Veteran's minimum https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/sports/carmelo-anthony-houston-rockets.html Carmelo Anthony is planning to sign with the Houston Rockets upon clearing waivers in coming days, according to two people with knowledge of his plans. Anthony is unlikely to become a free agent before next week at the earliest because his pending trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks could take several days before it is officially completed, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the trade publicly. But the three-way deal that also features the Philadelphia 76ers has been agreed to and is lined up to be executed after Philadelphia makes another roster move. The sharpshooter Kyle Korver of the Cleveland Cavaliers is among the players Philadelphia is known to be pursuing via trade before completing the three-way deal with Oklahoma City and Atlanta. The Hawks have pledged to release Anthony once the trade is complete, according to the people, which will allow him to earn next season’s scheduled $27.9 million salary — as stipulated by the original five-year contract he signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2014 — and then sign with Houston upon clearing waivers. He is expected to receive a one-year deal from the Rockets at the league’s veteran minimum salary of $2.4 million. Anthony will clear waivers 48 hours after Atlanta formally lets him go, enabling him to then sign with the team of his choice. Rockets officials have been operating under the strong belief that Anthony will soon be Houston-bound since meeting with him face-to-face during summer-league play in Las Vegas earlier this month. Joining the Rockets will reunite Anthony, 34, with Houston Coach Mike D’Antoni after the pair struggled badly to mesh in New York, which ultimately led to D’Antoni’s resignation as Knicks coach. But the parties are committed to trying to forge a more successful partnership this time, with Paul’s presence believed to be crucial.
Vet min?!? So we replaced Ariza and Luc at around $20M with Melo, Ennis, and MCW at around $8M?? Not bad, Daryl. Not bad at all.
Vet Min, huge! I prefer this as well since we still have MLE available to sign someone (maybe overseas?) or a buyout candidate in training camp or after the trade deadline. There is always a Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Brandan Wright cut loose. Of course only 1 out of 3 of those worked out for us but still worth the gamble to add talent without giving up anything mid-season. Also, this will allow the Rockets to use the MLE on rookies like Melton if they want to to get a 3rd year. They were going to do that anyways but they could get creative if there is someone they like and want to hold onto for a while.
I think for Moute is more of us believing he can no longer return to his form before the second shoulder injury. After the second injury he was clearly not the man before and that's a concern.
I'm not really a Carmelo fan, I made that feeling known repeatedly, but I've accepted this was happening for a while now. I've never doubted that he was talented enough to help us, but his mindset concerns the hell out of me. He needs to play with a high effort level given that his minutes and offensive workload are reduced. His reputation is in the toilet, and 3 teams have willingly gave him away in the last year. Hopefully he has developed enough self awareness that he is all in on winning, not merely playing on a winner, there's a difference.