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

He would be a perfect in both places. What Houston has the advantage in is both of there superstars are healthy while Chicago is not sure if Rose will be healthy again , let along turn back to form.

I don't know why these sports writer's keep saying that J. R.

 

Is Carmello aware that Thibs will force him to play defense??

Someone please notify him of this, Thibs isn't going to f--- around

 

Isn't that the exact same thing he said last year about Dwight?

 

And Rose is forced to play defense?

 

Yep. Broussard had some backwards logic about Dwight being excited at the prospect of playing in Dallas. He reports what he hears, but at some point he has to realize that his "sources" clearly have ulterior motives. That or he just likes to make s*** up.

 

If Lebron really does become available and we sign Carmelo instead, would you be disappointed? Or is Carmelo's scoring that valuable that you don't worry about getting the best player in the game today?

Of course, this is assuming that either wants to play here.

 

Without question.

 

We will get both... :grin: Carmelo just happened to be available first and we will sign and trade for him... Thus him being part of the recruitment process for LeBron! :-D

Lineup:

Beverley
Harden
Anthony
James
Howard

 

Someone should tell him he may not be playing with Rose much and Noah is no star player.

He goes there it will be the Knicks all over again.

Two years they will look good... Rose will break down... Noah will be seen as finally a overrated player... And Melo will be older and without rings.

Yeah east may be easier. But what is the point if you are just going to lose to whoever comes out of the west

 

Damn so much truth in this post

 

Absolutely I'd be disappointed. Lbj plays both ends of the court and imo makes players better (that are willing to put in the work) than melo does.

 

Brian Windhorst:

2 questions that have to be answered:

1. Will the Knicks offer Carmelo a full max contract? I'm not so sure.
2. Will the Knicks participate in a sign and trade? I get the feeling it might be no.

If both no, he's just gonna go down to the studs and rebuild. I think Carmelo wants to stay but I think Phil might have said, if you want to be in New York, don't opt out.

Carmelo is a guy who is an imperfect player. You'll find a few shortcomings. He's not a championship player on his own. He was not able to carry the Knicks in a poor conference. If I'm the Knicks, do we want to commit to this guy? I don't think he's easy to replace. It's a mistake to assume you'll get someone just as good or better in 2015.

What did you make of the Akron instagram?

We're in a blackout period with LeBron's camp. I did speak to them this morning. His reps reached out to me and others and said that was not commentary on free agency. They're back in Miami after going on vacation. Their plan is to go live back in Akron in July and August. She's excited to go back there.

Where is Carmelo playing ball?

If the Knicks don't offer the full max, Chicago. We'll see maneuvers this week. It's a great fit. They're in the Eastern Conference. Carmelo is looking for reasons to stay and I'm not sure the Knicks will give him one.

Where is LeBron playing ball?

I believe he'll play in Cleveland again. I don't know if it'll be this year. I think the Heat have to do something. They'll have a 10-15 day window between now and July 7 where they gotta add players. If they sit on their hands, he may get antsy. I think the most likely thing is he re-commits to Miami for one year and one year only, maybe with a player option.

 

that last paragraph just discredit everything he said... anybody that says Lebron is going to Cleveland is just making it up.

 

Does anyone remember where Brian Windhorst expected Lebron to go before the decision when he was the beat writer in Cleveland?

He's supposed to be the writer of choice for LBJ's camp with a direct line to his people, but I can't recall if he ever hinted at the possibility of the big 3/Miami thing happening.

Trying to gauge his credibility.

 

Stephen A. Smith was the one that broke the story of the big three in Miami. That news he broke single-handedly brought his credibility back as an insider. He was on his way out of the business as cheese doodles

 

Well I found this quote from him

 

Right now Carmelo is a sure thing as a FA, Lebron is undecided. If I'm Houston, I make an all out push to get Carmelo and try to move Lin and Asik ASAP. Additionally, I'd look to move Harden for a PF, perhaps Love now that he's looking to move. Harden would not pair well with Melo, and he has more value in the FA market than many others and can hopefully be used to get someone along the lines of Love, which according to many sources would be more than anyone out there is willing to offer.

 

yeah lets just blow up are whole freaking team... Why would you give up Harden for Melo? Seriously? He is the same exact player just taller and older.

 

Quick! What is the best story for making money for ESPN?

Right! Anthony to Chicago and James to Cleveland!

 

One thing is, if the Rockets have 2 trades teed up for Asik and Lin, it certainly makes the most sense for them to execute them as part of a S&T with the Knicks for Anthony. I would think it would also make sense for the Knicks to be a 4th team in that scenario if they are going to lose Anthony anyway. Saving face and making Carmelo take less money as a punishment is the only reason they might not. Obviously those are stupid petty reasons.

Think: If the Rockets can get a future 1st for Asik and have to give up a guy like Terrance Jones to dump Lin in deals that wouldn't bring back salary anyway, wouldn't it make sense for the Knicks to execute as a 4th team and get a future pick for their effort? Wouldn't it be worth a future 1st round pick for the Rockets to have the immediate ability to use their MLE and BAE in this offseason? The Knicks can still tank 2015 because they actually still have their 1st rounder and not take on any players like Asik or Lin that may help them win in the interim. Anthony could get his max (or at least $1-2M more starting salary without the Rockets giving away assets) and because the Rockets own the Knicks 2nd rounder for 2015, the Knicks tanking actually helps them, too. The other option is adding the non-guaranteed options for Casspi and Powell and being able to absorb Raymond Felton or JR Smith and their contracts in exchange for the Knicks facilitating.