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...t=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

Chris Bosh no longer exists.

 

Their offense wasn't second best in the league during the playoffs, though. They averaged 107.2 points per 100 possessions (7th out of 16) and 111.8 during the regular season.

 

Knicks are not going to get their way and Melo will now have to find another way to Escape From New York.

 

I don't care, we are replacing Anderson with Melo. That's a upgrade in it's own.

 

I don't think it's about adding star players to increase offense or ppg.... It's about adding players that are more effective and consistent every night. It's about Harden having and off night and Paul taking over.. What if Paul and Harden are both off maybe Melo can carry the team.... What about the pressure on the opposing defense? How will they respond knowing that there is no room for error when you have 3 elite offensive players waiting for a shot..

Maybe things don't have to be so complicated sometimes... You get the best talent you can get together and then worry about making them function as one...

 

JVG believes more defense can overcome great offense, which is why we got rid of him here. That concept is outdated. He still sees the game as a slow paced slugfest where teams use all 24 seconds of the shotclock & score 80pts. Yes Carmelo is a risk. But i think Morey sees this like we all do. Getting Melo to buy in is well worth that risk. The Rockets will be a serious threat to GS

 

Correct, I mean Harden alone has been able to keep Rockets name buzzing for the last couple years. Adding more firepower just makes it all better. Game 6 will not happen if Paul and Melo are around.

 

A lot of people miss that. The Rockets offense last season was almost completely dependent on James Harden being amazing and players like Ryan Anderson hitting open 3's. They really didn't get a lot of either in the playoffs.

 

JVG is right that it would be better to replace Ryan Anderson with an impact player on both sides of the ball. Melo is only a slight upgrade defensively from Ryan Anderson. He's right that adding another versatile defender would help us beat golden state. But he's not acknowledging how big of an upgrade Melo is offensively, and he keep't talking about last year's offense, without acknowledging Lou, Bev and Anderson represent a lot of points taken out of that offense.

Melo is not a natural fit; i don't think there is any argument there. But is he an upgrade over Anderson? Absolutely, i don't think there's any argument there. JVG is just saying that a perfect fit would be a top 2-way player, and Melo is not that. He's right, but it's very hard to find top tier 2-way players (most franchises don't let those guys go). Melo definitely makes us better ...and he's avilable. He also gives us a chance to attract additional talent that can make us even better. No point in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good here

 

Melo might not be a 2-way player, but he's still MUCH better than Ryno so acquiring him would give us a huge boost.

Melo can at least give u 20+ ppg in a playoff series...Ryno could never

Melo as a #3 option is deadly, Ryno is just a highly paid decoy

 

JVG is discounting one thing here.

Melo Chris and Harden are going to carry a lesser load offensively playing together. They will all have more energy for defense.