And they've pretty much painted themselves into that corner. They spent the past six months insisting that the Nets' offer wasn't good enough...and now for any deal to happen, they'd have to accept an offer that's 50 cents on the dollar.
Exactly. At this point, it's like trying to sell a $200M luxury yacht when the end of the world is right around the corner. Who, at this point, is really ready to bail Denver out of this mess? Melo has obvious appeal for obvious reasons, but Denver is going to REALLY need to change their expectations/demands if anything is going to materialize before February's approaching trade deadline. For that reason, I have a hard time believing Bucher's statements that dismiss Houston as a possible destination.
Here is an excerpt from Bill Simmons' chat on SportsNation today and I apologize if someone else posted it..take it for what it's worth... http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/36624 John (Dallas) Have any thoughts on where Carmelo will be going and when? Bill Simmons (2:11 PM) Everyone thinks I'm crazy - but I think someone's going to rent him for the season. That's where this is going. Denver needs to move soon because this whole saga has turned into a disaster for them on and off the court. The Knicks are lowballing them. The Nets won't talk to them. So at some point, they have to cut their losses and do something. The best rental matchup is Houston: They have Yao's expiring contract (partially paid by insurance), multiple draft picks, Shane Battier, a young power forward to throw in (either Patterson or Hill), Jefferies' expiring contract... I mean, they could put together a monster deal that would save Denver serious cash, allow them to start over and keep them competitive for Ewing Theory potential this spring. And if you're the Rockets, you're hoping either Carmelo likes it in Houston, OR the new CBA rules will swing your way and make it financially beneficial for Melo to stay, OR you can rent him for half a season, then flip him to the Knicks this summer for 80 cents on the dollar for what you gave up.
IF all it takes is Yao, one young player, a draft pick AND using a TE to take on Andersen, I could see the Rockets going for it. Even if Melo decides to bolt to NY next year, you could S&T him and have a massive TE to use to acquire another talent, PLUS the cap space the rockets will already have. Use the cap space, THEN use the TE for maximum effect. If Denver wants Houston to take on Harrington, etc...AND give up a lot more talent, I wouldn't touch that.
That's pretty much what everyone has been saying here. The worst case scenario is we give up Bud and Hill and the Knicks pick for Galinaro and Randolph. Not a bad price to pay for a chance to get Carmelo.
First of all I would not want to give up Patterson to acquire Melo, let alone use him to take on salary in a Melo rental. The real problem outlined is the luxury tax... How much money is Houston willing to take on to get a Melo rental. I am not sure why they talk about Kenyon Martin, as he is an expiring and we don't have any TPE's that large, so how does it even benefit the Nuggets by trading him we can only give up expirings which is a wash? Furthermore, Al Harrington will be turning very 31 soon and his contract goes through the 2014/2015 season paying him $7.6 million in the last year of his contract. I consider his contract unacceptable in a trade to rent Melo because he could be a rental and we would suffer for 4 more years of Harrington's contract. Now if Denver were willing to somehow also give us some more permanent assets to entice us to take on Harrington I'd be all for it, but looking at their players salaries/contract lengths I find this difficult and question whether these "potential" deal be any better than NY's. I do not think any team will be willing to take on Harrington knowing that Melo is most likely going to be a rental. The perfect scenario that I could see Houston doing, if Denver completely (and I mean completely) wants to rebuild is the following: Hou out: Yao, Jeffries, Budinger, Hill, Ariza TPE, Yao DPE Hou in: Melo, Nene, Balkman, Andersen, Harrington Den out: Melo, Nene, Balkman, Andersen, Harrington Den in: Yao, Jeffries, Budinger, Hill, Ariza TPE, Yao DPE We would also add in a few picks to the deal to get them restarted. Why for Houston? Simple we turn cap space into exactly what we need to win. We improve our Center position dramatically and our we get our Star. We pay a huge price in Luxury tax but we have a team that can win and possibly win now... Why for Denver? By getting rid of Andersen, Balkman and Harrington the Nuggets only contract they would have for the 2012/2013 season is Ty Lawson (who has a team option that year). They shed $2 million on the trade alone, $10.3 million worth of TPE/DPE and get the contracts of Balkman, Harrington and to some extent Andersen taken off their books. They also get Yao's $8 million insurance payout... Brooks/Lowry Martin/Lee Melo/Battier/Williams Scola/Hayes/Patterson Nene/Andersen/Miller Of course this is a complete rebuild for Denver... and Houston is taking on a ton of salary. Houston would also be in a good position to make some more deals. Even if Melo walks away adding Nene and Andersen IMO are solid consolation prizes.
I'm all for the Rent-a-Melo deal, but only if it brings us help on the front line. Chances are that if a deal is made, J.Hill or Patrick Patterson are going to be dealt. This will actually make us much weaker in the front court because this would mean Brad Miller would need to play more minutes - and we all know how atrocious his defense is.. Melo and a productive center taller than 6'10, i'd be all for it.. as long as they dont ask for 3 or 4 out of 5 of our starters.
I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying we could do this trade with NY as an alternative to trading for Melo or to supplement our offer (our TE, Yao's contract + players acquired in this trade) to Denver for Melo?
I think it means you trade for Melo (and Denver prefers trading him to us than to NY either because Denver likes our package better or because Denver is pissed at NY) then later trade Melo to the Knicks for, say, some package including Gallinari. I think the exchange would work. If the Rockets trade for Melo, then Melo has a choice of (a) resigining with Houston, (b) become a FA and lose money, or (c) working with Houston and NY to get a deal done where he signs and extension with Houston and gets traded (at, say, around draft time) to NY. Now, NY clearly prefers it if Melo chooses option (b), but I doubt they say no to working with Melo and the Rockets on option (c) since if they piss him off with stubornness, Melo may decide to say "screw you" and go elsewhere. Houston probably prefers Melo go with option (a), but would probably not play brinksmanship and risk pissing Melo off and having him choose option (b). So in any case it seems some option (c) deal is a reasonable solution for everyone. Two of NY's better players, Wilson Chandler and Gallinari, basically play the same position as Melo, so it's not a huge loss for the Knicks to give one up (though I don't think they can trade Chandler after the February deadline, since he's becoming a RFA), maybe along with some other assets. Anyhow, lets say we had to ship Jordan Hilll and Budinger + Yao's exiring and a pick for Melo, getting Gallo at the end of the trade is not a bad return given that the team has depths at several positions.
Id be okay with a rent a Melo if it were only Hill and Budinger, but taking back Harrington is not a good idea for just a rental. Patterson would absolutely be a deal breaker for me.
Actually a decent take. I should think Nene is the contract we could take off their hands, though he's not one Denver is looking to move, cause he's good and only has one more year left on his contract. For rockets, even if Melo leaves, Nene provides a good center for next year, and then expires. The only other contract I'd maybe take would be Birdman, I think we could use yao's DPE straight for him....but if Melo doesnt re-sign, we'll be screwed paying him for the next 3 years...The only way I take Harington's contract is if Melo signs an extension, otherwise no way. I think a realistic deal would be: Yao for Melo straight (Yao's salary covered by insurance, so saves them about $6 mil or so) + Jeffries, Hill, Budinger, Twill, NY pick for Nene (the deal's assets + Denver saves $11 for Nene next year) Yao's DPE or Ariza TE for J.R. Smith (Denver saves rest of Smith's salary this year, maybe $3 mil) All in all, Denver saves about 20 mil, gets decent assets, 1 pick. Not great for rebuilding, but saves boat load of money short term and gets young, developing players. I suppose if they push for 1 more pick, we could trade Brooks for a decent 1st rounder, but that would be a lot to give up for a rental....
Not a bad option IMO. Gallo will fit Adelman's system nicely I think. And once Shane comes off the books, you can give more PT to Terrence Williams and hope he can turn into a nice player. And if we can get Nene in the deal, and sign AB to an extension for a reasonable price we may be an under the radar team come next year. Not a contender, but could still have some assets to move around for splash. Lowry/AB Martin/Lee T.Will/Gallo Scola/PatPat Nene/Hayes
Michael Kay (ESPN Radio) claims a source states the Knicks have made an offer to Denver of: Chandler, Fields, Curry & #1 pick (not yet acquired). Denver rejects said offer.. NO LINK...GOT FROM REAL GM BOARD...BUT SINCE IT WAS A RADIO SHOW....
