[NYPost] Rockets could make push for Carmelo (UPDATE: Blog post)

The Phil Jackson takeover just threw a wrench in this. He needs Melo for the triangle. He will zen master Melo into staying.

 

Right... the Rockets would unload their remaining assets for a player that may be a free agent because they liked his "current" contract, when there is a far better chance that Melo could have simply choosen to leave the Rockets.

The Rockets would want Anthony under contract and would gladly pay him his max, knowing they do not have to worry about him leaving as a FA.

Morey has repeatedly stated that the cost/benefit of players like Howard/Harden/Anthony is amazing, that top tier players are worth far more than the max in their impact and production.

 

Lebron may not want to stay in Miami without a healthy Wade. I think he will demand a replacement for him because of his injury history,and try to persuade Bosh to stay with him.

If we can get Bosh, he would be a good fit with Howard and Harden for sure. It's going to be hard to pull it off. Miami would not want to strengthen us.

 

Would Heat sign and trade bosh for asik, jones, and lin + picks?

Bev/Canaan
Harden/?
Parsons/Hamilton
Bosh/Motiejunas
Howard/Smith


Lin
Wade
James
Jones?
Asik

 

It is a philosophical difference between fans. You would prefer a third star. I would prefer taking Melo's $20M+ salary and getting four really good role players. Both are good takes.

 

Nope, Morey doesn't talk to me about anything. But he does talk to others, who talk to others, who talk to... well, you know how this works.

For example:

Why would Melo agree to come to Houston without signing a 4-yr extension? Also, didn't he say he's willing to take less money to play on a contender? If Melo is uncommitted to Houston, then it's doubtful he agrees to come here at all. He's got other viable options in Chicago/LA, etc. If he leaves NY, then he's going to a contender and will be fully committed. That means a 4-yr deal at max or slightly less than max. Mostly because it takes at least 2 seasons to fully integrate new stars/complementary players into a winning system.

 

Exactly my thoughts. In fact you could argue that Anthony would be an insurance policy for a Howard injury. If we were to lose Howard then I'd much rather have both Anthony and Harden then only Harden. Even if you don't believe that those two could play together, Anthony would be a great asset for Morey to use to acquire other players.

Morey's goal is to win a title so I doubt that he's going to reduce his chances just because of a "what if?" scenario with Dwight getting hurt. He's pretty much all in right now and a Dwight injury would sink his plan regardless of Anthony being here or not.

If Morey is so worried about Howard's back that it would prevent him from acquiring Carmello then it seems doubtfull that he would have committed $22M to Howard.

 

As leverage for what exactly? The Knicks can't do anything.

There is nothing to lever.

 

That doesn't seem to be in line with what Morey has said before.

 

No doubt the reports are most likely coming from Melos camp (unless its a public auction, when do the Rockets really leak these things out?).

However the motive might be unclearly read from some. The leak could be to get the attention of the new regime in New York to get a clear read as to what teams the Knicks would be open to dealing for their S&T assets and if they are willing to deal at all or just let him walk if he wants to leave that bad.

Notice NO mention of any teams with true max cap space? Not even a mention of Dallas which will absolutely be a team making a pitch to Melo, or even the Lakers. He only mentions his top 2 destinations as teams that would essentially be signing and trading for him to get him to or close to the max.

Also, this could be a potential "For Sale" brochure being sent to the Rockets and Bulls in order to say, "hey... we really think you should start thinking about making cap space in order to pitch Melo this Summer".

Personally I see alot of motive for this to come out of Melo's camp other than just telling the Knicks to improve their roster "Or Else".

 

Don't underestimate the influential power two superstars on one team can have while recruiting a third superstar who plays an entirely different position.

 

I wouldn't consider having Harden & Melo on your team being stuck if Howard starts having back problems. Push comes to shove, an injured Howard is still huge trade bait that will ease the pain.

 

So that the Knicks are forced to trade him to whatever team he wants to go to. When he was in Denver, he used the Nets as leverage to force Denver to trade him to the Knicks. He threaten the Nuggets that he would sign with the Nets in the off-season if they didn't trade him to the Knicks. Rather then lose Melo for nothing, the Nuggets complied. Luckily for them, they were dealing with the Knicks, so they got some nice assets in return.

 

This is what I was thinking. Still, I cant see the Knicks appreciably better in the next year or 2. Even with the Zen master at work, I cant see how Melo could/should be persuaded to think he has a better shot getting a ring staying with the Knicks than with Houston or Chicago.

Of course, Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded. I guess in time we will see the truth of this.

 

Here we go lol watch how many people in the GARM believe this without any source.

 

CyberX IS the source

 

Oops, I compared 2012-2013 data. Do you think Bosh's true % is going to be that high?

1) He is going to be playing as PF, not C, so defense will not be as slow / he won't be left unguarded outside

2) that's a 13% jump in 3 pt FG... He's been consistently below 30%.

3) Carmelo is shooting 41.5% on 3pt this year.

Gap between 41.5 and 37.5 obviously less relevant than a 38/23 gap. But do you think Bosh can keep it up?

 

Saw this interesting stat regarding Melo:

http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking...rtOrder=DES&filters=MIN*GE*22**PTS_TOT*GE*150

He shoots a blistering 47.7% off catch-and-shoots, top 10 when you use the filters i included.

I really believe he can work into our system

 

If Anthony leaves he'll make more money here because of the lack of state tax .