Certainly there is evidence for both conclusions, it is up to everyone else to decide for themselves. I think his Olympic experience helped him, but did not see that experience translate to the next couple of years on the NBA floor. Just my .02. DD
So Carmelo is being faulted for not being good enough to lead a team on his own. Gasp. It is a red flag that he might get a ring with a better team.
Well if you are going to pay a guy Max money and tie up a good portion of your salary cap, don't you think he should be able to lead a team? Melo is like paying max money to Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay.....it will hurt the team at some point because they won't have enough $$$$ to get the other quality players they need because the alleged star is just not as good as advertised. DD
Thanks for the link! Didn't realize that had happened, but it appears that the Kings fans backed up Martin pretty heartily. What's the view coming from Nugz fans? I imagine they actually like Melo quite a bit, save for the fact that he wants to leave..
I think he is about on par with them when you take in their overall games. Melo scores more, but he does it with a lot of touches.... Anyway, agree to disagree? DD
Even Kobe can't do it by himself, they paid max money for him and Gasol. Kobe got max money with Shaq, even though Kobe couldn't win by himself. Even Pierce, Allen, Garnett can't do it by themselves, they get max money and got their team a ring. Apparently, you can win a ring multiple times with max money on a player that can't lead their team to a championship.
There is a difference between a 25+ scorer and Gay who scores in the high teens like Gay. There are many more above average role players that score in the high teens, like Scola, Brooks, than dominant scorers like Carmelo.
The salary cap is going to be declining, and tying yourself up now, when you don't know the future of Yao Ming and the future of the cap is a really risky move. I agree you can get multiple max money guys that are not superstars and win it all.... So, why can't you do the same with non max guys that are nearly as efficient? Melo scores the ball, but what else does he do well? And even his scoring is overated because he takes a lot of shots.... He is just not that efficient..... DD
You can win it all with a bunch of non-max guys, like Detroit? One example in the last 20 years. Sure, we can try a bunch of lower paid players and trot that out for the next 20 years and maybe the Rockets get lucky with a ring. Their entire starting lineup, Yao, Brooks, Scola, Martin, and Battier will be 40-50 years old and retired. They can keep shuffling the bottom of the deck, hoping to one day win a ring with no max players.
I think they have to try that BTE, because they don't know what Yao is going to bring, so they need to find that out before making any rash moves. If they bring in Melo, tie him down to a large contract, and trade away a good number of their young guys and Yao can't go anymore, they are in a worse position. I think until they know what Yao will bring, they won't make any rash moves, even for Carmelo, because they need to find out what their needs are first.... BTW, Yao is a Max player......so they do have one....Martin is paid pretty well, so is Scola....it is not like they are a bunch of lowly paid scrubs. DD
And Brooks? And Martin? He shoots a lot because Denver lacks of a reference inside. And about his efficiency, he has a career FG% of 46 (better than Kobe), FT% 80, not that bad, I think. What Houston needs is a player who covers the current Brooks role, being elite at it. If the PG can dedicate to distribute the ball for everyone and to play good a defens, the better for the team.
How well has Yao worked out for the Rockets? He has always been injured like a Chinese modern day Sam Bowie. If Yao gets injured by the the tradeline and trade him for more draft picks like T-Mac or another star asking for a trade. Then, you have Carmelo, 2nd star, and still keep your favorite players like Scola, Brooks, etc.
I would be for trading Yao if he breaks down again, my point is that you need to find out what kind of player he will be BEFORE you make a move. Because he could be a beast, he could be average, he could suck...... Personally, I think he will be very good, because we all know how hard the man works, and if the doctors got it right like they did with Big Z, we are good to go..... But, I agree, there are no guarantees, so that is why I am saying be patient and find out what you have before you make a move. Maybe CP3 shakes loose, maybe Melo is cheaper, maybe Lebron, Bosh and Wade are not working out so well.....lots can happen. DD
Not 'the best evah' DD, but surely the 2nd elite reference we need. Every players game changes when he changes of team. What is not acceptable (in my opinion) is the Brooks+Martin+Melo trio, respect for the roles.
Those pictures are from a couple years ago. I truly believe that the experience on the Olympic Dream Team changed this guy's attitude about winning basketball. So, yes, I would trade the assets that Morey has collected the past two years for Melo. This is one of the rare opportunities that he's prepared for. I wouldn't trade both Martin and Brooks, though. Only a package centering one or the other
