As Carmelo Anthony leans toward leaving New York, Chicago and Houston emerge as frontrunners

What part of Carmelo is opting out don't you get? The Knicks can't hang on to dick. They are in a position of absolute weakness.

 

Yes there is, it allows the rockets to use the mle and bae, as well as get melo for more than 17 million. Signing outright negates those options.

 

I wish I could rep. That was hilarious and spot on.

 

With Melo opting out he his a free agent. I believe like Dwight with the new CBA a sign and trade won't get Melo any extra money so there is no incentive for Melo to entertain a sign and deal unless he just wants to help NY at the cost of hurting his future team.

Melo has all the cards once he opts out there isn't anything NY can do other than offer more money and a guaranteed 5th year on any contract

 

Stop wishing and become a CONTRIBUTING member.

I hear you breh!..

x100. Carl is not up to par today!..:grin:

I really wish this would stop!!!

That's a hell of a team/lineup!!..
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If NY does a S&T with Houston, it allows us to acquire him Melo while still having the option of using our MLE+BAE instead of only having the ability to sign veteran minimum free agents. For example, with the MLE we could add a very solid player like Hawes to be the backup 4/5, and with the BAE we could get a sharpshooter like Anthony Morrow or defensive stopper like Mbah a Moute. It honestly depends what we would have to give up in a S&T but if it is just Lin+Asik+Picks I would do it because the free agents we would be able to sign would prob be better than the picks we would draft anyways.

 

I don't think Ariza is signing for the MLE

 

Really? You're worried about guys like Jason Thompson and Markieff Morris? Ibaka has difficulty posting up guards. Melo's been playing power forward for over two years now and even the best power fowards aren't dropping 28/10 on him every night. In fact, he usually kills his matchup. David West averaged 14.7 points on 45% shooting in the 2013 playoffs against Melo and he's comfortably second tier.

 

For everyone worried about defense...is Melo really any worse at D than Tjones?

 

I don't think anyone would make the mistake again of giving him that kind of money

 

Keeping Gibson and Butler would mean they would have to amnesty Boozer, trade Dunleavy and Snell.

Hinrich, Brewer, Mohammed, Amundson, Augustin, Fredette, James and Smith all expire or are not guaranteed and can be cut.

So who's left on the roster is Rose, Noah, Gibson and Butler. Their salaries would add up to about 41 million, add 3.5 million for empty roster cap holds. So Carmelo could sign up to about 18-19 million at most for his starting salary with the Bulls.

The teams would be

Noah
Gibson
Carmelo
Butler
Rose(recovering)

- Or

Howard
Carmelo
Parsons
Harden/Daniels
Beverley/Canaan

The Rockets would have to trade Asik, Lin, Jones and Motiejunas. Garcia, Hamilton, Casspi and Covington all expire or are not guaranteed and can be cut.

So who's left on our Roster is Howard, Harden, Beverley, Canaan and Daniels. Their salaries add up to (and Parsons cap hold) add up to 40 million, add 3 million for empty roster cap holds. Carmelo could then sign up to about 19-20 million at most for his starting salary with the Rockets.

For both teams he would have to take about 3 million less then max, both teams would also have completely vet minimum benches. To me, it looks much more difficult (but not impossible) for the Rockets to clear space then the Bulls.

Is all of this correct?

 

Excellent post and one everyone should read.

 

Jones can develop his defense once he grows into his body. He is a solid shot blocker already (~1.5 blk/gm), but once he grows into his body, I think he will be able to body up offensive players and play good defense. He isn't that bad fundamentally now. At the current moment, I think Melo isn't a downgrade defensively over TJ, but he is a major upgrade offensively for sure.

 

So either TJ or Motiejunas would be traded if Melo is acquired?

If we do end up with Melo I would hope McHale could arrange substitutions so they both don't sit at the same time - unlike Scott Brooks with Durant & Westbrook.

 

Some people peak and begin to decline earlier than others. Also, Hakeem, Chuck and Pip's peak performances were much higher than that of Dwight, Harden and Melo's.

Anyway, how far do you think a Dwight/Harden/Melo core takes HOU? Will the team be title favorites? Are they better than SAS, OKC and LAC?

 

Let's do this one at a time.

Sure Hakeem and Barkley were amazing in their peak and Pippen looked really good while riding MJ's coat tails but they weren't anywhere near that by the time they played together so that's irrelevant. Dwight is near his peak now, Harden might not even have reached his peak yet and Melo is at his peak now.

That said, I don't want Melo here because it only slightly improves our greatest strength and makes our greatest weakness even weaker. That said, they'd be a contender to make a deep playoff run pretty much every year.

 

Sam Amick: Staggering in terms of the price (Carmelo) would pay to go to Miami. Heat would need 4 years 55 mil. I don't see them doing it. Houston & Chicago are very real. Houston will be extremely aggressive. Still some hope (from Houston) that LeBron gets frustrated in Miami and they believe they're the best possible option.

 

See, now that would be something to be excited about, Howard, Harden, and Lebron probably win 2 or 3 championships together easy.

 

This is why we need to root for the spurs

 

SEC Defensive player of the year, NCAA Champion Center, 7'2 wingspan, when given the chance to start he was having a block party 4-5 blocks a game on multiple nights on the NBA level.And for a guy who was once questioned on his motor, he seems like the only guy hustling on the defensive end many nights. He also got us 7 rebounds a game once he saw meaningful minutes. He is also a big with handle who can rebound and push the ball all the way down the court comfortably.

People have the playoffs too fresh on their mind. LaMarcus Aldridge is good yall. He is also tall. Also most of his shots were wide open practice jump shots because we have a "figurehead coach".