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

did melo set a date to announce his decision? I think I remember him saying it wouldnt take that long.

 

I'm not arguing that this is a bad thing. I'm saying the Dwight presentations weren't too much longer than this meeting we had with Melo.

 

Maybe Clyde has gas and was stinking up the car.

 

Not as fun as nightclubbing with Thibs or Dirk!

 

Apparently the 2nd week of July. Hopefully Saturday or Sunday.

 

Its two hours at least to make it to the Airport, and to get into Dallas. By the time he makes it there and gets settled in, its going to be 4 or 5 before they can present. Its not like Dallas is going to get all the time in the world like the Bulls did as well.

Look... Houston has probably the least amount of unknowns for Melo's camp. He's played with Harden & Dwight plenty over the past few years with team USA and whatnot, and knows them well. He's played in Houston before, and knows the facility I'm sure. It really shouldn't take two hours to talk a little bit about basketball fit, explain the cap situation, moves made/being made (ala Lin trade), other moves, and talk salary.

Its not a real hard sell. Either Melo wants to come to Houston to form a big 3 (where he might be the 3rd best player), or he can take slightly less & play in Chicago where he is the #1 option, and has an easier path to the finals.

Its a tough choice nonetheless, but its a choice he's probably already made. These presentations are usually pretty pointless quite honestly.

 

And of course, everyone freaking out about how short the meeting was.

They've got telephone calls and emails to take care of ongoing discussions. What could you possibly discuss in 9 hours that you can't fit into a short pitch, walk around the facilities, and lunch.

 

But that's the World Cup Final!

 

Guys, this meeting is not over until Woj says so

 

thanks

 

The #7 deal is being blown up way too big. They photoshopped Melo pictures from his current uniform. What were they supposed to do about a number?

 

And away we go. Just got awkward officially

 

Or maybe he was babbling on incoherently like he does in the broadcast...heh heh heh...

 

Briefly, the NBA has projected a $63.2M Salary Cap and $77.0M Luxury Tax Threshold for 2014-2015, putting the apron at $81M. http://cbafaq.com/blog/?p=304

Those who receive a player in a sign-and-trade transaction are HARD-capped at the luxury tax apron for the entire league year, inclusive of the taxpayer-mid level exception, the bi-annual exception and the room exception.

Let’s look at the Rockets team salary for a hypothetical big 5, assuming that one of either Anthony or Lowry is acquired in a sign-and-trade:
Howard: $21,436,271
Harden: $14,728,844
Anthony: $17,000,000
Parsons: $10,000,000
Lowry: $10,000,000
Beverley: $915,243
Canaan: $816,482
Covington: $816,482
Johnson: $816,482
Minimum Free Agent #1: $816,482
Minimum Free Agent #2: $816,482
Minimum Free Agent #3: $816,482
Minimum Free Agent #4: $816,482
Total: $80,612,214

Note that all minimum salaried players, whether they’re rookies or 18-year vets, will contribute to the team salary at a fixed rate of a 2nd-year player, which is why I’m still flummoxed at why Troy Daniels’ option was not picked up. http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q14

Additionally, all teams are mandated to carry 13 players on their roster; they may drop below this number for up to two weeks at a time.

So at first glance, this looks like a dream scenario; a scary lineup with a superb sixth man, young potential role-players with well defined NBA skills, and 4 spots to sign veteran free agents like Chris Andersen or Emeka Okafor for frontcourt depth, right? Plus, you can inevitably get a trade-deadline buyout guy to shore up the bench during the stretch run!

On second glance, many problems begin to arise here. Firstly, these numbers would leave the Rockets with only $387,786 below the HARD capped luxury tax line, for the entire year. That’s not even enough to allow for the signing of a minimum salaried player, so if a significant injury occurs, someone becomes available after a buyout, or if any one of your chosen guys happens to be ineffective, no replacements are on their way. That’s incredibly harsh, and would inevitably lead to huge minutes for the starters.

Secondly, if you look at the free agent projections for Anthony, Parsons and Lowry, they all are extremely optimistic. I’d estimate that they are all taking ~$2M less than they could ideally get, especially as the free agent market looks to be wildly overpaying players this offseason. You could get more room under the hard cap, but every additional minimum salary you want to fit in requires the three free agents to sacrifice ~$270k, around $1.15M over a 4 year contract.

So while it’s financially possible, I’ll believe it when I see it, the same way that I’ll believe the Heat were able to get Bosh and Wade to take 50% paycuts.

 

The dude is married with kids

 

Y'all do know that he's been in Houston since last night, right? If you factor that in, he's been with us longer than Chicago :grin:

 

could be wrong but, i think he said 2nd week of July. I would guess he takes the weekend to decide

 

I stand corrected. I'm not in favor of using scripture as a sword against anyone other than myself.

 

Agreed. This is why I don't like the fact that Chicago got 7 more hours with him. It changed from a presentation to an acclimation. He possibly already has his heart set on the Bulls, and was just vibing with them and getting a real feel for how the team camaraderie is.

 

I'm not a fan of using social media as a sword against an employer or anyone other than you