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

Sign Camby for min?

 

http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocke...arget-carmelo-anthony-to-opt-out-of-contract/

Warmly welcome to the [Bulls are front-runners] club Jonathan Feigen!

 

You sound like you're discussing a mediocre team if the Rockets get Melo.

I'll just say this, if you believe the Rockets are comparing themselves to the likes of Portland or Phoenix, and have trouble making past the 1st or 2nd round with Melo, you are as dishonest as Daryl Morey when he claimed Bosh/Wade/LeBron = 55 win team when he made the pitch to Bosh.

 

What is he .. . 50?

Rocket River

 

70.

Old. Folks need to give that up. He's done.

 

Like others have already said, that roster just isn't possible salarywise. It most certainly wouldn't be possible if you subtracted only one of Butler, Affalo, Gibson - and if you substract 2 of them, the roster doesn't look so good anymore. AND Melo would have to leave money (more than 12 million compared to the Rox offer) on the table.

You can bundle draft picks with Lin and you can bundle overseas players with him. He is an expiring that will bring some attention and lots of overseas fans to your team. He is far from being unmoveable. And of course you can bundle Moti with him. Asik should be even easier to move. We got rid of Royce White, GS got rid of very expensive garbage - it is not that hard to do.

And I wouldn't rule out NY to take Lin and Asik in a s&t. That team lacks excitement and Lin would bring some back. And Asik could be a building block for the future. We might have to include Jones and 1 or 2 first rounders, but still a good deal for both sides.

 

With Melo the Rockets are a contending team, but there are other legitimate contenders in the West. The Spurs, OKC and the Clippers are all legitimate contenders that can give us a hard time, with or without Melo.

Having Melo doesn't solve our terrible defense. It doesn't turn Harden into a +defender. It doesn't fix McHale's terrible minutes management or questionable rotations.

It also doesn't fix our gaping hole at the Center position on the 2nd unit, or our lack of a shot creator with the 2nd unit.

Sure, we have a great starting 5, but what about the other 10 Roster slots?

Would you call the Rockets with Melo, -Lin and -Asik a favorite in the West? With back up center or back up PG? And most likely without Tjones so no back up 4?

As for making it past the first round, it's a legitimate issue. Who do you think is going to be in the play offs next year that's going to be Worse?

The Spurs are the defending champs and currently favored to come out of the West.
OKC has the current MVP and will either remain the same or improve.
The Clippers were already a legitimate contender and will improve with a 2nd year under Doc Rivers.
Phoenix will be better.
Portland will be better.
GSW will be better.
Memphis will still be Memphis (who almost knocked out OKC mind you).
Dallas still has Carlisle and is underestimated at your own peril.

Any one of those teams could knock out the Rockets with Melo either by being as good/better, or just having a good series or us having a bad series.

We're NOT talking about adding Lebron, we're talking about Melo... sure, a top 10 player. And sure, an upgrade no doubt, but not an absolute game changer like Lebron.

Folks are deluding themselves if they think adding Melo makes us an instant dominant favorite to get out of the West.

The West is well coached and tough as heck. 8/10 top teams are in the West -- show some healthy respect for just how good the opposition we're facing are going to be.

 

Man, Chicago has to be my second favorite team to root for, but I will be hurt if Melo chooses to go there.

I'm praying and really hoping that some of our guys are going to recruit the **** out of him.

I genuinely believe we'll be in the Finals next year if he signs here.

 

In the east you still have Miami and Indy. Sure Indy imploded, but they are young and very talented. So in the east you have 1 less elite team than in the West.

I know we've been saying this for years, but SA isn't getting younger. It is very possible that Duncan has played his last game. OKC? They can't seem to figure themselves out, very possible that Durant or Westbrook wants out before too long. The Clippers? Injuries are a concern, and they didn't play very good in the playoffs.

True the West is a lot more competitive. But in the end you still need to be the best team of the East and the best team of the West to win the title (in 7 games) and you want the best chance to do that. If he stays in the east there is a good chance, that he won't advance past LeBron.

I don't think the conference plays as big a role as you make it out to be. If he joins the Rockets he will play for a title favorite. If he joins the Bulls, he will play for a title favorite IF Rose can come back to preinjury form and get less money doing so.

 

You keep repeating this over and over.

I hate to break it to you, but the playoffs doesn't involve 8 rounds.

 

Chris Mannix:

Miami is a pipe dream, as Pat Riley put it. It doesn't make a lot of sense. They'd all have to leave a lot of money on the table. This may be their last huge deal.

Houston - sometimes I have a hard time believing the stuff out of Houston. They're looking to trade Lin and Asik like it's easy. The Rockets have to clear cap space. They first have to sell him. Maybe they can do that. Then they have to clear cap space. The salary they're making, it's $8.3 on the books. What they're actually getting paid is $15 million. You're not getting cap relief. Two, they're not that good. Maybe Asik is a starting center. At $15 million? Nah. Jeremy Lin? A backup. Maybe best backup point guard in basketball. $15 million a year? Nah. I think the Rockets will have a hard time finding a taker. You're reading a lot about how they have stuff lined up and it will be easy, I'm not so sure.

Chicago, that I could see. If Carmelo takes a pay cut, you don't have to trade Gibson, just amnesty Boozer, that makes sense. They're a ready made winner. That's a team I could see. It's going back to New York or going to Chicago. Those are the two favorites.

 

Chicago is a ready made winner... so what did the bulls do that was sooooo much better than the what rockets did these past few years in the playoffs?

 

Yeah cause Morey found no way to both clear room for Dwight this offseason and parlay a worthless backup SG into the best and youngest SG in the league a year before....

This is such deja vu to last season's "Dwight the pipe dream" to Houston scenarios.

Thanks guys. I'll look forward to all your non-articles on how handsomley we made out in the latest string of offseason transactions.

 

I have a feeling we are either going to have the same team as last year or end up worse by losing Parsons.

 

Well.... they did get out of the first round in what they media proclaim as the easiest conference of the two... so... maybe... they're hanging their hat on that.... *shurgs*

The media is so quick to focus on the darling cities of the NBA, while by passing Houston as a stump in the road team that no one would even consider.

Seriously the only one of these guys I take seriously is Woj, he's incredibly credible and doesn't do as much agenda pushing as the other hacks.

 

How would we lose Parsons?

 

The Knicks could demand Parsons in a S&T.

Asik, Lin, Parsons, 1st.

If that's the deal, does Morey turn it down? Think hard about it...

 

Univision just mentioned during the US vs Portugal game that Carmelo has been in the Chicago area searching for holmes and checking the city out... In Spanish of course

 

I don't think people are worrying enough about Rose's knee. Why isn't anyone mentioning this?

 

Because the media is still hanging onto the idea that Rose is coming back to superstar form. Maybe he will, but I'm not buying it.