He shall rise from the hardwood like a leviathan. He shall strike fear in the heart of all the naysayers and nonbelievers. Lebron’s momma worry for your son. The Rockets are coming!
Luc wanted more than we were willing to give after his (not trivial) injury. Ariza, well, he went for the money and I don’t think anyone could blame either party there. As for Melo, I think we would have strongly considered taking a chance with him even if Luc and Ariza were on reasonable deals. To me, he isn’t a replacement for those players. Ennis, and presumably another wing will be.
Having a 4th guy to initiate offense seems really important, if it allows MDA to reduce the # of minutes he plays Harden and especially CP3 in games we're in very little danger of losing. If we get Melo on the cheap then it's a no brainer upgrade over Ariza $$ wise, meaning we'll sacrifice a few wins during the regular season but will have our options open to make a stronger move later, whether that be at the trade deadline or in 2019-20 depending how things go.
If Melo becomes a Rocket his situation will be very similar to last year. He will be one year older than last year. I think he would have some great games but by enlarge will have a similar year to last year.