Melo traded to OKC

[IthacaMatt]

It's worth mentioning that Porzingis has his own issues with the Knicks. He did skip his end of season exit interview.

Because he saw through the bullshit that Phil was shoveling. Phil was destroying the team with his stubborn insistence on running a certain, out-of-date offense, when he was no longer the coach. I mean, what the heck is that? Let your coach do the coaching and you get him the best players you can. That's your job.

 

[IthacaMatt]

What would you give up for a 33-year old ISO scorer whose best days are behind him? As a Knicks fan, I'd have loved a first-round pick, but the fact that we didn't take on a lot of extra salary is definitely a plus.

Perhaps Dougie Buckets can morph into Gordon Hayward 2.0.

Put Melo as the lead scorer on a second unit and he will dominate the end of the 1st quarter/beginning of the 2nd quarter against most other teams in the league. And then he'll rotate in and out with the others.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Yeah, I’m not sure about that. Young Melo had some rough moments, but he matured into a pretty solid citizen.

It’s a complete waste for team that’s nowhere close to competing to pay $26 million for a 33 year old though. In hindsight, based on the moves they made...Melo resigning in 2014 was a mistake on both sides from a basketball standpoint. From a financial standpoint Melo made a ton of money and gave the Knicks enough credibility to keep putting butts in the seats and gave them a star with name power to market.

Melo's mistake, and he made it twice in his career, was to place too high a premium on getting paid max dollars, that it hurt the ability to build a team around him. And he did it two times. OK, now you got paid, go play a supporting role and make a run at a title for a couple years. Good luck, Melo.

 

[Ghost]

Report: Melo ‘chewed out’ Porzingis over praise of triangle

Honestly, if you praise the triangle you should be chewed out.

The triangle could work for Golden State, or any other team with an elite roster, and movable parts like that, but otherwise, it's a joke.

Anyway, Melo is better off. This is sort of what the Knicks did last year, throw some **** at the wall and see if it sticks. Except he's Noah. But the parts are better, so who knows, maybe they catch fire. Either way, it's more interesting than the misfit toys the Knicks assembled last season. Soooooooooooooooooo, go get 'em OKC!!!! Plus, if I end up watching more Westbrook because of that, that's fun for me. He's a force.

 

[realorange]

Not a fan of this move for Melo. OKC still maybe 2nd best now.

And the Knicks are close to second worse.

At least he has a fighting chance with OKC.

 

[jncuse]

I made a bet Sunday morning for OKC to win their division at +115. Seems like great value. Nuggets are not quite ready. Are the T-Wolves really going to jump up that much with Butler? And the Jazz took massive hits this offseason.

EDIT - Seems like I got in on the bet at the right time. Less than 24 hours later, it has now adjusted down to -140.

 

[two3zone]

Can you elaborate some. I disagree but respect your opinion. I see them as having a good rim protector center in Adams, an elite defender who can defend the 2/3 in Roberson and I don't think they will need Roberson to score. They will get good scoring and rebounding from both PG and Melo at the 3 and 4. Then they have Russ who is unguardable 1 on 1. They also have Grant and Patterson. They could have more depth but I feel like the roster meshes pretty well.

I think Melo slows Westbrook down a bit. When they're established and set in the offensive end I think the offensive will strive as long as Melo passes more than he has in the past. He hasn't had a teammate as good as George before let alone two so I'm assuming he'll be giving up the rock quite a bit but he's going to have to change his game that he's been playing for well over a decade. I think when Westbrook is running the offense it'll be tough for Melo to be comfortable as I don't think he moves well without the ball.

I think Melo would bring a title to San Antonio right away, right style of play. Few other teams I think he'd do really well on as well. Just don't think him and Westbrook are a great fit.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Love the move for the NBA and for Melo. One of the guys I respect most when it comes to NBA opinion is Haralabos Voulgaris and he says Presti killed it this offseason. I think you see they Olympic version of Melo in OKC where he stands in the corner and makes his living shooting open jumpers. Life should be a lot easier for him not having to dominate the ball. It will be good to see another team with at least a chance of making Golden State sweat.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Love the move for the NBA and for Melo. One of the guys I respect most when it comes to NBA opinion is Haralabos Voulgaris and he says Presti killed it this offseason. I think you see they Olympic version of Melo in OKC where he stands in the corner and makes his living shooting open jumpers. Life should be a lot easier for him not having to dominate the ball. It will be good to see another team with at least a chance of making Golden State sweat.

Well said. It should be a nice arrangement in OKC. If he picks his spots like you say and looks for his open shots then he will thrive. George does more all over the court so hopefully Melo can find his spots and be a very valuable 3rd fiddle.

 

[cuseattle]

Honestly, if you praise the triangle you should be chewed out.

The triangle could work for Golden State, or any other team with an elite roster, and movable parts like that, but otherwise, it's a joke.

Anyway, Melo is better off. This is sort of what the Knicks did last year, throw some **** at the wall and see if it sticks. Except he's Noah. But the parts are better, so who knows, maybe they catch fire. Either way, it's more interesting than the misfit toys the Knicks assembled last season. Soooooooooooooooooo, go get 'em OKC!!!! Plus, if I end up watching more Westbrook because of that, that's fun for me. He's a force.

No triangle praise, but Phil won with that when all his HOF players hadn't before. He also left the Knicks better than he found them imo.

 

[cuseattle]

He didn't sell the farm.

 

[br801]

Knicks have all their draft picks and Porzingis. That's about the best anyone could have done. Phil inherited something pretty bad.

They seem a long way away to me, even in the East. Porzingis has to prove he can carry a team on his back and stay on the court; if he can't, they might not win 20 games. I don't see much on that roster that excites me otherwise. I like Hernangomez and hope the kid from France can play, but he's probably a few years away.

 

[CraigForth]

They seem a long way away to me, even in the East. Porzingis has to prove he can carry a team on his back and stay on the court; if he can't, they might not win 20 games. I don't see much on that roster that excites me otherwise. I like Hernangomez and hope the kid from France can play, but he's probably a few years away.

I'm going to predict they win less than 15 games. They need more young talent. Porzingis is really good, but, he can't carry the rest of those bums on his back. Hernangomez is going to be a solid player, Ntilikina -- who knows. They should lose plenty and that's actually a good thing. If Marvin Bagley is all that, then they should hope to lose lots.

 

[jncuse]

Phil Jackson was basically put into a situation where he could not make a great team -- he was never going to be the saviour a some expected... but he did not make the situation better moving forward either, in fact was making it worse every year. One can argue that drafting PP left them in a decent spot moving forward which is fair, but you had to get someone different to steer it

 

[Knicks411]

I'm going to predict they win less than 15 games. They need more young talent. Porzingis is really good, but, he can't carry the rest of those bums on his back. Hernangomez is going to be a solid player, Ntilikina -- who knows. They should lose plenty and that's actually a good thing. If Marvin Bagley is all that, then they should hope to lose lots.

I kinda hope they do, but I think they'll probably be just good enough to pick like 6th or something.

I am 100% in on Luka Doncic.

As for OKC, I think they'll finish 4th. Maybe they look better than the Spurs on paper, but it's the Spurs. They'll win 57 games

 

[jncuse]

How was Melo not a good influence on younger players? I don't follow the Knicks really closely.

Even if Melo was a good influence in the past, he was not going to be a good influence this year. Never healthy for a team when it's star player clearly wants to be traded -- if you are not a contender, especially in the NBA, get the assets you can and start the rebuild.

 

[jncuse]

This year might be the last year the current draft rules exist before they get a little tougher next year. Could result in some hardcore tanking from a few teams.

The best thing for the Knicks is to win 20 or less games. They haven't been that much better in recent years, so it is quite possible. Sit PP down anytime he has a tweak.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think this is a great fit for melo. While in Denver he did well with aggressive players around him like Chauncey, Kmart and JR. The best year in NY it was the same with guys who were both veterans and aggressive offensive players. Even back at SU- Gerry, Billy, Hak etc all could attack and get things moving.

In OKC he will have aggressive players around him as he has had every year he has been successful (plus international play). This coupled with having the alpha guy already there is even better. More so than KD, I see PG and Melo letting Russ do his thing while providing a lethal offensive attack and great spacing. Then having Adams inside who has a 80s Pistons nastiness about him makes a really good complementary mix. As the warriors bench depth gets older it just may be the right timing to have a shot to steal a finals berth. Not betting on it but overall I think chemistry wise this will work out well for melo and OKC.

As for NY...Watching the Knicks over the past few disastrous years it was constant deference to Melo where if he was shooting well it was great but poor shooting by teammates and thus low assist numbers were all his doing at least in the image dept. Porzingis is a great talent but he has a ways to go to figure out how to really use his uniqueness to dominate. If you think back to how Dirk played in his best years he was fluid and aggressive and made it easy to run the offense through him. I don't see that yet in KP. Not that he can't but it will be important mentality wise if he is going to be the centerpiece.

Another side for the Knicks is at guard there is no real leader or decision maker. If the rook and Hardaway jr step up and be the catalysts and KP finds himself as the focal point they really could improve. Personally I think they are a few years away and as fast as things change they could be behind the 8 ball once again.

 

[Melancer46]

Sneaky storyline from this: this trade may end up removing Carmelo from the list of players to average 20+ points per game in every season of their career (currently I believe it's only MJ, Durant, LeBron, and Melo).

If we assume that Paul George is the #2 scorer for OKC (which isn't totally a given), only 3 teams have had 3 players average 20+ points per game dating back to 1990, and all 3 of those teams were the Golden State Warriors.

 

[OrangeDW]

Love the move for the NBA and for Melo. One of the guys I respect most when it comes to NBA opinion is Haralabos Voulgaris and he says Presti killed it this offseason. I think you see they Olympic version of Melo in OKC where he stands in the corner and makes his living shooting open jumpers. Life should be a lot easier for him not having to dominate the ball. It will be good to see another team with at least a chance of making Golden State sweat.

Yup. Melo is a great spot up shooter. He just never got a ton of those looks with the Knicks as they usually had no other good scorers or creators. I think we’ll see him get an easier, more efficient 17-18 ppg rather than the hard-earned 22-23 ppg he’d been getting in NY recently.

 

[OrangeDW]

No triangle praise, but Phil won with that when all his HOF players hadn't before. He also left the Knicks better than he found them imo.

Phil was a legitimately great coach but he also had the good timing to take over Chicago and LA right as Pippen/Grant and Kobe were entering their primes.

Doug Collins may have had a prime Jordan and Del Harris had a prime Shaq...but Pippen/Kobe were young and not quite there.

 

[Knicks411]

Sneaky storyline from this: this trade may end up removing Carmelo from the list of players to average 20+ points per game in every season of their career (currently I believe it's only MJ, Durant, LeBron, and Melo).

If we assume that Paul George is the #2 scorer for OKC (which isn't totally a given), only 3 teams have had 3 players average 20+ points per game dating back to 1990, and all 3 of those teams were the Golden State Warriors.

That's interesting, hadn't thought of that.

If any team other than the Warriors could do it, might be OKC though. Melo/George/Russ are going to take so many of their shots. Just a lot of role players around them

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Sneaky storyline from this: this trade may end up removing Carmelo from the list of players to average 20+ points per game in every season of their career (currently I believe it's only MJ, Durant, LeBron, and Melo).

If we assume that Paul George is the #2 scorer for OKC (which isn't totally a given), only 3 teams have had 3 players average 20+ points per game dating back to 1990, and all 3 of those teams were the Golden State Warriors.

I think he's going to score a lot for OKC. Like, a lot.

 

[Melancer46]

That's interesting, hadn't thought of that.

If any team other than the Warriors could do it, might be OKC though. Melo/George/Russ are going to take so many of their shots. Just a lot of role players around them

Yeah, you know Adams and Roberson are barely going to take any shots away from those 3, so there's a decent chance that they could pull it off.

Still, if Melo is the 3rd option, his FGAs will almost certainly decline by at least 1/3 (he was taking 24-25 FGAs per game with the Knicks lol). I'd pencil him in around 16 FGAs if he's lucky with OKC. I think the key for him hitting 20+ PPG is to increase his 3PAs a lot. If he can increase his 3PAr from roughly 30% to like 40-45%, he might be able to get there.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah, you know Adams and Roberson are barely going to take any shots away from those 3, so there's a decent chance that they could pull it off.

Still, if Melo is the 3rd option, his FGAs will almost certainly decline by at least 1/3 (he was taking 24-25 FGAs per game with the Knicks lol). I'd pencil him in around 16 FGAs if he's lucky with OKC. I think the key for him hitting 20+ PPG is to increase his 3PAs a lot. If he can increase his 3PAr from roughly 30% to like 40-45%, he might be able to get there.

I wonder about his minutes too. They have some options, I forgot they had Patrick Patterson as well.

Melo is the oldest of their big 3, I wonder if they keep him at like 30-32 minutes a night?

His 3 point rate jumped a ton last year, that kinda snuck up on me. Around .22 the previous 2 years, then up to 0.30. You'd think there would be a lot more spot up situations for him this year.