For the record, while I do believe that Morey would trade for Melo if Melo wanted to come here I do not believe Melo is who Morey really wants. I think who Morey really wants is Kevin Love. He's the same age as Harden/Howard/Parsons and his contract will be cheaper and Love actually has a rebounding/outlet passing dimension that exceeds just Melo's shooting. Oh...Love's a good shooter too. So I really think the play from here on is going to be all about in this order: 1. Lebron - If he opts out and wants Houston it's a done deal. 2. Love - If we can't get Lebron then this is the guy Morey (and a lot of us) really wants. 3. LaMarcus - If we can't get Lebron or Love he is the next target. 4. Bosh/Melo - If we can't get one of the above 3, Morey will take either of these guys if they want to come here.
You got me there, not sure why I was thinking 45%... but 42% is still insane for a player of his caliber. Kevin Love only shoots it 38%. Carmelo is amazing when he's playing off-ball with other all-stars. See Olympics, All-Star game.
Actually, New York is capped out even if Melo leaves because of STAT, Chandler, and Bargnani. So if Melo leaves, they are pretty fked. On the other hand, if they can get back expiring contracts in Lin, Asik, Jones and maybe a pick, that's pretty attractive. It sets them up for the major free agent market in 2015. They only have 13 mil on the books by then. If Melo wants to leave, you won't get a better S&T than what the rockets can offer that gets you assets + cap flexibility.
Oh, and the knicks may be the one team that does not give a crap about the 15mil on 8 mil cap cash difference.
Are people on here seriously still talking about Melo? This would be such an awful, awful move for this team. Terrible. Melo is a good scorer, sure, but I seriously cannot think of a single player that would be a worse fit for our team than him.
Actually there's not. It's not easy to trade superstars. Especially superstars that are free agents and want their career to go a certain direction. They don't have to accept a sign-and-trade for starters. Melo is going to be in charge of his destination. The only thing the Knicks can do is refuse themselves to do a sign-and-trade and force him to have to pick another destination besides the one he wants to be traded to. That is if the team he wants to go to can't clear cap. 1. There's only realistically 4-6 teams that have a chance to win a championship next season. 2. If Melo wants to win a ring he's most likely going to choose one of those destinations. 3. It will be then up to the Knicks to get "something" for him and not let him walk for nothing. 4. The Knicks could be the ones begging Melo to do a sign-and-trade when all is said and done if for nothing more than a $22 million traded player exception to give them some future cap flexibility. With this in mind, you can write off about 25 team from offering any kind of value in trade for Melo. Melo isn't going to agree to be signed and traded there. Just to be a little bit more clear on this point.....here's the teams with a "chance" to draw Melo's interest enough for him to want to got there. 1. Brooklyn - the obvious underdog choice. He gets to stay at home and go to a different team that has championship aspirations. This would most likely be a Joe Johnson/Melo straight up deal. Now...the Knicks could stop this from happening by not agreeing to take Joe Johnson back. And it would prevent Melo from staying at home. However the threat of Melo walking for nothing may cause the Knicks to acquiesce. 2. LA Clips - no cap space once again. (I don't think this is likely with the year that Blake Griffin is having.) Twould have to be a sign-and-trade with the Clips sending out Blake. Knicks would probably jump all over this deal. But Clippers likely won't. 3. LA Lakers - Once again, it's LA....and Kobe...with a top lottery pick...or that lottery pick traded along with Nash for possibly Rondo or some other superstar/star. Now...there's your trade of the Lakers lottery pick....not for Melo but for another superstar to play with Melo and Kobe (and possibly feed them the basketball on a silver platter in the case of Rondo). Melo can sign with the Lakers outright. 4. Chicago - He'll be able to walk to the Bulls. No sign-and-trade needed. 5. Miami - Yes, Melo could decide he wants to go to Miami...they could all opt out and adjust the contracts to make it work. That could happen. No trade needed. 6. Houston - No interest reported in the Rockets but the ideal situation for Melo to step into if we fall short this year in our ring chase. It would require a sign-and-trade.......UNLESS.....we can move Lin off the books for nothing. Methinks that would be possible. Now....there's 6, count'em 6, teams that Melo could possibly want to play for. Either one of the big media center teams (NY/Brooklyn or Hollywood) plus 3 other top contending teams. Melo isn't interested in going to Portland or Phoenix or Orlando, etc. Those cities aren't big enough and those teams are simply not good enough. San Antonio???? Yeah right. Dallas??? They won't win even with him alongside Dirk and he knows it. Atlanta? Same story. Toronto? Please. I don't even know if Melo is interested in the Rockets. But I would speculate a little that he might consider us because he knows our core. So...back to the Knicks....if Melo wants to leave then they are stuck. It's just like Bosh/Lebron. They will have to let him walk or take 50 cents on the dollar for him. Now.....you tell me......what better deal is there out there for Melo than Asik/Lin/Jones and possibly a pick??? Probably none. At least no deals out there that Melo would agree to. Minnesota could throw Love and Rubio at the Knicks but it wouldn't matter because Melo ain't going to sign a contract to be traded to the Timberwolves. The deals just aren't out there. And frankly if Melo wants to come here and the Rockets can find a team to take Jeremy Lin's contract along with cash and some sort of other assets we could sign Melo outright without having to do a sign-and-trade for Melo. It would come down to the Knicks finally dealing from a position of weakness and possibly agreeing to accept just Asik/Lin for Melo straight up. There is no better deal out there at this point. The Knicks are in a world of trouble if Melo decides to walk. This is precisely why they are willing to throw a kajillion dollars at Phil Jackson. It's too late to trade Melo. Too late. They should've dealt him at the trade deadline.
How would it be that bad of a fit? Melo can play the 4 pretty well. If he plays the 3, you have a dangerous 6th man in Chandler. Melo rebounds pretty well when he plays the 4. It's not as bad of a fit as you think it is. One thing Melo does is help make this team more dangerous in a half court offense.
So bbholic - how about the Suns? Frye and two or three of their first round picks? They have 4. Denver? How valuable is NY's 2014 pick going to be? I feel sure that there are other real possibilities out there.
Melo would be my 4th choice behind 1. Love 2.Aldridge or 3. Bosh. I've never been a Melo fan and am just not crazy about the idea of him being here. I just can't see him adjusting to being a 2nd or 3rd guy on the team. Harden has proved that this is his city and team even with Dwight here. I don't see Melo giving into that.
