[Yahoo!] Carmelo privately expressing more enthusiasm to join Rockets than Knicks

He can try, but the difference in what you are talking about, the elephant in the room so to speak is the expiring CBA.

If Melo wants that deal done under the current agreement he may have to comprimise.

Because no one is going to be able to sign Free Agents once the lockout happens, he could be SOL and leaving a lot of money on the table.

or, he could opt in for one more year in Denver....

This is uncharted territory, it is not TMac like.....the CBA changes everything.

Oh, and your point about money is a little off.

Amare took the biggest contract he was offered, the Suns were not offering the Max, and both Bosh and Lebron are making more money in Miami than they would have made in their other towns simply because there is no state income tax in Florida....

Carry on...

DD

 

Amare took less money I'm assuming because he had faith in the Knicks FO to pull in others with him. That might have been a presumption IMO.

My point isn't that Melo only cares about money. If that were the case he'd just resign with Denver now. It's a balance between getting paid and getting rings....like any other serious top tier player. My point is that the higher the likelihood of a championship, the more willing a player is to drop his asking price. Can Melo and CP3 force trades now to get to the Knicks with Amare, yes but the difficulty in getting that done is substantially harder than it was for LBJ and Bosh to get to Miami. Miami didn't have to deal with the Cavs or Raps (just the players and sign them outright), they had the cap space to do it in free agency, and they had the organizational leadership to build a title winning team. Risk is lower of not winning that ring hence a drop in asking price. The risk of not being able to pull off the same is much higher with the Knicks (and Nets imo) given the fact that CP3 would have to pull off the same thing Melo is trying to do right now (not as simple a task as it was for Bosh and LBJ), AND the Knicks FO hasn't really shown itself over the years to be able to make the deals necessary to build a winning team let alone a title contender. The risk is higher therefore the cash incentive to overlook that risk has to go up as well.

 

A) Similarly, if Denver wants anything worth a **** for Carmelo, they will trade him. The elephant in the room isn't the CBA -- Carmelo isn't going to agree to a trade to Minnesota just because that's the only way he'd get his extension. It's just flat out not going to happen. He'll take the hit and make up for it in New York advertisements.

B) He wants out -- he's not opting in, unless it's with a different team.

C) I did a little more research on Amare. Phoenix was apparently offering him about ~5M more, but it was tied into minutes incentives... which apparently Amare's camp didn't like. But the Knicks did offer him the full max available to all other 29 teams.

D) I was responding to someone who disagrees that Carmelo holds his own cards. I still maintain that. You can talk about him losing potential money all you want, but without him agreeing to a city, he's not being traded there. Period. And I doubt he gets so desperate for that money that he moves to Minnesota just to get the same offer. Is a few extra million worth living in Minnesota vs. New York for three years? Maybe for the common man, but not for the star NBA players.

E) LeBron & Bosh are not making more money than they would be with their home team. You're thinking of the argument of them signing a 5 year contract with the Heat vs. 5 year contract with the Cavs/Raptors. They both were SnT'd for 6 years at a discount.

http://business-and-finance-1357.blogspot.com/2010/07/lebron-james-miami-contract-110-million.html

this link deals with the tax arguments you were making in the 5 year vs. 5 year contract. Since they both signed 6 year deals, they both left money on the table.

Not sure what you're talking about. I said Carmelo could give the Nuggets a list of teams he would be willing to go to -- not that he could force his way to one specific team.

All CP3 would have to do is play out the last year of his contract. Not the most difficult thing to do in the world, especially when you consider that LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Amare, etc. all did the same less than two months ago.

 

Regardless of the lockout or not, melo will be the highest paid player if he opts for free agency. The cba may shorten the contracts, but thats still a bonus for a guy who is 25-26. So say the cba only allows max deals starting 14m, he will get 14m and the years he wants in a place he wants to be. He does control it because no team will give up talent and picks without having a good idea he will sign an extension. I've said it many times, i will be shocked if he's not in new jersey for favors,williams and murphy.

 

I think Morey should do a "State of the Rockets" address and let us know what the ***** is going on.

 

Wasn't Lala in Houston?

I think Morey was trading draft picks and assets with her if you catch my drift.

 

Melo won't sign an extension with NJ

If the team only has Lopez and himself.....Really 3 years with the Nets facing Magic/Celts/Heat......I don't care how good Lopez becomes.

If it was for money he would go to any team and sign the extension, if he wants to win he will position himself to win.

 

LeBron needs to help us out!

He needs to give the same advice to Melo that he did to CP3; stay in the West!

I hope Morey is just playing possum, because I highly doubt were not interested in him.

This is the "Kevin Garnett" situation that he was talking about.

He doesn't care how much of an attitude a player has, as long as they contribute it don't matter!

http://www.thedreamshake.com/2010/8/30/1659332/exclusive-quick-takes-with-rockets#storyjump

 

I was referring to your point that NBA players won't necessarily take the max money they can get these days. I agree that they won't necessarily take the max, but my point was that they'd only take less if the likelihood of getting rings increases even more. LBJ and Wade wouldn't take a pay cut if their wasn't certainty all 3 would be playing together. In fact they took the cut so all three could be there at once and still have enough to add pieces.

If i'm not mistaken he has 2 years left before he can opt out. If Melo is looking to make move to another team this season that's two years our of a likely 3 year contract before CP3 could join in as a FA. Otherwise CP3 would have to force his way out. The difference in your comparison with LBJ, Wade, and Bosh is that none of them had to wait on each other to get on the same team. A lot can change in 2 years for CP3. My point is that it's without question a higher risk for Melo than it was for the trio in Miami.

 

I understand your points and in general I agree with them -- I just don't think they're necessarily applicable to the New York situation. I think LBJ or Wade would have taken a pay cut to pair up with Bosh... and vice versa. Lucky for them, they had room for all three.

I think Carmelo would be willing to take less than the absolute max for the chance to play closer to home, in a bigger market (wife and his advertisement money goes up), with Amare, and in Madison Square Garden. However, I don't think he'll ever get the chance; Denver will trade him to a team that he's willing to sign an extension with.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhbajsdDeOTZbJEEQ3DWJhA5nYcB?slug=ap-nuggets-masai
:<

 

I think all of us have moved on by now. Let that GM ruin his second franchise. They arent getting anything again like Toronto this same guy of that franchise when they lost Bosh when they handled it the exact same way. Knicks will sign Carmelo and they will be made to do a SNT for the Knicks leftovers because they have to. Then we will never have to worry about Denver again in our conference. I believe the league almost is making these superteams. You cant make teams hire the same incompetent GM and look the same twice unless your trying this hard. I tend to believe Carmelo to New York and Chris Paul is a foregone conclusion we shouldnt waist our energy on. There are larger hands involved with these superteam formations.

 

I agree, Denver will probably only deal with Extend & Trade proposals to net the most value. The only way I see him going to Knicks is if that team doesn't get gutted in an extend/sign/trade. Nets have more assets to pull it off, but doesn't get him Amare or MSG. It's a problem....my only hope is that Morey capitalizes on someone else's problem and makes it an opportunity for the rox.

 

I forgot about that DM interview.

It's ridiculously clear that he wants to make a splash trade and is no where near content with the current roster.

 

There are only 2 players thai IMO are worth the "Splash" and they are Carmelo and CP3.

Granger and Iguodala do not fall under that category.

 

http://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/22621582772

http://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/22618172923

http://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/22617904602

http://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/22616840322

If the way Iggy is playing at the Worlds is why Sixers fans are so receptive over trading him... Sixers would need to include draft picks and other assets for the Rockets to take on his contract.

 

Lol if you trade all those players who do you expect Melo to play with?

 

Harris, Favors, and picks are included in the package?

Melo would be going to a craptastic team.

 

Id take it in a second if I where the Nuggets. Them waiting for anything better is pure stupidity. The Nuggets or Carmelo come o their sense and then they wont do it or go through with it. Favors and Devon Harris with picks is as good as it gets. Carmelo is turning that team into playoff favorites with Favors and Harris gone. Those picks would be valuable still but not as high as our picks from New York because I dont believe Amare will make his team better than Melo will for the Nets. Favors however is the kind of upside they are looking for. Not there already like Brooks or Martin but its something and they appear to be enamored with guys like that with upside.

 

Nets lineup if that deal went through:

Farmar-Williams-Melo-Murphy-Lopez

Murphy and Brook made a damn good frontcourt but the backcourt ruins it, not sure if Melo would sign an extension there unless both Harris/Brook are there. Farmar would be the worst starting pg in the league.