Call me crazy but i wouldn't be shocked to see Melo opt out, i'm pretty sure OKC is doing the best they can to make him feel out of place...i just hope he opts in to get his money. And i also hope they'll lose Grant somehow, the guy seems an impactful player even if he's still not a good shooter.
No one on earth is dumb enough to turn down 28 million dollars, I don't care how much you feel left out. 28 mil is always going to be 28 mil. He will never get a contract of that value ever again. They're gonna have to trade him to a Sacto or maybe Dallas but there is no way any person with a brain turns down 28 million
especially when hes been all about the money. thats how he got stuck in NY to begin with. he did it to himself. look at his attitude with a simple suggestion for a lesser role. hes still all about himself
Yeah that's absolutely fair and don't get me wrong, i do think there's a better chance he opts in and eventually gets a buyout later in the season, it's just that i'm not in his head so i don't know how much he dislikes being there for another year etc...
Consider that in 2020-2021 the Thunder would be paying Westbrook, Adams and George a combined $111,000,000 for a single season. Just those three players. In 2021-2022 the Thunder would be paying just Westbrook at 33 years old, and Paul George at 30 years old $85,000,000. This is the same franchise that traded James Harden because of the luxury tax. Presti can talk all day about keeping George, but they will have ZERO ability to add any consequential players around George and Westbrook and Adams. As for Jerami Grant, if they keep George; he is gone. Are the Thunder ownership group really going to feel good paying Westbrook and George a combined $400,000,000 over the next 5 years? Steven Adams nearly $80,000,000 over the next 3?
If I’m Melo, at this stage of my career, I take the money. This will be his last big contract year going forward so might as well take it. I don’t see it as shamelessness, OKC knew what they were getting into. If any of us had the opportunity to make that much money or take a 75% pay cut, we’d all take the money. If OKC doesn’t like it, they can buy him out or trade him. Risk they took when trading for him.
it took a lot for him to eventually want to leave NY, and I don’t think OKC is anywhere near as bad or as uncomfortable as that situation was if Melo opted out I would be absolutely shocked
Melo can always join Bron when he's ready to ride b****....er uhh ride the bench. For now, he's about to get paid for another year.
The reason he didn't want to leave the Knicks sooner is because he wanted to win his very personal battle with Phil Jackson more than anything else. Once PJ was canned, he was quite ready.
OKC will fade into obscurity soon. This was their last hurray at making some noise in the playoffs. Melo is going to opt in and take his 28 mil. George is not staying.
I agree with you but its also important to point out that all it takes is 1. If melo truly is unhaply there then hes probably putting out feelers on what he could get on the open market. If 1 team out there (portland?) offers 2 years 30 mil then he might say screw playin wit westbrook and living in okc, ill opt out. Just need one team to offer 2 years 30 mil and he might feel comfortable giving up his 1 year 28 mil. You never know
Im not predicting that it will happen, it probably wont but im not acting as if its not a possibility. All it takes is one. If you’ve ever worked in sales then you know what im saying.
only way I would opt out of that deal if I were Melo is if I found some sucker to offer me a 4/60 deal or something like that...I’d need a long term deal making solid money
[LOL] Thunder forward Paul George may soon hit the free agent market, but the Pacers might not be interested in re-signing him. When asked on Tuesday about Indiana's interest in George, Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard told Dan Dakich of ESPN 1070 that the forward might not be a good fit for the team. "I would want to know first if he would fit us," Pritchard said. "We're different now, Dan. One of the things we're about, we don't care about big names, we don't care about big personalities, we don't care about big brands. What we care about is being humble... "Anybody that fits in that, yeah we're interested...But if they don't fit in that, I'm not interested." George played for the Pacers for the first seven seasons of his career before being traded to the Thunder following the 2017 season. George's agent told the Pacers's front office that the forward would not re-sign with the Pacers once he hit free agency, prompting them to trade him to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Pritchard credited Oladipo with possibly having a bigger impact on the Pacers than George. "I would say Victor and Domantas had more of an impact on what we do than, maybe even Chris (Paul). ... I can't think of any human being that could change an organization, not only from his playing, but from what he's about, than Victor." Many conflicting reports have emerged about George's future with the Thunder. ESPN's Ryen Russillo said that George is as good as gone and will not sign back with the Thunder. During his exit interview earlier this month, George said he would love to remain a Thunder but would deal with free agency when the time came. George, 27, can exercise his $20.7 million player option for the 2018-19 season or receive a max deal of $177 million with the Thunder and $132 million elsewhere. He averaged 21.9 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Thunder this season.
