Melo is playing dumb, but he knows what is going on...the whole bit where he says " I never told NJ anything" is such bull****. Because Melo tells his agent and his agent tells New Jersey.....thus, officially Melo never said anything, but he is the puppet master here.... DD
Rockets have made it clear that they would trade for him without an extension. It's not a dumb idea. If melo won't we sign, we can sign and trade him for more assets if Melo wants more money. Remember, we own his bird rights so he has to go through us if he wants the most money possible. It's a risk worth taking. Morey has stated that a superstar is a must to win a title.
I think that is exactly what Morey is looking to do, get Melo, remove the log jam of the current roster, and then bend NY over again in a S&T.... DD
I've heard a lot of discussion over "Oh, we can get a lot in a sign and trade, so getting Melo will be alright." What precedence is there for this assumption? Seattle got jack in the Rashard sign and trade. Cleveland got jack when they did it with LeDouche, and so did Toronto. Why are we going to assume it turns out different? All the Rockets will get is some trade exception, a few crappy picks. Expecting anything more from a sign and trade would be ridiculous.
We have an overloaded roster, we have to move some pieces, and if we lose one young guy that is replaceable, then why not? I doubt Morey offers up much for a rental, but Denver could make some serious cash by taking back Yao's contract....they are way over the lux tax line and we could make them profitable this year. Add in someone like Jhill, or CBud and it is somewhat attractive to the fans as well....and clears room for other players like PPat and TWill..... Then if Melo wants the money, either he signs here, or we work out something attractive with NY.....something we don't HAVE to do........basically you sort of put it to Melo.....you want the money, it is here in Houston..... DD
The difference is we are talking about a potential extend and trade before the expiration of the current CBA. In prior cases, both the S&T and the base-line straight up signing would have been done under the same set of CBA rules. In the case we contemplate now, the choice is between (a) signing a contract extension under the current CBA ($18 mil next year + $65 mil for 3 years after that) before the July 1, 2010 expiration of the CBA and (b) a "straight up signing" under the new CBA, whenever that is actually reached, under what is expected to be worse financial terms for Melo.
I tend to agree with you but I do see the logic in it. The Knicks got a nice return for Lee last offseason and Melo wants top dollar along with NY. While Cleveland and Toronto didn't get much they did get a nice huge T/E that will probably get used at the deadline. It basically signals the start of the rebuilding phase if Melo walks but T/E are now the new expiring contracts of todays NBA.
I think you forgot Chicago got jack when they traded Scottie Pippen to us. :grin: I do believe we can at least get a 1st round pick, especially since said pick would be likely be really low anyway. It sort of makes up for whatever we give up. But it definitely won't recuperate all losses. The only way a Melo to Houston deal makes sense is if Morey can follow it up with extra moves that literally would give us one of the most talented rosters in the entire NBA. And hope to hell that it makes lots of noise in the post season. It would probably take a finals appearance at least for Melo to even consider resigning. It would literally be an all-or-nothing move. Because if we make several moves that improve our current roster, we likely deplete most of our pool of young players and picks.
Maybe its just me, but i dont get how that benefits the rox. the only thing we can pick up from the knicks later would be 2 of 3 small fowards gallinary/fields/chandler a crazed nutbar in randolph and bad draft picks. woulnd't that create another log jam at the 3
We can force them to trade with other teams for their picks instead...say they move Randolph to Minny for a number 1 pick and they move Gallo to Toronto for a pick...and we get both.... That is the kind of deal I expect him to try to get. DD
Do not want without a signing an extension but could a 3 way with NY, Denver land the Rockets a C? Nene or Randolf that would be nice.
I can't see why anybody would want Melo in Houston, especially without any kind of extension. The guy wants to be in New York. How many ways does he have to express that for us to believe it? Why on earth would he want to come to Houston which isn't any closer to NYC than Denver? And if he did happen to come here without an extension, how do you think he'd play? He's a diva who wouldn't want to be here any more than in Denver and would look at this as a lame duck season. Whining. Complaining. Losing. No thanks. No Melo.
Taking Denver out of luxury tax and saving them $26 million plus a couple young prospects would be a pretty good deal for Denver if everything else fell through.
Let me destroy (IMO) some myths that are floating around in this thread, and on the media: The NJ deal was not broken down because Denver wanting 100 first round picks, the deal didn´t happened because Melo didn´t want to go there, it was nothing to do with Denver´s GM being a noob and trying to get the same value in return for Melo. Melo WILL sign a extension with whatever team lands him before the deadline. And finally, if Melo REALLY REALLY wanted to go to the Knicks, don´t you think he would already talked to Denver´s GM and tell him to only deal with them, making the process quicker, easier, more private, with less "Drama" involved, and allowing Denver to still have leverage???? By going public about wanting to go to the Knicks, it only made the transaction more difficult to happen sooner rather then later, because right now, the NYK "knows" (because he went public about it) that Melo wants (supposedly) to go there, and because they have the possibility of landing him in FA they will low ball Denver, and because of that it will make this Melodrama keep going and going. I don´t believe that Melo only wants the Knicks, because if it was THAT clear in his mind, he would already be there. He isn´t and because he isn´t, and smart GMs like Morey know that Melo will sign an extension, or atleast play one more year (because he still has a 18M year in his contract), Houston is a very possible destination for Melo. I will laugh my ass off when a team "rents" Melo, and one day later announces a contract extension. There are alot of lies out there, and I believe there is one team (don´t know who) that is trying to land Melo as a supposedly "rental" giving nothing for him, so that they still have assets to go after his boyfriend CP3 PeAcE
Look guys, if you got Melo as a rental, at least you are at the poker table with a big stack of chips..... Otherwise you are at the kids table looking longingly at the big dogs. DD
