The Official Where Is Carmelo Anthony Going Thread?

BBP...Void to be filled: primary back up to Bron in the depth chart and is capable of playing big minutes for Bron/AD/forward rotation during the regular season to keep our stars fresh for the playoffs (Melo averages 30mpg vs Dudz 16mpg). Playmakers on the roster are Bron, Rondo and Caruso. No one else has a history of playing that role. Melo does and again the 2nd unit could use it.

Bron not wanting Melo: I think it's opposite. I think Melo wants to earn a spot and not have it where it's a Bron courtesy hire (see Ty Lue). If Melo comes here, he doesn't want Bron pushing for him to get here.


(Peep the 1:30 mark)

So if anything, he's doing the honorable thing and doesn't want Bron to hook him up. He's wants to earn a spot on his own.

AND personally I don't care what Dudz has to say about Bron...I'll let Bron talk for his own damn self:

Bron in his own words told Rachel he would want to play with Melo on the Lakers.

Anyways, I've exhausted my position on this matter, so I will be telling you the same retorts I had with previous members. I encourage you to look back at it to better understand my position on the matter.

It really just boils down to my priority towards having our stars near 100% once the real season aka postseason starts. So bring in guys that limit the regular season responsibilities of Bron and AD. Melo can do that in spades over Dudz and/or Daniels...and filling up those vet min roster spots so rapidly when we didn't have to (Kawhi wasn't even in the bag yet) was a terrible take by our FO at that moment in time.

Btw, defense has been nutured over the years and the rules/refs have demonstrated that with how the game is being called now. You have to agree that offense is the premium now and it's been glamorized by the league.

 

Do it Mitch

 

Sounds like rich oil money to me.

 

Melo as a playmaker for who? Himself? We have Kuzma coming off the bench (likely). How does a Kuzma+Melo pairing work? Kuzma, at this point of his career, is a better option than Melo.

Lakers were in talks of getting Melo even last season. I don't think the Lakers want him. More yet, I don't think LeBron wants him either. What LeBron says to Rachel is LeBron being the smart media personality that he is. What is he supposed to say when asked with that question? "I don't want Melo. Lakers don't want Melo."? I think we all knew what LeBron's response would be. Listen, I have a real difficult time believing that if LeBron told the Lakers to get Melo and not to make it seem like he pushed for them, Lakers wouldn't have done it. Otherwise, what Melo is facing is likely never setting foot in the NBA again.

You're actually proving my point with the Lakers signing vet min spots and taking guys like Dudley and Daniels over Melo. Regardless of Bron's preference, you would think Melo would be a better option than both those players combined. But I will have to restate this: 30 teams in the NBA. None are highly interested in Melo. This dates back to when Melo could have been signed midway through alst season as well. If you are applying to 30 companies and none respond back to you, that's a YOU problem. 30 teams, if you're a valuable asset to them, you would have been signed already.

Offense has definitely been given preferential treatment to some extent but a lot of this is correlated with how shooting has been such a vital part of the game and this means there is more ball and player movement than ever to get shooters the open shot. More yet, no one wants to watch guys pound and dribble the ball down in the post burning 15-18 seconds per possession for a layup. But I am curious, what do you mean specifically by how the game is being called now?

 

^^^What I mean by how the game is being called now is this:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...018/10/30/18038802/nba-defense-offensive-boom

You just can't play legit sincere defense anymore and anybody watching the game can get a sense of that. The league is actively nuturing defense through rule changes and how it's being officiated. Imo it all started when the zone was reintroduced cause of Shaq.

And again it's going to sound redundant and I see your point about Melo, but I just feel he has much more to offer our current team than Dudz or Daniels will. I believe Melo can earn a spot on most teams, but he wants to go out his way. So it looks like it's going to be the Nets, cLips or Lakers. Other teams probably want him, but he doesn't want them (see Dame confirming this with Portland).

Anyways, it seems like Dwayne could breach this conversation with Bron during all their workouts together before the Staples home games.

 

Players are always going to support their own. Why wouldn't they? What would a player gain by saying, "Carmelo shouldn't play in the NBA"? LeBron has a lot of power and so does his influence. Saying stuff like not wanting Melo does nothing to help you. No one is debating whether Melo can play in the NBA. They are debating if he is worth having on a roster. 30 teams, none wants him. I feel I have to repeat that because really, that's your answer. If 30 teams sincerely aren't that interested, something tells me they have heard from other executives of why Melo is someone to avoid.

1. To respond to your defense, out of the entirety of the NBA, last year ranked 64th in FTA per game. Refs are calling the least amount of fouls in NBA history the past few years.
2. Games are not as physical and I'm glad they aren't. Guys who built their defensive reputation off being a dirty player should be completely phased out. Players shouldn't be injured nor should there be fights because a defender gets beat and then decides to grab or shove. Keep it a basketball game and not an MMA match.
3. Ratings were down during Shaq's years. NBA is an entertainment brand first-and-foremost. It made sense to change the rule and allow a faster pace basketball game rather than guys like Barkley dribbling the ball for 15-18 seconds trying to back down a defender.
   
4. The article also states that offense has opened up and thus, defense needs to modernize itself as well. With the offense changing the way it has, NBA has to figure out a new rule to allow the defense to meet the offense. It should be an illegal screen if a player is moving away from the basket but still is in the act of screening for their scorer. Some have said to bring back handchecking but handchecking still exists and are solemly called as a violation. There are recommendations to expand the three point line but by doing that, you open up the court and that means passing lanes and floor spacing open up.

I'm simply going to disagree that legit sincere defense can't be played. If anything, this opened up an opportunity for those who play great defense to be recognized. Guys like Rudy Gobert are still able to dominate and though he is limited offensively, his defense is what allows Utah to be so good. I'm glad we did away with dirty defense and are advocating for smart defense but I do agree there needs to be changes in the game that allows for the defense to be treated as fair as the offense considering the expansion of protecting the shooter and more emphasis on scoring.

 

Melo wants to go out the game on his terms. Again, I disagree that 30 teams passed on him. He himself has limited his pool...but then again, he's a free agent so he has that choice.



Until we see what's out on the court with Daniels/Dudz on this team, we'll never know. But I think Melo beats out those two in critical areas.

Defense: Dudz plays the type of defense you don't like...he's a tough guy, but his defensive numbers have slipped. Daniels isn't really known as a defender. As I pointed out before, Melo did not hurt Okc's defensive rating.

Minutes: Dudz and Daniels have not avg anywhere close to 30mpg. Melo has. In terms of relying on durability and a guy that can limit Bron's/AD's minutes during the regular season, Melo projects to be the better prospect among those guys.

Playmaking/Iso: Melo again has this over those 2. And that will help keep Bron's usage in check over the regular season. Kuz isn't the playmaker/iso specialist that Melo is, so if those 2 are part of the second unit, Kuz can work off of Melo and be that spot up and PnR finisher with Melo handling the ball and having the offense run through him.

Spot up shooting: Melo isn't a huge deterrent here but Dudz/Daniels are likely more better in this re than Melo is.

So when you look at all the boxes, I feel Melo projects to check more of them than our other vet min guys...which is why, I think he deserves their spot on this particular team. Melo has played with talent before, but not with the likes of Bron/AD so that could look special if given the opportunity.

In terms of defense, I'm old school and love the grit n grind of it. I too don't believe in injuring players, but tough (and not dirty) defense should be played and brought back to this generation. No one is sayimg to jump kick players like Bowen or slide under them like Zaza...but defense should be a highlight to the game and not an obstacle to a more glamorized offense.

Btw FTs are called less cause 3balls are now being taken far more. Also you can't encourage PACE if you keep blowing the whistle.

But it still comes down to that old cliche of defense winning championships. Last year, in the regular season the last place team avg about 104 pts per game. But in the playoffs 91. The Bucks avg 118 pts in the regular season, but in the playoffs 112. So the whistles do show up a little more when it really counts. I'm not even encouraging more of a stoppage by the refs...I just want them to be lax on the whistle in favor of the defensive player as they are with offensive players (ie travels/euro-steps, etc).

 

don't make me get on my block/charge soapbox...

if the league just let defenders have some space on the floor, harden would be a borderline allstar instead of a perennial mvp candidate.

 

LOL spell check for the win again .....

Or LB's PC filter changed it to "nurturing" because "neutering" just sounded too mean.

 

Nice catch, but this one is on me and isn't the site filter...

These phone glide keyboards stay trash haha

 

I'm neutered.



what? I didn't want to be like Dwight and have a dozen kids.

 

Melo doesn't get to choose where he wants to play in this market. You're actually highlighting a particular reason why teams refuse to sign Melo. If he truly wanted to play basketball, he should accept a team where he can prove himself rather than trying to select ones that he prefers.


Daniels isn't there to play defense. He's there to spread the floor - something he does better than Melo.

If we have to play Melo 30 minutes for any reason, we have BIGGER problems to worry about. Melo should not be playing 30 minutes on any team at this point in his career.

I don't know where you're getting these fabricated boxes that you created to make Melo seem better from. By your boxes and metric, Melo would be better than 75% of the league. Here are other boxes you forgot to observe:
Teammate, leader, personality, selfless, work ethic. Why leave out important facets in a team game and simply highlight box score stats that I've already stated isn't the reason why Melo is not on a team now?

Comparing the playoffs to the regular season has more to do with a team having a 7-game series to gameplan for the opposing team rather than in the regular season where they get a day at most and less to do with the whistles.

Melo hasn't played with the level of talent in Bron/AD but he has played with Russ/PG and they weren't a very good team with Melo playing particularly poorly offensively. What evidence do you have that this guy can co-exist with the Lakers and accept his role when he does not have a track record of doing so? Should he be on the Lakers? Maybe. But he shouldn't be a priority. If Melo was any other player not named Melo, he wouldn't have any mentions of him returning into the NBA. The only reason the Lakers are even mentioned is because of LeBron. If no LeBron, do you think Lakers are even an option? Is Melo a good defender? A good spot-up shooter? A good leader? A willing role player? Because those are the players we need to surround AD+Bron with.

 

My energy for Melo isn't for him in particular. It's to bring in one of the homies for your star in Bron. It's to give us durable talent for our frontline and a capable ballhandler to have Bron sub out and stay fresh for the postseason.

Melo has played with stars from the Olympics to OKC/Htown...I don't understand this whole bad teammate thing. When Htown and their trash coach wanted him off the bench, he did that. When Okc and their trash coach wanted Melo as the 4th option behind Russ, George and Adams, he did that. He now says he's willing to be a role player for a title contending team.

30mpg indicates he's durable and can play big minutes to rest Bron during the regular season, if it comes to that.

He doesn't check your boxes and that's fine. He does check mine and mine has to do more with taking care of our stars during the regular season compared to Danieks/Dudz, so that our stars are fresh for the playoffs.

Out of the player pool available, Melo stands out as the only playmaker that can ay big minutes. But if not him, then I'm cool with someone else. All I want is to bring in more team needs and currently we have redundant place fillers in Daniels/Dudz that don't meet those needs for us imo.

Agree to disagree, cause my energy is towards taking care of our stars for the real season in May. Meanwhile it seems like your energy is to make Melo out to be some team saboteur and frankly that's not even worth my energy in discussion. Bron, Kuz, Green and Mcgee have all worked out with dude this summer. If they're fine with Melo coming on board, so am I.

 

I respect the keeping LBJ fresh for the playoffs take and would not hate if we had Melo on the roster available to take some of those minutes and give depth in that area. And Kuz seems to be for it and he would have a continuing source of tutoring for his own offensive chops with Melo on the team. Melo's offensive and defensive (size over also "meh" smaller defender)'s overall value >>>>> Daniels. Poor Daniels. He better be putting up some sweaty and glistening poser shots of himself working on his game soon ..... or we at LB will have his a** shipped out of here before he ever sees the floor.

 

Well he looks to be in better shape.

 

According to Shams, nets aren't an option for now. They're going in another direction

 

Deng was mentioned in there. I thought he died a couple years ago.

 

we can't even afford him if we wanted him