Melo Wants the Max Next Summer

Really? Duncan, Garnett, Brand, Nowitzki, McGrady, Lewis, and Marion might have something to say about that. You cn only send so many forwards from the Western Conference, and Melo just doesn't seem like the cream of the crop.

 

Well, lets see, would you put Melo in the same class as T-Mac, Kobe, Lebron, DWade, Yao, Shaq....etc.?? I wouldn't. I think the guy is loaded with talent, but I would never want the Rox to spend that kind of money on that kind of player. All he does is score, team ball carries that team, and he fills the hole for a team that needs an offensive player like that. But there are quite a few players I would pay that kind of money to before Melo.

 

There is no doubt you give him the max. Denver has been looking for a player like Melo forever. He's young, talented and one of the more popular players in the league.

Melo puts Denver on the map and Denver is a good place where he can shine.

Its a perfect fit.

 

Exactly. There are 30 teams out there, so theoretically (obviously Sterling throws this off some) at LEAST the top 30 players in the league will be offered a max deal in an effort to lure/secure free agents. Add to that the fact that some teams have two max players and the biddging that comes out of free agency there's likely to be players who command the max by virtue of being the best left over.

So, some people are right in pointing out that Melo doesn't deserve the max because he shouldn't be paid on the same level as Shaq and the other first team All-NBAers but others are right in that given the economic realities of the league he does deserve to get a max contract by virtue of being one of the best available.

 

Does anyone think that it's beyond bizarre that Melo's agent (and Melo, presumably, behind the scenes) are talking about this now? It's preseason, for crying out loud. Does the team need the distraction? I understand Nuggets4 and other BBS people talking about it, it's what we do, lol. But to bring this up now, when a contract can't be signed until the season is over (right?) and the season has yet to begin just seems out of line to me. Not too surprising, coming from an agent, but if I were Nuggets management, I would be privately POed.

 

The agent wants to get it in the news so the media will be mindful of it as well as the fans. It's somewhat of a gamble if Melo doesn't play well. But if he does well this season and everyone knows that he and his agent are looking for a max deal, there will be a bunch of "show him the money" articles or paragraphs when writers cover the Nuggets this year. As far as a distraction, seems everyone wants him to get paid and he's going out to play as well as he can in order to get paid, so I don't think it's a problem.

 

Some of you may rember way back when Antonio Mc Dyess asked for a $100 million conratct. This was pre salary cap days, and $100 mil was the standard mark of excellence. He was a good young player, and the best player on te team. He played for the nuggets, ironically, and they let him go rather than tie up that much money. The Nugs statement was something to the effect of "we like Antonio and think he is a terrefic player, and wish he would stay here and play for us. But you can only pay that kind of money to one player, and that player better be someone who will be the best player on your team for years to come. No hard feeling to McDyess, but if he is your teams best player, you are proably not going to compete for the finals. We wish Antonio good luck elsewhere".

Pretty much how I feel about Mello. great at somethings, but does not seem to be an all around great player and team leader. He may grow into it, but could just as easily turn into the next Glenn Robinson (also asked for $100 mil as a rookie, the bucks owners suggested he should take the franchise and pay the owner $100 mil! If I remeGber correctly, neither got what they wanted.)

 

Well. since they are competitors, I hope it is a problem!

You put the reasoning behind the agent doing it well. Like you said, however, it really is a bit of a gamble, and is going to put even more pressure on the kid. We'll see if he steps up.

 

My problem with the argument that a player deserves the max because the team can afford to have one max player: After a team has one max player, they're strapped. Look at a team like the Timberwolves. They've rightfully given Garnett the max, but have always found it difficult to surround him with the talent he needs to succeed. In that case, you're talking about undeniably one of the top five best players in the league, and even still his team has had limited success, in large part because of his contract. In Denver, Kenyon Martin has a near max deal for nowhere near max productivity. If you then give Carmelo Anthony a max deal, I have no idea how they're going to be able to compete. Would anybody dare argue that a core of Anthony and Martin will be able to compete with Duncan and Ginobili or Yao and McGrady? There's no way! But it'd have to, because with that much money on the books between those two players, you better believe not much help is going to be coming in. Camby and Andre Miller have pretty sizable deals too, if I'm not mistaken.

I understand the economics of the NBA and that you have to give the fans a reason to buy season tickets, but inevitably what fans want is a competitive team, and I don't think handing over burdensome max contracts to undeserving players is the right way to go about that. In my mind, if a player is going to get a max dollar contract he should be a lock year in and year out to make the All-Star team. I don't care if they're voted in by the fans or by the coaches, because in either case they have an argument going for them as to why they deserve the big bucks. If the fans voted them in out of pure popularity, clearly they're justified in giving that player big bucks for economic reasons. If they're voted in by the coaches, then clearly they've played good enough basketball to merit max contract consideration. Melo hasn't managed either of those feats yet, proving that neither the fans nor the coaches yet think of him as a superstar. If he isn't a superstar, why trap your team down financially by giving him superstar dollars?

Perenial All-Stars deserve max dollars. Melo hasn't even made himself an All-Star yet. Hell, I don't even think he'd be better than a second option on any top team in the league with the possible exception of Detroit.

 

Good comparison. Melo's game reminds me of another Glen too. Glen Rice. Remember those monster offensive years he had in Charlotte? One year he was even MVP of the All-Star game, but you'd be hard pressed to find anybody outside of Glen Rice's mom that would try to tell you Glen Rice was ever a player capable of leading a team into contention.

Hopefully Melo will become a well rounded player, but I don't see him as one just yet.

 

Here's the rub - and it's pretty much the same reason Francis got the max - just about every single offseason, there's one team that has cleared cap space desperately hoping that some star player will slip through the grasp of their team and become a free agent. It rarely happens that a franchise-changing talent makes it to free agency, but still teams look for it. So come around the time Carmelo Anthony becomes a free agent you can pretty much guarantee that there will be a desperate team looking to give someone max money. Carmelo will undoubtedly be one of the top free agent prizes and he'll get the max from someone. Since you're probably not going to get fair value in a S&T, you sign him to a max deal and hope that he develops into the max player he might be worth(see also: FRANCIS, STEVE).

Is Carmelo Anthony worth a max deal, in the sense that he's a franchise player or could develop into one? Maybe. Is he worth a max deal in the sense that that is what the open market would give him? Yeah.

 

See the Atlanta Hawks and Johnson, Joe.

 

He's led the league in character red flags the last couple of years, anyway. How not surprising it is that he's the first guy in his class to start publicly demanding a max contract (through his agent) well before the team can start talking about one. His ENTIRE career he's done nothing but demand things without first trying to earn them (All-Star appearances, Olympic spot, etc). He's a talented scorer, for certain, but mentally he's a lot closer to the Eddy Currys of the world than the Wades and Duncans.

Go ahead, give him his max before he's even made an all-star team. Watch him break the world-record for petulance immediately after.

Evan

 

Max contracts are overrated.

 

I think he's worth a max contract. The problem is he isn't worth building your team around. He'd be great for a second-fiddle role.

 

Dang, why the hating on Detroit? Despite his good offensive production, I highly doubt that Melo is qualified enough to replace any of the Pistons starters.

 

It's not really hating so much as it is acknowledging that they don't have a dominant star. They're a fantastic team with no clear cut superstar. Melo may or may not be a better first option than Rip Hamilton. I really don't think he is, and by the way, if given the choice, I'd take Rip Hamilton over Melo any day of the week. He plays on both ends of the court and never gets into any of the trouble Melo tends to get into.

 

Huge difference between Garnett's monster deal and what is currently allowed in the CBA. One max deal will not completely strap a team these days.