Harden for Afflalo, Magic number 1 pick 2014 and Oladipo. Then get a new coach this season and hope Magic drop fast It's not like we're contenders with McHale in charge.
Daryl Morey will not, WILL NOT, pursue Carmelo Anthony, guys. Carmelo has long been one of the league's most inefficient and overrated players. Advanced stats do not love Carmelo, they never have. Advanced stats told us last season, a season when Carmelo was stupidly promoted as an MVP candidate, that not only was he not that great, he was not even the best player on his own team, Tyson Chandler was. And it wasn't close, either. There are many mismanaged NBA teams, who do not pay attention to advanced stats, and who rely on conventional wisdom. Those are the teams who will pursue Carmelo, and Houston is thankfully not one of those teams. If you want to truly appreciate what Morey is doing then I strongly suggest you pay attention to the advanced stats that his regime relies on. I am not looking forward to Rockets fans blabbering about Carmelo trades for the next however many months, I know that.
I know it'll never happen, but since this thread is where bad ideas go to die, and I'm as capable of knee-jerk reactions as everyone else, and because I'm sick of watching Harden's second season of showing up for work exhausted after more and more nights of hookers, booze, and four hours of sleep: To Boston: Harden Asik Dec 15 Contract Player? To Houston Rondo ??? Humphries and 2014 juicy first round draft pick ??? or star from third team for Humphries and/or Lin and 2014 juicy first round draft pick? Just to get some players who better understand the concept of "team". If this were a spelling bee: "James Harden. Spell 'team'." "'Team'. H-a-r-d-e-n. 'Team'." "James Harden, you are disqualified."
I believe so, but Danny Ainge is no sucker, nor is he desperate. Morey looks to exploit inefficiencies, and I don't see Ainge letting that happen. I also suspect that Boston winds up getting pretty good again sooner than we think, and my guess is that Ainge keeps Rondo. A guy who is LOVED by advanced stats is Kevin Love, who I believe is Morey's dream target. Love isn't going anywhere this season but if Morey accumulates enough picks and prospects then Houston may be able to make the winning offer for Love when he hits the market.
Good question. But at the very least: Good passer (hello, Dwight) Good defense A**h*** mentality (at least he cares; I'd rather play with a sullen jerk than with a don't-have-to-try-we'll-be-there-in-April jerk)
But ainge owes mchale for the KG trade a favor for a favor and morey also has ties to that's why I think we send Lin to Boston he and Stevens are smart stat guys Lin went to Harvard the fans will love his style of play in the eastern conference and rondo would just come to houston put up double doubles and play excellent defense and all will be well for both teams
Simply not true. Melo is a superstar. Morey is one of the few GMs who would gamble on him or at least get in the middle of trade talks and scuttle the Knicks giving him away to the Lakers. Here's the deal... If the Knicks decide to move Melo they're gonna have 2 or 3 primary suitors besides Houston. Let's take a brief look at them and what they'll give up. 1. Toronto - Uriji is looking for cap relief. He wants to dump Gay so he can rebuild Toronto the right way. He'd trade for Melo as an expiring contract and let Melo walk just to get rid of Rudy Gay. Gay has a player option for 14-15 that he's gonna take so Knicks would be stuck with his $19 million deal and he's not as good as Melo. Does nothing for them. So...perhaps Uriji throws in DeRozen...another player who has taken his time breaking out and is on a long-term deal. Maybe the Knicks say yes to that deal. 2. LA Lakers - obviously they are going to sign Melo outright if the Knicks don't trade him. Lakers can waive Nash and stretch his salary hit over 3 years, clear out Nick Young and Robert Sacre, and if the cap goes up to $62 million as projected, they can re-sign Pau to the Duncan deal and have enough cap to offer Melo a starting salary of around $20 million or so. Or the Lakers could offer Pau for Melo straight up right now. But why would the Lakers do that if they could possibly get Pau to agree to the Duncan extension and still create $20 million of cap space to bring in Melo this off season? And why would the Knicks simply trade expiring for expiring unless Pau agrees to extend before the trade? And why would Pau agree to an extension to play for the Knicks knowing they are going nowhere for another season with Amare's dead money sitting on the books? 3. Houston - the answer to the above bolded question would be because Houston (or possibly another contender) is standing at the door offering the Knicks a nice pile of assets for Melo that the Knicks could take. Enter Morey offering Asik/Lin/DMo/picks. Here's the dilemma for the Lakers at that point. If they do nothing and Melo comes to Houston and the Rockets blow up in the Finals and win a ring the Rockets are going to have tremendous leverage at getting Melo to sign a fresh 5-year deal with the max raises. It would be significantly more money on a 5-year deal and he's playing with a young Harden/Parsons and the best center in the game. Now personally I don't think there's another contending team that is willing to rent Melo and give up as much as we would give up for him. I could be wrong but I don't see it. (Perhaps someone could come up with a team that would be willing to do so. Perhaps Miami would come to the table and offer Bosh but I seriously doubt they would and Bosh could just opt out and way away from the Knicks anyways.) Asik and Lin and DMo all have another year left after this year. So....once the Lakers see the Rockets knocking on the door for Melo they've got to start bidding or simply stand aside and watch the theatrics and take a gamble that they can get Melo to walk away from the Rockets after this year. If the Lakers see the need to make a trade that's where it gets interesting. So follow me. LAL does own their 2014 draft pick...a lottery pick at this point. If they trade for Melo they should just let this season blow...let Kobe and Melo burn up the nets and lose out so they get their lottery pick. So here's the grand daddy offer the Lakers could make to the Knicks: Pau/Nash/Blake/Young/Sacre for Melo/Amare/minimum salary guys. This is a cap deal that leaves the Knicks significantly under the cap for 2014 with the opportunity to rebuild or re-sign Pau and go to war for one more year with Pau/Nash/Chandler etc. Or they could re-sign Pau to the Duncan deal and send Pau and Nash back to the Lakers for Amare's contract and the Lakers lottery pick. Or they could let Pau walk. So...all sorts of possibilities if LAL all of a sudden decides to get real serious about acquiring Melo. So if Knicks are offered a choice of Asik/Lin/DMo/picks (not 2014) for Melo or massive cap relief for Melo/Amare and options they've got a choice to make. Now if the Knicks preferred the Rockets offer then the Lakers could be forced to up the ante slightly more to get rid of Morey and get Melo to LA. How???? Well do you think Morey would be willing to rent Pau for the same package as he would Melo???? Possibly if it were sweetened just a little bit. Pick swap!!! LAL gives Rockets right to swap 2014 first round picks and Rockets send LAL a couple second rounders. Rockets send out Asik/Lin/DMo/picks(not 2014) to Knicks, Rockets get Pau/Blake and pick swap, Knicks get Asik/Lin/DMo/Nash/picks. Knicks now have Asik/Lin/DMo/Nash/Chandler as good players with 1-year remaining that they can play or trade along with DMo and other first round picks. 4. LA Clippers (dark horse) If Melo becomes available the Clippers could offer Blake Griffin for Melo straight up. If they do this then the Knicks would probably take it. Griffin is signed long-term and there's Amare-style risk to his deal since he's a high-flyer, etc. But the Knicks probably won't be able to get a better talent than Blake Griffin for Melo. --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- IF MELO GOES ON THE TRADE MARKET it could become a colossal trade that is the biggest trade of all time involving multiple teams, etc. One other team to keep an eye on is Memphis. Memphis would love to have Pau to pair alongside Marc. They'd gladly move Zach to get it done. So the Laker deal I described above involving Pau could run through Memphis instead of Houston. That is IF the Knicks wanted Zach. (I don't think they would.) OR...the deal could morph into a huge conglomerate deal involving Houston/Memphis/Lakers/Knicks and others. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- IF THE KNICKS FIGURE OUT THEY HAVE TO TRADE MELO BEFORE HE WALKS I expect something along these lines to occur. I don't expect Chicago to really be involved. Nobody wants Boozer unless Chicago is giving up Mirotic and/or a possible lottery pick with Boozer. Morey and the Rockets would most likely be involved in a Melo deal if not to acquire him for our team to help him get to another destination and come out of it with some assets for ourselves. If I were a betting man I would bet Morey has reached out to the Knicks and at least discussed possible trades with them.
Good job breaking it down and if something does happen I can see rockets in there too morey is a genius we got harden and howard and still have enough assets to be involved in a major trade pure genius
We also shouldn't rule out the possibility of Cuban sticking his fingers in the pie, either as a FA competitor, or as a potential trade partner. Even as a long shot trade partner, the Mavs can drive up the price of Melo forcing the Lakers into action (just the sort of thing that Cuban would do). And in terms of long shot teams, there's a bunch of younger teams with cap space or assets that could hop into the mix that might be willing to take a chance on a rental. I could see the Cavs possibly making a play either to shore up the roster for a Lebron play, or to put someone next to Irving that's more reliable than their current roster. The Celtics have a ton of picks and cheaper players. I can see them potentially diving in to pair Melo with Rondo. Anyway, there's a LOT of possible permutations. Someone will make a play for Melo. I don't think the Lakers will have a choice but to get involved or risk being irrelevant for the next 2 years.
Remember, for teams to be willing to put substantial assets on the table for Melo they've got to have him committed to stay there. HE WON'T DO THAT. That's why I have used the term "rent". When you consider the fact that Melo is not going to commit to any team except the Lakers if he is traded there that severely limits the teams that would be willing to trade for him and what they would offer. You have to look at teams looking to dump salary like Toronto...which means the Knicks won't get much of a return and you have to be realistic about what playoff teams will be willing to offer for Melo to rent him without a commitment. The Rockets are one of the few teams in a position to rent Melo. That's my point. Oh sure you can find another 20 teams that could offer up more assets than what the Rockets would be willing to offer but those teams aren't going to make those offers because MELO ISN'T GOING TO AGREE TO EXTEND or RE-SIGN there or even to write off his player option. So...really..when you consider the circumstances....that's why I say...name the team that is willing to put more assets on the table to RENT Melo than Morey and the Rockets. Go ahead.....I'm waiting.
Oh by the way, as an added caveat to possible Melo to Houston for Asik/Lin/DMo package....this simply drives up the interest and trade offers for Asik/Lin/DMo, etc. Teams like Atlanta that really want Asik badly...will have to increase their offers. We have nothing to lose in pursuing a Melo trade...nothing to lose and something to gain.
Actually, my argument is based on that we're not 100% sure that Melo would *only* consider the Lakers. There are several teams that would have the ability to field credible teams and have a decent sales pitch. Right now, we don't know what Melo's short list is going to be when the smoke starts clearing. I wouldn't rule out Houston, Dallas, Lakers, the Clippers or even GSW being on the short list. And I'd say 50/50 that he would consider the Cavs and Boston (for Irving/Rondo). There's just a lot of legitimate play off teams in the West. And Melo probably sees himself as a player that can put any number of them over the top.
You're not following the story. Melo isn't interested in Cleveland or Boston. He could just stay put in NY if that were the case. He can't put the Knicks over the top but he's gonna go to Boston or Cleveland and get them past Miami and Indy???? (Just keeping it real.) They would only be renting him without a commitment. So their offers would likely reflect that scenario. (Perhaps Cleveland is dumb enough to give up the farm for him on a rental basis but I doubt it.) Clippers are in LA. Like I said they're a dark horse. If they came to the table offering the Knicks Griffin then I can see that deal going down. Dallas?? Marion and Monta Ellis plus mediocre picks for Melo?? That's about what they'd have to offer. Does that make them good enough to win a ring?? Could Mark talk Melo into staying anyways?? Possibly.. Mark is a good salesman of his product. But realistically..back to the actual deal....Maron/Monta/picks or Asik/Lin/DMo/picks..... dude, our deal trumps what Dallas can offer. So they really wouldn't be a player even on a rental basis. Teams that would be in the hunt for Melo would be Houston, both LA's, and perhaps Toronto or some other rebuilding/lottery team looking to get rid of longer term contracts and clear their cap.
