Well... Looks like Morey thinks it's an either or and he chose the scrub defender. Rest in peace Rockets 2019 championship hopes .
Better than keeping Ryno during CP3 and Harden's prime opportunities to win ring. Give me 6-8 Batum instead, especially with loss of Luc. Another ball handler, 3-D wing switch defender and player capable of putting up 40. Batum complements not only Harden &CP3 but Melo and PJ too. Batum is a legit starter on championship contending team. Ryno gives none of that.
I am hoping this is not the case but I am getting bad flashbacks of Houston losing key role players for an over the hill Barkley!
I believe Melo still has a 'no trade clause' in his pocket. They can't just ship him to the highest bidder. Same scenario as last year with NYK. At the last minute, Melo agreed to get the heck out of NY and consented to OKC. Otherwise, they couldn't do much with him. Unless they send him to a team of his choice, they will have to buy him out. Not sure why another team would eat that money, but crazy things happen
Yes, have you? Batum was at his best in Portland when he played primarily as a 3-D SF. With Charlotte his role is a playmaking guard. And Batum's last season with Hornets was not horrible considering he was playing with multiple injuries especially a lingering elbow. Batum is and always has been a better player than Ryno. Playing Ariza role with Rockets he would be perfect, plus he can also create for himself and others.
he has 3 more years on his deal 24,25,27 million player option final year. That is a crap ton to tie yourself up. If capela signs his qualifying offer and melo signs at minimum and we trade ryno out. We are looking at not being a tax team and having a full MLE. 1 less year of not being a repeater tax. CP3s contract would end at a potential 4th year not being a repeater tax team. So for the future it could be huge. It could also be a huge benefit at the deadline this seasonfor buyouts having a full MLE go unused. We could out offer everyone. Should be a few of them this year with all these 1 year deals. That video is vs an injured suns team playing scrubs at the end of the year. They were horrendous on defense. He shot worse than ariza last year. He averaged 11 points a game. Shot 33 percent from 3. I dont want to pay someone 24-27 million dollars averaging 11 points a game and shoots as well as pretty much a vet minimum player
I was ready to buy a ticket to the Batum train until I saw that contract. He is owed 24/25/27. Ouch. That's Melo money. He's a great player, but not that great. If a team were crazy enough to buy him out, I would say give him all the MLE he wants.
Batum is still a good player. Just playing out of position and overpaid. If he had one less year on his contract then I wouldn't mind a Ryan-Nic swap. Unfortunately, he doesn't. Don't think he's a trade target because he's owed money for three more seasons. His talent isn't a problem. His biggest issue is that he really isn't a 3+D. He's more of a playmaking and D. He'd be our version of the Warriors Iguodala. Slightly less defense, but slightly better shooting. But his contract sucks a bit more than Ryan's. That damn player option.
Trading Anderson for Batum is a risky move money wise but the potentially pay off would be huge if plays to potential in the system.
Considering Morey and MDA want to make our offence stagnant and go 1 on 1 against GSW then why the hell you wouldn't have Carmelo instead of Ariza ? They just cut-off our corners after doubling our penetrations and none of the PJ/Ariza/Luc didn't do nothing. Our best games were when one of them decided to drive against close-outs and finished it. Luc didn't finish it once may i remind you. Another thing is Carmelo gives us what JJ was supposed to on the low block. He is also insurance against "give rockets the midrange". When CP was out it was all they had to do defensively since CP was the only one punishing midrange. Having 3 out of Harden/Cp/Gordon/Carmelo all the time on the court is also a blast offensively. While we seen cold streaks of EG/Ariza/Pj we now would have another streaky shooter increasing our chances that more than less of them will go off. Lastly - Carmelo is Draymonds father. All that bullying dont go with Melo. Anthony is OG and he sons donkey Downside is the defense. I don't really know how we gonna defend.
