Melo traded to OKC | Page 5 | Syracusefan.com

Melo traded to OKC

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.

For reference's sake, his 3PAr on the Olympics teams was about 54%. I can't imagine him being that high in the NBA, but like I said, a jump up to 40-45% might be enough to get him up over the 20 point mark.
 
For reference's sake, his 3PAr on the Olympics teams was about 54%. I can't imagine him being that high in the NBA, but like I said, a jump up to 40-45% might be enough to get him up over the 20 point mark.

#olympicmelo

I'm a big play index guy, I love doing random searches on there. So I was curious, I wanted to look for players like Melo in regard to size and usage and see what kind of 3 point rates they came up with.

Melo had a 29% usage last year; so I'm doing a search for guys between 6-7 and 6-9 with a usage over 25%. There were 12 guys who fit that, here's the list if you're curious

Player Season Finder | Basketball-Reference.com

Klay had the highest 3 point rate, at .47. Paul George was #2 on the list; surprising to me that Melo and Durant had a near identical 3 point rate last season.

It looks to me that .45 or so is probably too high to expect, the guys who get that high are usually smaller or lowe usage guys. But the .35-.40 range? Seems doable.
 
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.

KP could every game and they will still lose around 65 of them. That team is now beyond bad, which in my opinion is good - need more young talent. lose lose lose
 
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.

My thoughts exactly. Without Houston in the mix because of Ryan Anderson's horrendous contract, the Knicks options were limited and having Carmelo come into training camp this year after the well was completely poisoned by Phil made no sense.

People can rag on the return but this was a buyer's market on Melo at the core because of decisions that Phil made, specifically the no trade clause but also because Melo is on a large contract and on the downside of his career.

I'm just happy that the team can focus on the young guys, probably tank this season, get a solid draft pick in a deep draft, and then in a few years be in a good position to be a winning ballclub.
 
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I think they will be able to work the rotation so that each gets enough looks.

To me the critical thing with OKC is the last 5 minutes of the game when they will all be on the floor if it is a close game. Are they making each other better, or getting in each other way so that less efficient instead of more efficient shots are being taken. That will be the key to their season.
 
I think they will be able to work the rotation so that each gets enough looks.

To me the critical thing with OKC is the last 5 minutes of the game when they will all be on the floor if it is a close game. Are they making each other better, or getting in each other way so that less efficient instead of more efficient shots are being taken. That will be the key to their season.

I have a guess as to how that turns out...
 
I think they will be able to work the rotation so that each gets enough looks.

To me the critical thing with OKC is the last 5 minutes of the game when they will all be on the floor if it is a close game. Are they making each other better, or getting in each other way so that less efficient instead of more efficient shots are being taken. That will be the key to their season.
and who is going to commit to defending at crunch time. Neither Melo nor Westbrook are dedicated to that end, if it doesn't change they aren't advancing.
 
and who is going to commit to defending at crunch time. Neither Melo nor Westbrook are dedicated to that end, if it doesn't change they aren't advancing.

They have Steven Adams and Andre Roberson to do the dirty work.
 
George is a terrific two-way player. Some of Melo's roughest outings in the past have been a result directly going against George.

Also melo has shown to be a stingy defender as 4. Especially in the world of small ball. Honestly that may be the biggest advantage here. OKC can easily adapt more now with their lineups. Melo being as strong as he is under the basket is a huge plus. Definitely where he played his best when in NY.
 
Also melo has shown to be a stingy defender as 4. Especially in the world of small ball. Honestly that may be the biggest advantage here. OKC can easily adapt more now with their lineups. Melo being as strong as he is under the basket is a huge plus. Definitely where he played his best when in NY.
Very astute observation. People are always like, Melo can't defend ... but it's 3's like Quwai Leonard that he struggles with. I mean, get in line. Lots of good defenders struggle to guard guys like that. Draymond can't defend him either. Melo is strong enough to check bigger PF's or even centers, and they have George to guard SF. I like this lineup.
 
Very astute observation. People are always like, Melo can't defend ... but it's 3's like Quwai Leonard that he struggles with. I mean, get in line. Lots of good defenders struggle to guard guys like that. Draymond can't defend him either. Melo is strong enough to check bigger PF's or even centers, and they have George to guard SF. I like this lineup.

I don't think Melo is a good defender at any position. Sounds like he has some quotes today where he's willing to play the 4 though, so that's good.
 
If they had a 2 that could shoot the 3 and defend, I’d give them a legit shot to beat GS...on paper. Pretty tough to get it done in year 1 of playing together.

If they had a 2 that could shoot, they’d be as impossible to guard as GS.
 
I don't think Melo is a good defender at any position. Sounds like he has some quotes today where he's willing to play the 4 though, so that's good.
Not that I actually said Melo was a "good defender" (I just said lots of good defenders have trouble with QL). But to your point, Ah, to me he's an effective defender at the 4, especially for being in the league 13 years.
 
I don't think Melo is a good defender at any position. Sounds like he has some quotes today where he's willing to play the 4 though, so that's good.

I'll disagree here. Many times when people get upset with his defending it is due to rotations off switches. Even LeBron gets caught all the time. Melo is stronger more than quick in his defensive stance. As an on ball defender of a 3/2 he gets beat as much as any average defender would. In the post he is tougher to deal with given his quick hands and strength. Obviously if he is guarding a 7-2 center he has limitation.

Much of his defensive weakness was due to the fact he was an elite small forward who was not a great on ball defender. I would argue that is more the norm than not. Advanced stats along with this label tends to drive bias towards him being a poor defender as well.

The final issue is that he is not a flopper. He stands his ground, and has gotten into ample foul trouble for not pulling a duke move every time some one posts him up.

Overall he is an average defender.. below average vs small forwards and average to above average vs power forwards. Add his strength as a rebounder and it evens out.
 
For the gamblers, if okc opens at 8-1, do I throw a buck or two at it?
 
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 - that's the key. If he can be content in that role, and just be more ball-dominant when Westbrook is off the court, it could work out really well.
 

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