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

I am fine with trading Asik and Lin if it's only for getting Carmelo. Otherwise, I would like to keep both. I am a little surprised about Rocket Man headline on sportscenter, that leads me to think they have a good feeling about Rockets getting Carmelo rather than Bulls.

 

Morey has 5/6 teams ready to take Asik and Lin. Time to party we're getting Melo

 

As legit as the Asik deadline trade.

 

Nice recap, thank you.

5 to 6 teams for Asik and Lin? nice! Morey could be bluffing. But this party line has gone through Woj, Amick and now Shelbourne.

 

I don't really think he wanted to trade him. That backup center role this past year was extremely important for us, especially towards the end of the year and the Portland series.

 

Ramona story.

Edit: I beat J.R.?? Someone better rep me!!

 

Will rep.....you had a link up before you edited that quoted Melo talking about a potential decision to leave NY. He talks about it being hard to pull his son out and have him reset his life again. This has me convinced if he does leave NY it will be purely only to be in a better position to win titles, no other reason would be enough to uproot his family IMO.

 

J.R. is installing updates and rebooting right now.

 

Espn chicargo showing us some love

@ESPNChicago: Carmelo Anthony pursuit expected to include Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets http://t.co/9hct2qBnb4

 

Clearing up capspace was never an issue. But Shelbourne probably got her 5-6 teams number from Morey. It's in Morey's benefit to get the word out there in case there's an unexpected suitor for Lin or Asik.

Clearly the Rockets believe they have a good shot at Melo/LeBron/Bosh. Whether they're correct in their beliefs... we'll see. Next up on the list is what we do in the draft.

 

Melo is a scoring machine. According to nba.com he averaged 27.4 PPG last season (2nd best in the league) and did it on 45.2 FG%*, 40.2 % 3ptFG%, 50.3 eFG%, 56.1 TS%, 7.0 FTA per game @ 84.8 FT%, 8.1 RPG, and according to espn.com, a WAR of 8.93.*** He averaged 2.6 drives per game, averages 2.4 PPG and converted 48.8%. Let’s compare these numbers to the current Rocket roster. Melo’s 27.4 PPG is higher than player on our current roster. His 40.2% 3pt shooting is second to Troy Daniels (48%) but higher than any Rocket starter. In addition, Melo’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 8.93 would rank third on this team, behind Howard (9.88) and Harden (9.67). And his 8.1 RPG is excellent and would rank second on this team, behind Dwight Howard at 12.2. On offense, he's a man among boys.

But Melo does have negatives. For example, his eFG of 50.3% is decent but lower than any player in our current 8 man rotation.* And his 56.1 TS% would rank lower than our 8 man rotation players (except Beverley). Melo averaged 21 shots per game last season with a usuage rate of 32.3%*. This suggests he’s a volume shooter. If he takes 21 shots as a Rocket, that would mean that other players will receive fewer touches, so Howard, Harden, and Parson will have adjust to make it work. Hopefully, they will but we don't know the answer yet.

Melo averaged 69.2 touches per game last season, 2nd only to Raymond Felton at 70.4%, and recorded 27.4 PPG (which works out to 0.40 pts per touch). But he averaged only 3.1 APG (and 2.6 TOV)* (not good). Those 69.2 touches per game would rank second in our current 8-man lineup behind only Harden at 71.3. Howard and Parsons average 59.4 and 59.3 touches per game, while our PGS Beverely and Lin average 59.1 and 57.3 touches pergame, respectively.** I know the Melo acquisition means that Lin, Asik, and possibly some others won’t be here next season but their replacements will, so their absence doesn't automatically equate to equal touches for Howard, Melo, and Harden. The Heat got round this problem when Bosh deferred to Wade and LeBron. If we use the Heat as a model, one of Melo/Howard/Harden will have to do the same for the Rockets Big 3 to work as effectively.

Melo is also a defensive liability. His Defensive Real Plus Minus (DRPM)*** via espn.com is -1.03 (58th of 80 SFs in the league), and he’d be starting alongside another poor defender in Harden whose DRPM is even worse at -2.84 (77th of 90 SGs in the league). Melo is a much better defender than Tjones , near the bottom of the league, but is still a poor defender so his presence in Houston is not likely to lessen the defensive load on an already stressed Beverley, and excellent defender, or Parson, a decent defender.

There’s also a selfishness in the Melo basketball history. In 2012, The Bleacher Report named him the Greediest Player in the NBA.**** He forced his way out of Denver, which resulted in the Knicks losing almost their entire starting lineup as well as future draft picks. He also admitted to not playing hard for Dantoni because he didn’t like the sysytem****. And even though he said we would, there's nothing in his history to suggest that he actually would accept a pay cut. He fights hard for the things he believes to be in his best interest. Nothing wrong with that; it doesn't make him a bad person but it does suggest that he can be stubborn both on and off the court.

Despite the negatives, the Rockets have a chance to acquire the 2nd best scorer in the league and they can't let this opportunity pass them by. Most GMs would exhaust significant resources to sign a prolific scorer like Melo. Rockets are no different. McHale can always find defensive specialists to surround and protect the Melo/Harden defensive sieve. So even though he has flaws, Melo is just too good to pass up. He's a risk we have to take.
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*http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerGe...ilters=MIN*GE*28&columnOrder=&PlayerPosition=
**http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking...rs=TeamAbbr*E*HOU&sortField=TCH&sortOrder=DES
***http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/5
**** http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1122146-the-5-greediest-players-in-the-nba/page/2

 

J.R. was on fire the last few days , he needed a little rest obviously.

 

While I agree with you, the thought of SG Kobe, SF Lebron, PF Melo is not a pleasant thought. I still think that team would be missing a lot of moving parts. In order to do that they would have to renounce Pau Gasol and basically every free agent on their roster.

No MLE, only the room exception and and after you factor in the incomplete roster chargers the Lakers are only looking at about 24 million in cap room just to sign Lebron and Melo. How would they take that knowing that Kobe was unwilling to sacrifice pay for a better team?

 

Mannix:

Two teams in the running - New York and Chicago. Everyone else is a distant third, fourth and fifth. New York can offer the most money and no matter what anyone tells you, that is appealing. They won't be all that helpful in sign and trades. They'll dare Carmelo to walk away. Carmelo has always pushed for top dollar. The Bulls loom as the most ready made contender. A coach he respects in Tom Thibodeau and two stars in Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. The question is, is he willing to take a pay cut? Bulls are adamant about not trading Gibson {to make room for Anthony}. They want Gibson with Anthony. Those two teams are far and away the front-runners.

 

Its going to be hilarious when the angry mob on here try to find blame with someone (probably Morey) If they somehow strike out with either of the big fish in free agency (Lebron/Melo). I can already see it now.

 

Joakim Noah is an Elite defender and Rebounder but he has grade school offense. His offense is no better than Asik's with the one exception that he is a better passer. D12 is a better rebounder, just as good as a defensive player and a clearly superior offensive player.

Rose is an unknown quantity. Former league MVP that hasn't been healthy in over 2 seasons. Bad, bad history of knee problems. Harden, for all of his defensive weaknesses is recognized as the best 2 guard in the league.

Thibs is a great defensive coach but the Bulls have been an offensive nightmare since Rose has been gone. People like to talk about how Thibs is such a better coach then McHale but how do you know? Would the Bulls have won a play-off game in the west? No.

That Bulls team does not even sniff the play-offs this past season if they lived in the West. Make them play a WC schedule and you have to automatically subtract 5 wins minimum from your total and even if you don't, there total does not make that play-offs.

Add Melo to No Offense Noah, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and sometime healthy Rose and that team has a ceiling of the 12/13 Knicks IMO.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Melo returning 2day from Paris. Flying 2 LA. Sources say Kobe, n Europe 2, met w/him but Kobe denied it. Said he'll meet w/Melo n future tho</p>&mdash; Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/statuses/481421682352328704">June 24, 2014</a></blockquote>
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I doubt Chicago is a better contender than Rockets. Melo has less ambition to be great, just focus on money and feeling to be a famous, haha

 

It's basically all in this offseason.

If you strike out, you are left to resign Parsons for 8-10 million. Getting rid of Lin and Asik will still leave you well below the max to offer.

Morey ain't coming home empty handed. That, I can even promise.

 

"Kobe 50/50 on meeting with Melo"