[NYPost] Rockets could make push for Carmelo (UPDATE: Blog post)

So?

The Knicks were winning during Linsanity. Carmelo didn't seem particularly happy about it. The shots he took at Lin on his way out the door seemed particularly bush.

Yeah, no. If Morey felt halfcourt basketball won championships, he'd have built a halfcourt basketball team. He didn't. Maybe Carmelo can play Rockets ball, maybe he can't, but given his situation and the needs of this team, I'm not interested in finding out.

 

The way I look at it you go for it and if it doesn't work out the first year you trade him for kevin love

 

Trade Lin/Asik for Carmelo, Smith, and Felton.

PJ will do it if he can't convince Carmelo to stay. And you better believe he'd do the SnT with Houston rather than seeing sign as a FA straight-up with L.A. or walk to a team at a lower salary.

 

Carmello wouldn't be my first pick as a great fit for the Rockets, but he has fit in and even excelled in Olympic/All Star game settings where he is getting great looks and not dominating the ball. Playing inside out with Dwight, Carmello and Harden would be unstoppable, though defense would be a concern. In the end as with any trade it comes down to what you have to give up. But if Carmello wants to come here, rather than needing to beg him to come, it would be rather foolish not to see if you can make it work.

 

Nah, let them keep Smith we don't need that knucklehead.

 

Your still setting yourself up for counter arguments. Would any team in the NBA 5 years ago have said that about Kobe, and he's shown to be an even less efficient scorer, at less efficient shots, at a higher volume? Even despite the past two years, the first 3 years of having Kobe would be worth it for any team to take a shot at at that time.

I do think there is merit in having concern about bringing in someone that is going to take the ball out of Harden, and Howard's hands, but you have to go a little deeper than that to create a convincing argument.

I have much of the same concern, but the one thing I really look back at is how Harden played with Durant, and even though Melo is not Durant by any stretch from an efficiency standpoint (at least I would think he isn't) they do alot of the same things. I think its safe to say that Harden's volume of shots would go down, but his efficiency at the same time would go back to his OKC days if he's playing more as a facilitator, and the defense is playing him more as a second option to Melo.

Arguments about players usually get generic opinions like the one you stated.... which I get THAT ONE FACT, but I think Melo deserves a deeper dive into play style, fit, how they would be able to defend, and the different offensive sets they could potentially run with them on the floor together without changing the entire offense around.

Again, I'm not campaigning for Melo by any stretch, but I think the potential move deserves more analysis than the usual fan generic statements about being a "ball-hog" or "coach killer", etc. etc. That is very a rudimentary opinion.

FYI- I'm not picking on your post more than others, but I'm more or less speaking to the nature of fans to have knee jerk Skip Bayless-like two word over-arching opinions of athletes.

 

Lin isn't a superstar. Melo didn't want to share the lime-light with what turned out to be an average basketball player.


Morey feels like Melo would put us over the top to truely contend for and win a title. I trust his vision.

It takes sacrific to win a title. Harden and Howard may get less touches. It'll be okay. I think there are enough shots to go around anyway.

 

Sounds like a great teammate!

Wait, did I miss something? Where is Morey's endorsement of adding Melo?

If Morey believes it can work, I would absolutely give it the benefit of the doubt.

It will surely cost us Parsons. I'm not willing to sacrifice Parsons for what I feel is a redundant player with a fairly one dimensional skillset on the other side of 30. Aldridge or Love? Yes. Rondo? Maybe. Melo? No.

 

Lin, Asik, Parsons, TJones, DMo, and Casspi for Melo and Smith works.

or

Lin, Asik, Parsons, TJones, DMo, Garcia, G Smith, Casspi, Canaan, and Covington for Melo, Smith, Felton works.

 

Melo shoots 10 for 22 on average, Love shoots 9 for 19. Melo is on a FAR worse team who needs him to shoot. Why are you so against Melo as a volume shooter but Love would be ok? Is it just the age factor? Love doesn't play a lick of defense either.

 

And Aldridge is the king of the mid range shot who also will be approaching 30.

 

Can you detail why you think Love is a better fit than Melo?

I would argue that Melo fits better with this Rockets squad than Aldridge, Love, or Rondo.

 

If I'm Phil Jackson I'm all over an opportunity to snag picks, Parsons and Jones. I wouldn't necessarily want to build around Carmelo Anthony. He's not someone you build around IMO. I think the chance a deal gets done is very real. If I'm the Knicks I can live without getting Parsons in return, his impending contract will make him less appealing to a rebuilding team. I imagine others may have more to offer though. We'll see.

 

I'm not for giving up anything beyond Lin & Asik...

Because you are essentially giving up our 6th man, a top 5 center, a top 6-8 SF, a promising young PF for a maybe top 3 PF, a 13 year old, and a bottom 2 starting PG.

 

Why does Parsons or anyone else need to be included in that? Lin + Asik = 30MM. That's enough to get Mellow and those other guys I would think. Only has to be within 15%. So that's $34.5MM. Plenty of room, no?

I think the salaries will work with Lin and Asik alone. Maybe a BimbaThug question.

 

That would be terrible. Smith is a chucker and not someone we need on this team. He doesn't bring anything to the table. And no again to Felton. He's terrible. He may be spending some time in prison soon anyways.

 

Melo would also be a great salary filler for say kevin durant

 

A rebounding stretch 4 is something we've been looking to acquire for over a year now.

He also plays great defense, can rebound, and bolsters one of our weakest positions.

Remember, Asik most likely goes bye bye when that 3rd star comes into the fold.

If it isn't a post player, we're going to be dangerously thin inside.

 

Love would be more effective rebounding and defensively which is where we need most improvement. On top of that, he can still get 25-30 a game. Where Melo would come in and need shots to be effective, taking away from Harden/Howard, Love can be effective in many different areas. I'd take Love over Melo every single time.

 

KLove gets a lot of those rebounds because he's out of position on defense. Sorry, as nice as rebounds are, we already have Dwight Howard. I'd prefer my 4 to be a good defender rather than just snagging more rebounds away from Dwight or something and as a result of playing worse defense...though I will admit, plugging Melo in at the 4 isn't giving you much better defense at the position either. Parsons not bulky enough to make the switch for any considerable amount of time. We'd be forced to run constant small ball, which isn't as viable in the West as it is in the East.

And shooting the 3 ball is great and all, but Melo can shoot the 3 very effectively as well. Not sure if we're really gaining that much more between Love and Melo from beyond the arc. Offensively, it's unquestionable that Melo is better than Love. Melo's one of the best offensive machines in the game. Are there are more efficient players? Sure, but it's hard to say whether that's a product of his crappy team + being #1 or something else. At least he's not on Rudy Gay's lvl of volume shooting haha.

LMA is a solid pickup though. If he could learn to take a few steps back and shoot those 3's instead, I'm all for him. TX kid too. I like!