Just from a starting perspective, it looks like we have the upper hand. But if the Lakers were to sign Melo, they could then make any current starters available in a trade for Leonard. That probably becomes a pretty formidable team and some instant rebuild for SA.
I can't believe how much I wanted Melo on this team last season. I also can't believe how much I don't want Melo on this team this season. Things change I guess.
AP: Houston TX. In a freak accident Chris Bosh died on the court last night in a rockets victory over the golden state warriors. When asked why coach Mike D'Antoni didn't sub Bosh out after his death, coach D'Antoni quipped a quote from the critically acclaimed film Hoosiers by saying "my team is on the court". James Harden led all scorers with 36, and Eric Gordon gave the rockets a nice boost off the bench with 24.
Good move by Dantoni. Rockets won, not because of the points James got, but because Chris Bosh played his heart out.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...rmelo-anthony-help-nba-championship-contender Possible Ariza replacement in Houston No team reportedly did more to acquire Anthony via trade last summer than the Rockets, who got such a deal to the 1-yard line metaphorically before the New York Knicks' unwillingness to take back Ryan Anderson's contract scuttled a possible deal. Although Anthony wasn't as effective as hoped in a similar role for the Thunder in 2017-18, if anything, Houston has greater need for him now. The Rockets lost starting small forward Trevor Ariza, who agreed to a reported one-year, $15 million deal with the Phoenix Suns in the opening hours of free agency. Because Houston's total salary is nearing the luxury tax even before the team re-signs starting center Clint Capela, the Rockets are limited to the $5.3 million taxpayer midlevel exception to replace Ariza with a player making more than the veteran's minimum. That makes Anthony, whose salary will be supplemented by whatever he makes from Oklahoma City after a possible buyout, an attractive option. As compared to Houston's realistic alternatives for the midlevel exception, Anthony is far more accomplished, and if he comes for the minimum, all the better. The downside is that Anthony isn't really a small forward at this stage of his career. Per analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats, Anthony played just 250 minutes all of 2017-18 as a small forward. Though Ariza occasionally played power forward in smaller Rockets lineups, particularly against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals, for the most part he played on the wing. On the plus side, Houston's defense is predicated less on individual matchups and more on the ability to defend on the team's frequent switches. Always fond of switching rather than fighting through screens, Anthony was actually reasonably effective in this regard last season. The Thunder allowed 0.9 points per chance on picks where Anthony switched on the ball handler, according to Second Spectrum tracking, a rate that ranked 11th-best among the 28 players who did so at least 200 times. During the playoffs, the Utah Jazz were able to have more success targeting Anthony on switches. In that series, they averaged an even point per chance when he switched on the ballhandler, 10th-worst of the 36 players who did so at least 25 times in the playoffs. Offensively, Anthony's role with the Rockets would probably be similar to how he played for the Thunder last season, which was already a source of frustration. In fact, Anthony would probably see less of the ball playing with Paul and James Harden than he did in Oklahoma City. Per Second Spectrum, Ariza held the ball just 7.4 percent of the time he was on offense, barely half as often as Anthony (13.8 percent).
I really don't want to sign him for the MLE if his buyout agreement is the difference between his contract and the MLE. Rather have him stretched, signed him for the minimum, and save the MLE for someone else.
Potato Head is no longer credible. Apparently the deal got as close as the 1 yard line as opposed to the 2.
I like that idea. If Houston can somehow offload Anderson and only give up 2nds, that would be amazing.
Melo will be on this team next season. And similar to CP, his ability to score easily inside the arc will be huge for us. We're not beating Golden State with defense.
I don’t know if Anthony is any good anymore because it was hard to tell anything about that mess of a team in okc last season. What I do know is comparing harden and cp3 to Russ and PG13 is just flat out lazy. Everyone eats and gets easy looks in Houston, the same can’t be said for okc. Melos role would clearly be the 3rd scorer at Best Buy the quality of looks and space he would have to get those looks would be so different and in a perfect world would make him a valuable 18-20ppg scorer. Melo for the minimum as long as we can keep Luc Also is a no brainer imo. Also melo she jimmy butler are really good friends. Maybe melo on Houston could get jimmy more inclined to force his way to Houston at some point this year.
PJ, Luc, and Melo and only 1 MLE. Who would sign for the minimum, who wouldn't (any offers?) How would you split the money?
