That would be a solid bench @Zboy, come on, consider that the bench guys would never player all together, think about the second unit this way: Capela Melo/Ennis Ennis/Green Butler Harden or: PJ Melo/Ennis Butler MCW/Knight Paul Seems pretty good to me
I gotta say, reading some of the similar threads below, a lot of these “Sources” thread titles are nothing but statements that lead to nothing and can’t be found to be true or false.
That there is no insider per se. That all this “info” is laughable. That the better ones are merely based on common sense. That educated guesses are equally good (including his “Butler to Toronto is bound to happen” claim, which I’m sure will happen eventually.)
Carmelo at PF/C is unplayable against the Warriors? I'll have to disagree there. I think he will give them some serious problems, in fact. We aren't sure about Knight or Ennis, but neither were we sure about anyone going into last year. To make a blanket statement that they assuredly can't play seems a bit much, imo.
I’m actually not sure if you’re explaining that in disgust or you slightly agree with me, but I like you either way. EDIT: Upon further re-read, I’m leaning towards you not liking what I was implying, but still, I do like how you worded that.
Carmelo will be a scoring threat against the Warriors, and his defense might not be a big liability. Ennis will surely give them problems. He is not as good as Ariza on defense, but he is a hard worker. I hope Knight will be in good shape by the playoffs.
I'm not downloading their ap in order to read Sam Amick. Would appreciate reading the stuff from someone who did, though.
Here's the Article: HOUSTON — You can’t blame Chris Paul for being a little perplexed. In this day and age of NBA super teams, where Golden State upped the ante yet again last summer by adding DeMarcus Cousins to its championship mix, this Houston team that had the league’s best regular-season record (65-17) andput the champs on the ropes in the Western Conference Finals, added another star of its own. The widespread reaction at the NBA’s water cooler? Eye rolls and shrugs. Sure, it was Carmelo Anthony, the 34-year-old whose game was divisive long before Father Time started tapping and who is coming off the worst season of his career in Oklahoma City. But … it’s Carmelo Anthony. “The disrespect that comes at him at times is unbelievable, you know what I mean?” Paul told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols during a visit on “The Jump” on Friday. “So for us, having one of the best players to ever play the game on our team, that’s a no-brainer.” Forget for a moment that it’s Carmelo who came their way, or that the offseason losses of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute mean their defense has holes again, and just consider the credentials: Between Paul, reigning MVP James Harden and the third star whose name is being temporarily omitted for the sake of this exercise, the Rockets have three players with a combined 25 All-Star appearances. Or, in other words, the same aggregate number as Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green andCousins. Yet the great part about hoops debates, and the thing that Anthony himself knows as well as anyone, is they eventually get settled on the court. We’ll know in six months or so whether Anthony was washed up or still able to put defenders in that Hall of Fame-worthy spin cycle. Preseason performances only count for so much, but it’s worth noting that Anthony — who had career lows in points (16.2 per game), field-goal percentage (40.4) and minutes (32.1 per) in OKC last season — hit 10 of 17 shots in two games so far (including 7 of 12 from three-point range). As our Kelly Iko wrote recently, Anthony’s ability to help on both ends while adapting to the Rockets’ small-ball lineups will be key determinants during his reunion with Mike D’Antoni. A visit to the Rockets’ practice on Saturday yielded two insights above all the rest that, directly and indirectly, relate to Anthony’s latest challenge … While Houston continues to explore its options in the Jimmy Butler saga and has significant interest in landing the disgruntled Minnesota star, strong skepticism remains that the Timberwolves are seriously dedicated to finding a deal. So long as that remains the case, with so many executives convinced that president of basketball operations/coach Tom Thibodeau still wants Butler to stay despite the uncomfortable nature of it all, then these Rockets will have to prepare as if there is no more help on the way. Translation: The prospect of Anthony playing like a legitimate star again would be welcomed. He has plenty of personal incentive, too, as he’ll be a free agent again next summer after signing a one-year, $2.4 million deal with Houston (Anthony was traded by the Thunder to Atlanta in a three-team deal with Philadelphia, then bought out by the Hawks; he’s still slated to earn the $27.9 million he was owed for next season between the buyout and his Rockets deal). The title talk is telling. As Anthony discusses in our chat below, there is zero hesitation to talk about these Rockets winning the franchise’s first title since 1995. That sort of swagger, coupled with the way it all ended back in May, should make it fun when the first Rockets-Warriors rematch arrives on Nov. 15 in Houston. But when it comes to the criticism about Anthony and the part he might play here, he swears he’s not listening to the latest round of cynicism — even if his recent track record indicates otherwise. On May 23, nearly a month after the Thunder had fallen in six games to Utah in the first round, he saw someone online claiming that modern-day Kyle Korver was a better player than Anthony and couldn’t help but clap back. On June 18, just a few days after the Warriors held a championship parade for the third time in four years, Anthony posted a picture of himself drinking wine in the streets with the caption, “Mood. All Critics can Duck Sick. #STAYME70.” On Aug. 17, just four days after he formally signed with the Rockets, Anthony fired back at a fan who called him “old crusty ass Melo” on Instagram. So, what will his social media look like by season’s end? Carmelo, like the rest of us, is curious to find out: So Chris was out here coming to your defense yesterday on ESPN, and I wondered if that’s the kind of thing you might have noticed. I don’t look at it. I don’t listen to it. And I think that being in New York (from 2010 to 2017) got me like that. You just build a shield — you know what I’m saying? — a bulletproof shield and you want to just try and stay away from it. Not to say that I don’t kind of know what’s going on, or am not up to date with what’s going on, but to answer your question, no, I hadn’t heard. Well, now that I put it on your plate, is (the alleged disrespect that Paul discussed) the kind of thing that is bothering you or will fuel you this year? I mean, you just went through the year in OKC where there was a lot of scrutiny about it not working, and now this is the debate. Yeah, but that’s going to always be the question, though, regardless of any situation, not just my situation. Is it going to work? Is it not? When you get a group of guys together, and the expectations are so high, and you don’t meet everyone else’s expectations, it’s going to always be a question of “Why didn’t it work?” There will be finger-pointing, not from players, but from the outside world. So that’s just something that as athletes and me personally, I had to learn to deal with it. I’m not saying it was easy, but I learned to deal with that stuff. What’s your read on the West? I was just in L.A., where LeBron and that group wants to get the franchise back in the playoffs again. We know what the Warriors are bringing. But you guys are talking about championships around here a lot. How real, and how attainable is that? Yeah, I mean that’s our goal. It’s realistic. It’s very realistic. It’s very attainable. I’ve had moments in my career where it’s like, “Let’s make it to the playoffs,” and then “Let’s try to get to the second round,” and then now it’s a championship. That’s what motivates me. Nothing (about) what somebody else says about me motivates me. I’m self-motivated. I come in the gym. I put the work in, so I motivate myself. Does it make it more personal now that you’re with Chris, and you know Father Time is knocking on the door? It might be a ways down the line, but you both have that time element. Yeah, well it makes it that much more special because of our close friendship. I think it’s very similar. We are in the same boat at this moment. We both want to win a championship. We haven’t won a championship. I haven’t been to the Finals. He hasn’t been to the Finals. They were close last year, and I had a chance to get there years back in Denver (the 2008-09 Nuggets came the closest, falling to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals), so there’s some similarities there when it comes to wanting to win a championship. That mindset is what fuels us as friends, as teammates now. It’s something we always talked about, even when we would compete against each other in the summers, we would always talk about winning a championship. Do you remember where you were when these guys lost Game 7? (Quick recap: The Rockets, with Paul missing his second consecutive game with a hamstring strain, led 54-43 at halftime before falling 101-92.) Yeah, I was watching. I think I was in New York at the time. I was watching. Me and my family were watching the game. We were supporting CP and James. It was just one of those days, one of those games, where as an athlete — only we know about those days. Nobody else can understand what (that feels like). They’re up (11) at halftime, against that team … Yeah, and an injury here, one or two shots here, can change the dynamics of a game. Are guys still talking about that, or is that one where they put it in the vault? The guys that was here, you can tell that that’s what’s fueling them. That’s why we have those championship aspirations, because they felt it. They felt it. They sniffed at it. They were scratching at the door. (Top photo: Joe Murphy / NBAE via Getty Images)
I have a question for you Deckard. Can James Johnson defend KD, Draymond, or LBJ respectably? PJ and Ennis will need help, and James Johnson doesn't seem like someone who will get into Melo's way. I know he can't space the floor much, but he isn't a liability on offense. I wonder if Riley will move him, if Butler is not traded to them.
Thanks, RocketFan. Nothing groundbreaking, but I enjoyed the read. I would love to have the guy and I think he would help a hell of a lot. A good defender that we could use in those matchups, and he isn't bad on offense, either. Not sure how that would work, though, as far as getting him, and Riles can be a real b*stard.
Well that's just silly then to imply that Cyber has not delivered credible insider information with Jimmy Butler or any other potential move. It would be pretty ironic that Cyber posts about it and coincidentally insiders like Woj, Stein, amick, etc all put out tweets suggesting the same thing. You're making the simple mistake of confusing basketbalholic with Cyber. You're a passionate fan and have pumped a lot of energy on clutchfans'. You should be able to sort out the gems from the others.
There is no insider per se. All this “info” is laughable. The better ones are merely based on common sense. The educated guesses are equally good @yixiixiy <3
That's just a lazy assessment. You're better than that, zoplicone. You're telling me that the only two people in the world that know about trade discussions are the two general managers that are talking to each other? So how did Clutch know the amount that Ariza was going to sign for (and who) before free agency even hit? Was that an educated guess? On a larger scale... How does Woj report rumors? What's driving these conclusions that you're coming to? Are you just frustrated?
