The Official Where Is Carmelo Anthony Going Thread?

I like his shorts?

 

Dude can get his shot off for sure. Too bad he’s such a ball stopper.

 

Why is this in NBA discussion when the Lakers/Bron keep coming up with Melo?

 

Because nobody is rooting for it to happen

 

i really don't think it's his rep. it's his lack of defense, which isn't rep but fact. he can't guard anyone and doesn't want to. that kills teams in the modern nba with how team defenses have to work against all the floor stretching/spread pick and roll.

he actually did fix his offense a fair amount in terms of shot selection/less ball pounding, etc. but that's really an afterthought at this point. there's not a spot on the floor you feel comfortable with him defending.

 

"go away"

 

This. The whole blackballing thing doesn't make sense. Melo still thinks he's a star and he's spot bench player at this point of his career unless he changes his approach significantly. If he wants to sniff the NBA again he'll need to go the Grant Hill route but I don't see him doing that.

 

The truth is Melo had a better defensive rating than alot of marquee names (including Bron) the last time he had meaningful games/minutes in OKC.

https://stats.nba.com/players/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular Season&TeamID=1610612760

He fell in line in Okc. He came off the bench and shot 3s in Htown. He fell in line and was used as the scapegoat (see OKC last year without Melo and see Htown in the playoffs last year vs a hobbled dubs squad).

Imo he is getting blackballed do to some stupid a** coaching.

 

there's no DH in basketball unfortunately

 

Guess Iggy not happening for them fo sure now .... yay. If considering those two. Between Houston and Lakers whenever he gets bought out. We got this!


udleyattitude:

 

as i said earlier: i agree he's been miscast as an offensive villain of late. but i question the d ratings if they have him as anything but a huge problem. you have to build around his terrible d, which was fine when he could put up 30 in his sleep. those days are gone, and the d is even worse.

 

I'm sorry but I disagree with Melo being that bad on defense. I agree with some of the criticism, but you guys act like dude is washed.

For example, in his last full season (2017/18), he was part of an Okc squad that was top 10 on defense.

And I know what folks will say...George, Aquaman, Roberson and Russ covered for him on defense. Well, Melo was on the court for 30mpg as a starter in 78 games, had a comparable defensive rating to George & Russ in that time, Roberson was lost for most of that season and he was top 4 on the team in defensive win shares as a result.

Either Donovan is a defensive ace for creating a system to hide Melo OR Melo held his own and had an impact on the defensive end for that 9th best rated defensive team.

https://stats.nba.com/players/defense/?sort=DEF_WS&dir=-1&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular Season&TeamID=1610612760

Btw here's Melo giving the business to our new 15m dollar man.

 

I'm sorry but this is a terrible take. Melo is piss-poor defensively and no metric will ever change that. Did you really think a short stint with the OKC would overwrite his entire career of being known as a defensive liability? The year before Melo arrived, OKC also ranked top 10 in defense. The year after Melo, they ranked 4th in defensive rating. OKC has always been a very good defensive team and Melo was a byproduct of that system so it's likely a confirmation bias on your end to justify Melo's defensive deficiency. Nevermind the fact that he was also a below average scorer for the Thunder in that short stint.

I'm not sure how a highlight of Melo scoring over DG is supposed to prove. Melo is an amazing offensive talent even at his old age but the issue is he isn't anything else other than that.
1) He's primarily an ISO scorer. The days of being an ISO scorer are over. If you can't move the ball and get teammates involved, your value is automatically lesser than someone who can even if they aren't as good of an ISO scorer.
2) He's not a very good defender. Terrible help defender, terrible post defender, and can't guard the perimeter AT ALL.
3) He's not capable of being a catch-and-shoot player. Melo is a rhythm player because all ISO players are. If he's not touching the ball every possession, he's not going to generate much production for you otherwise.

I like Melo but usually when all 30 teams haven't signed you yet and you've been in the league for 15+ years, it's a YOU problem. Wade would have no problem getting signed if he wanted to still play. Dudley was signed over Melo despite no one in their right mind thinking Dudley is a better player than Melo. Dudley, however, is a better contributor than Melo and that is the difference. I'm not even worried about Melo's attitude because Bron can control him and lead the team. When we have Kuzma, I don't see how Melo fits in the roster.

 

so, a (short) highlight reel of melo scoring on an obviously disinterested danny green in a pickup game that apparently doesn't involve help defense is the trump card, eh?

side comment: if this is how nba players play in the offseason, they might be better off not playing. these clips (not just that one--like, all of them) don't resemble the game they play for a living in any way. i think this is why the guys who manage to stay healthy and play in the international competitions have big years--they actually played organized basketball while everyone else was playing in games where baron davis could still run things.

 

Short clip is to prove he's in good shape still and isn't as washed as some of you claim.

Good rebuttal @BangBoomPow and I appreciate it's not just your eye test that is being sourced as your major point in contention. For most of yall, it seems like that's y'all trump card. #MakeDiscussionBetterAgain

However Okc did have guys like Dipo, Kanter and a healthy Roberson, in the previous years and although I'm not saying Melo is the reason the defense is good, I did imply that he held his own against Okc's top defenders and did not have to be hidden on their defense. In fact his defense did not hurt Okc's standing in that regard.

As for Okc being the 4th best ranked defensive team last year (106.5) after Melo's lone year there (106.4), the league has successfully phased out defense. For example, 4 years ago is when the last team scored a double digit defensive rating for the season. The Lakers were dead last at 110 that season (lower scores are better). Last season the Bucks were rated first at 105 and a 110 would have been rated 17th best in the league.

The point I was making is that Melo's presence didn't have it where Okc's defensive rating fell off a cliff and dude with his starting role and 30m+ had an influence on those numbers. So dude held his own instead of hurting the team's performance on that end.

As for iso play being phased out, Harden has been the new poster child for the NBA. Even if you look at Giannis's MVP season last year, his iso frequency went up compared to previous years. KD just got a bag even though he blew out his Achilles for his iso impact on for teams.

Bottomline: the 2nd unit would be a whole lot better with Melo leading that unit than a guy like Dudley. Not to mention the benefits it would provide Bron to not take on the full brunt of the offense during the regular season when he ups his usage playing iso/playmaker. If you look at that short clip again Melo also makes some nice reads to highlight his passing game.

This narrative that Melo is a team killer is ridiculous and it's such a terrible take considering his mans is on the team and Bron won't allow another derailed season because of it.

 

I agree, he isn't washed. But what are the odds someone like Melo has the ability to change his game 16 years later when he was primarily an ISO-scorer who wasn't known for his defense? I can't count on more than one hand how many players improved their defense 16 years later. It just doesn't happen. Melo would fit a lot better on a team where he's able to get his touches and contribute offensively>defensively such as the Nets. Lakers need versatile players who can play offball, set screens, rebound, catch-and-shoot, etc., and that is why we phased out from players such as Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley as our role players. It just didn't work. We needed players who buy into a system and that holds especially true when you have two elite players in AD and Bron.

Defense hasn't been phased out. The efficiency of three point shooting along with an increased pace has increased scoring numbers and possessions. The game is simply far more difficult to guard because players are capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and that means your defensive lineups are less impactful as they used to be. The days of zoning someone and hoping you can just triple team a player are over when you have 2-3 guys on a team that can knock down ~38% from three.

Harden ISO works because he can get to the FT line, paint, stepback and hit the three, or pass the ball for an open shooter by commanding double teams. Melo CAN'T do that. But you've proven my point: How successful was Harden playing ISO in the playoffs? How successful was KD playing ISO for the OKC before the Warriors stint? Warriors didn't get KD for ISO gameplay. They grabbed KD because by doing so, they eliminated the OKC as competitors and also, KD fits their system very well since he can play offball. Melo can't play offball. Derrick Rose just came out yesterday and said Melo played a certain way that the team had to adjust to. Giannis is a prime example. I'm not sure if his ISO% truly went up but that could have a lot to do with the fact that his team turned from one of the worst three point shooting team to being one of the best primarily thanks to a guy like Brook Lopez who was able to space the floor for Giannis and allow him to bully defenders into the paint. But we all saw how that worked when against the Raptors, Giannis was heavily exposed.

Melo is infinitely better than Dudley and will always be. But Dudley has been a willing team player his entire career who has openly stated that he will do whatever it takes regardless if he is playing or not. He's the type of locker room presence you need. Is Melo that dude? I mean, here's a guy who reports stated was frustrated with the attention Lin was getting during the Linsanity stretch of Lin's career. I'm all up for Melo IF I knew for a fact he was content with playing 10-20 minutes per game while knowing his role is to be a complimentary player rather than ISO scorer. I just don't know if that is something Melo can be. The same was with Dwight but at least with Dwight, we didn't have many options remaining considering Gortat, Noah, and Speights were likely the other centers remaining. What void is Melo replacing that we need? 30 teams aren't interested in Melo for a reason and it's very likely every single one of those teams have heard the buzz from other NBA executives about Melo's presence on a team. Think about it: Dudley called LeBron and asked for a chance to be with the Lakers. Lakers then sign Dudley. If LeBron TRULY wanted Melo, he would be a Lakers right now.

https://lebronwire.usatoday.com/201...credit-lebrons-ok-for-bringing-him-to-lakers/

According to Dudley, LeBron was heavily involved in him being signed with the Lakers. Carmelo is one of LeBron's best friends and a much better player than Dudley. Why was Dudley signed but Melo still can't get a spot on any team - including the Lakers? My guess? LeBron doesn't really want Melo on the team as much as people think.

 

or melo doesn't want a dudley role, and that's all we have to offer.