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

***** BILL INGRAM

 

Melo would be stupid not to want to come here. The $ diff isn't much and we can get him a ring.

 

What's funny is that projection shows NY with an extra year at basically 30 million and yet they are only 11 million over Houston.

If Melo thinks he has more than 4 years left then NY has zero financial advantage. Maybe he doesn't though.

 

Yeah....

I mean he is 6'8" 240 LBS, plays more PF than SF now...

Is a bull that can play 40 minutes a night...

Shoots over 40% from 3's...

Goes to the line 7 times a night where he shoots 85%

Averages 28/8

Good luck stopping Harden (26 pts) and Anthony (28 pts) on a day to day basis.

Clearly don't see what the Rockets would want Anthony.

 

For a volume shooter, he's pretty efficient.

He's normally been under 20 shots a game, but the last 2 years that number went up as his team got worse.

I consider him a ball stopper, but I wouldn't call him a chucker. A chucker is a player that takes a bunch of shots and is mediocre at making them at best.

 

A lot of 'improving our weakness' can come from within. If our players buy into a defensive system and find their motivation via one more year of experience and maturity, we're a better defensive team.

Improving defense may not come from roster moves alone, but you shouldn't turn down a chance to acquire top talent.

I will agree that losing Asik will be a big blow, though. We need to fill the defensive hole at the PF/C spot outside of Howard.

 

Rockets were 2nd in the league in scoring, you really think more scoring is what they need? Sure, add another scorer who doesn't play defense, that wins championships. And more iso ball, awesome.

 

Melo got in MUCH better shape the last couple seasons compares to how he was before. He has really transformed his body. So that's one sign of work ethic and addressing a prior weakness.

His defensive issues tend to be 1) lack of help instincts, not seeing where the rotations are to be made (as George Karl said "Melo can't plug for ****") and 2) as a PF, he gets physically overmatched sometimes vs. the stronger guys (like Paul Millsap, who isn't really big, but is strong).

 

Quit being so close minded. What you are failing to understand is if Harden, Melo and Howard are all on the court, the other team will have to pick up their defensive intensity a lot more than if they were to play us as constructed now. Thus will lead to a poorer offensive performance on their end. It is called playing defense with your offense.

 

2nd in scoring and 4th in efficiency.

1st and 1st would be better.

 

For the melo critics, truth is with Melo we have the ability to have a top 5 offensive player (Harden or Melo) on the court at all times.

Harden can get back down to about 34-36 minutes a game and so can Parsons.

 

Anthony is a defensive upgrade over Jones and yes.... having another scoring option lightens the load for Harden and Howard offensively, which allows for more focus on defense.

The key is the point differential anyway and Anthony makes the Rockets a better team, more so than any other options other than Love (possibly) or James.

 

I agree Anthony has gotten in better shape.
I agree that Anthony has mediocre defensive instints (on the perimeter)
I do not really agree that Anthony gets overmatched often. He played a lot of PF last year and do not remember him really being physically outmatched. I do remember the year before last, Al Horford gave him problems with his jumper though.

 

This maybe the biggest plus for attaining Melo. While many/most focus on what he brings to the starting 5, having Melo/Harden on the court at all times could be huge.

And yes, minute management becomes a easier task as well.

 

How efficient was our scoring in the playoffs? With Anthony, we could take Harden or Howard having off nights and still be able to put the ball in the hoop. The team as it is, we can not afford Howard or Harden to have off nights in the playoffs if we want to make it to the promise land.

 

You're over analyzing if you're making points to not get Melo in Houston

 

I'll assume you're being sarcastic, but in case you're not, I'll say this. Purely by ranking, of course it would, but you're knitpicking. The new champions, the Spurs were ranked 6th in scoring, they're winners because they play both ends. The Rockets don't need Melo, they need better coaching and better, more consistent D.

Admittedly, I don't like Melo as a player, and while I do respect his considerable offensive skills, another thing to consider is money. Melo does not strike me as someone who will take less then a max contract. Even if he does, I doubt it will be much less than the max.

 

I love this but why sign Trevor Ariza with the MLE (~22 million) when you just signed Parsons for $46 million at the same position? makes no sense to me. Seems the MLE should be used for a PG.

BTW, if the Rockets clear 17.5 million in cap space and then do a Sign & trade for Melo is Melo's starting contract at the cap space number or can it go 25% above + 100,000 ?

What is the total salary for the team as you have constructed it for 2014/15? Seems it would be 81 million plus.

What happened to Troy Daniels?

 

Good point, but Melo adds no defensive upgrade, and think about the Salary Cap. Even if he takes less than the max, it probably won't be that much less, is Les willing to take the luxury tax hit? Because Lin is pretty much unmovable, and the Rockets payroll is currently around $64 mil.

I like Love better than Melo, but I think the Rockets should avoid him as well. I think Morey should look for a better coach and very strong defensive PF.

 

Good point, but better coaching could manage their minutes better during the season. Plus, they're young, Rockets need better coaching and more consistent D, IMO.