Carmelo Anthony

[The Wizard of Moz]

Talk about slinging poop at a wall. Thunder trying anything to seem relevant. Sign of still a bad organization. Westbrook and Melo play complete opposite games, and yet both demand the ball. Gonna be ugly IMO.

I disagree here

First as far as organizations go the Thunder are a far superior organization than the Cavs from a strategic point of view. They have probably been one of if not the best drafting team since Durant. They drafted 3 top 8 players in the NBA today along with great value picks like Ibaka, Jackson, and Adams. There are only 2 reasons the Thunder aren't a top threat for the championship this year

1. Trading Harden (aka not paying him)
2. Kevin Durant being a complete fucking cunt

Now #1 is pretty bad, but really the fact that they don't have a championship right now is pretty much because their generational talent always shit himself when he was needed most. It's actually pretty embarrassing Durant couldn't win a title there with all the talent they surrounded him with despite what the dumbass tweets

As far as Carmelo goes, they got rid of a guy that they have been trying to unload for over a year and paired him with some candy corn and a VHS copy of ghostbusters to get one of the best scorers in the NBA. Is he a perfect fit? No. Is he a top 40 player? Absolutely. And to give up a guy they've been trying to unload along with the aforementioned grab bag of shit and get back a guy who at the very least will give them a 3rd guy who can create for himself and handle the scoring load... man that's a great trade imo

 

[Jscc]

I thought this was a great trade for OKC. They cleared Kanter's ridiculous contract from the books for a year of Melo production and two non-assets. They can now go small and be effective.

The West is turning into a bloodbath... and yet we all know the ending. Strange.

 

[SK808]

I thought this was a great trade for OKC. They cleared Kanter's ridiculous contract from the books for a year of Melo production and two non-assets. They can now go small and be effective.

The West is turning into a bloodbath... and yet we all know the ending. Strange.

Yea I mean the thunder basically did what I thought the cavs would do this offseason - find a way to get PG and Melo. Hard to argue with getting stars cuz in this league, they are needed. At least they're taking a swing

 

[Lyst]

I disagree here

First as far as organizations go the Thunder are a far superior organization than the Cavs from a strategic point of view. They have probably been one of if not the best drafting team since Durant. They drafted 3 top 8 players in the NBA today along with great value picks like Ibaka, Jackson, and Adams. There are only 2 reasons the Thunder aren't a top threat for the championship this year

1. Trading Harden (aka not paying him)
2. Kevin Durant being a complete fucking cunt

Now #1 is pretty bad, but really the fact that they don't have a championship right now is pretty much because their generational talent always shit himself when he was needed most. It's actually pretty embarrassing Durant couldn't win a title there with all the talent they surrounded him with despite what the dumbass tweets

As far as Carmelo goes, they got rid of a guy that they have been trying to unload for over a year and paired him with some candy corn and a VHS copy of ghostbusters to get one of the best scorers in the NBA. Is he a perfect fit? No. Is he a top 40 player? Absolutely. And to give up a guy they've been trying to unload along with the aforementioned grab bag of shit and get back a guy who at the very least will give them a 3rd guy who can create for himself and handle the scoring load... man that's a great trade imo

Reason why I disagree with all of this? OK drafting great players like that is awesome, but is also somewhat the luck of the draw. The fact is they never put shit around Durant and Westbrook. Their team was garbage after Harden left. I was surprised Durant did not leave earlier to be honest, you cannot expect 2 players to completely carry a team full of roleplayers, I mean even Lebron and Wade needed Bosh. Lebron and Kyrie needed Love. Curry and Klay needed Draymond. They never added any 3rd player to that team that was anywhere near star potential, please do not say Ibaka, Jackson, Adams, Kanter, Waiters.... Everyone was just fill-ins, stop lying to yourself.

Back to Melo. He's never made a team better, he's never made a team a CONTENDER. He's always been a movement stopper and a ball-hog. Defensively you could argue all day but he's not any kind of threat on that end either. Russ requires a fast paced game where the ball is in his hand, he needs people around him that can react quickly- and can work off the ball. Melo is the polar opposite- an old ISO player that's never tasted winning and never molded his game to fit others. It will not work. Melo apologists will always blame his environment and players around him, probably until he retires. Seen it on here for a very long time.

 

[Cassity14]

Reason why I disagree with all of this? OK drafting great players like that is awesome, but is also somewhat the luck of the draw. The fact is they never put shit around Durant and Westbrook. Their team was garbage after Harden left. I was surprised Durant did not leave earlier to be honest, you cannot expect 2 players to completely carry a team full of roleplayers, I mean even Lebron and Wade needed Bosh. Lebron and Kyrie needed Love. Curry and Klay needed Draymond. They never added any 3rd player to that team that was anywhere near star potential, please do not say Ibaka, Jackson, Adams, Kanter, Waiters.... Everyone was just fill-ins, stop lying to yourself.

Back to Melo. He's never made a team better, he's never made a team a CONTENDER. He's always been a movement stopper and a ball-hog. Defensively you could argue all day but he's not any kind of threat on that end either. Russ requires a fast paced game where the ball is in his hand, he needs people around him that can react quickly- and can work off the ball. Melo is the polar opposite- an old ISO player that's never tasted winning and never molded his game to fit others. It will not work. Melo apologists will always blame his environment and players around him, probably until he retires. Seen it on here for a very long time.

Not sure how you can claim the Thunder never had a good team around Durant in one breath, then blame Melo for having worse teams than Durant had in the other. That logic is just really, really inconsistent.

As for the Thunder and their roster moves...

Ibaka was one of the game's top rim protectors earlier in his career, and developed a jump shot to keep teams honest. As he's aged, his athleticism and defensive abilities have declined, but in that team's day, he was a total x factor.

Reggie Jackson was one of the better bench players in the league. Good enough to earn the ridiculous contract he has today.

Adams, currently, is one of the best defensive big men in the game.

The Thunder never got back to the finals because of coaching and because of their superstars not showing up on the biggest stage.

 

[Lyst]

Not sure how you can claim the Thunder never had a good team around Durant in one breath, then blame Melo for having worse teams than Durant had in the other. That logic is just really, really inconsistent.

As for the Thunder and their roster moves...

Ibaka was one of the game's top rim protectors earlier in his career, and developed a jump shot to keep teams honest. As he's aged, his athleticism and defensive abilities have declined, but in that team's day, he was a total x factor.

Reggie Jackson was one of the better bench players in the league. Good enough to earn the ridiculous contract he has today.

Adams, currently, is one of the best defensive big men in the game.

The Thunder never got back to the finals because of coaching and because of their superstars not showing up on the biggest stage.

Ibaka, Jackson, anywhere near Bosh / Love / Green status? Come on dude get out of here. Roleplayers like Adams had to step up for the team to go anywhere and stay relevant.

Why is Durant so efficient and considered to be Lebron's rival right now? Because has more than 1 great player around him.

Why did he leave? Because he only had 1 great player around him.

It's really not hard to understand, not sure why people here are so thick headed.

I mean, Reggie Jackson, you seriously are bringing up Reggie Jackson. He was the most overpaid player in the NBA. Became a complete non-factor, and is tumbling around the deep sea with guys like Ibaka. Both of which showed some promise but for you to compare them to Green, Love, or Bosh is just ridiculous.

Blame coaching? That's probably the easiest cop out there is. You know what? Lebron should've won us championships his first time around, it's all MIKE BROWN'S fault right? Not that he had Larry Hughes, Erick Snow, Drew Gooden, Boobie out-of-theNba Gibson. Big Z was probably Shaq in your eyes.

Trust me, it's not a coincidence that Lebron left Cleveland, got two great players around him, and started winning championships.

 

[Bballguy4]

Carmelo Anthony said in a SiriusXM interview that there was a trade in place on the night of the NBA Draft that would have sent both he and Paul George to Cleveland: "Me and PG have a very close friendship. Actually, it was funny because me and PG was supposed to be in Cleveland on draft night. we were communicating about that. The deal was actually done and it got called off on draft night, so me and PG stayed connected throughout the course of the season."

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0705084904198640230-4

 

[FritzLn]

is that why griff isn't here?

 

[col63onel]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...ff-exit-okc-had-no-strategy-to-me-being-here/

Any chance Melo is trying to get bought out?

Like, it seems he doesn't want to be in OKC, but I'd be shocked if he didn't opt in. Good chance he's trying to get traded again, but what contending team is going to match his salary in a trade and give up any assets?

 

[Certo17]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...ff-exit-okc-had-no-strategy-to-me-being-here/

Any chance Melo is trying to get bought out?

Like, it seems he doesn't want to be in OKC, but I'd be shocked if he didn't opt in. Good chance he's trying to get traded again, but what contending team is going to match his salary in a trade and give up any assets?

No one.. unless he didn’t opt in and took a big pay cut and would be willing to come off the bench.. but he won’t do either one of those things.. unless he comes down to earth and realizes he’s nothing more than a great role player now.

 

[czvo]

No one.. unless he didn’t opt in and took a big pay cut and would be willing to come off the bench.. but he won’t do either one of those things.. unless he comes down to earth and realizes he’s nothing more than a great role player now.

Even though I think it would terrible, I can still see Portland taking a swing at him to try and appease Lillard. Especially if they can get off the Leonard and Turner contracts.

And, actually, if they could get off the Leonard and Turner contracts in a Melo deal, it would be a HUGE long-term plus for them. Play out the year with Melo, let him walk, then have a boatload of cap space to fill out the roster alongside Lillard, CJ and Zach Collins.

 

[gourimoko]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...ff-exit-okc-had-no-strategy-to-me-being-here/

Any chance Melo is trying to get bought out?

Like, it seems he doesn't want to be in OKC, but I'd be shocked if he didn't opt in. Good chance he's trying to get traded again, but what contending team is going to match his salary in a trade and give up any assets?

Highly doubt they buy him out until the last minute... They'll try to trade him first.

I know the Cavs do not want Melo, and at this point in his career neither do I; but, if taking back Melo was a means of getting George without giving up Love or the BKN pick, would you do it?

 

[ShawnKempIsMyDad]

Highly doubt they buy him out until the last minute... They'll try to trade him first.

I know the Cavs do not want Melo, and at this point in his career neither do I; but, if taking back Melo was a means of getting George without giving up Love or the BKN pick, would you do it?

If we got George back, and didn't have to deal Love, I'd do it in a heartbeat. He'd have to be willing to embrace a bench roll though, and I don't see that happening from his recent comments.

 

[Real Deal]

Highly doubt they buy him out until the last minute... They'll try to trade him first.

I know the Cavs do not want Melo, and at this point in his career neither do I; but, if taking back Melo was a means of getting George without giving up Love or the BKN pick, would you do it?

What would Thunder want in return? How are Cavs supposed to match close to 50 million and the Thunder accepting it?

 

[Real Deal]

If we got George back, and didn't have to deal Love, I'd do it in a heart beat. He'd have to be willing to embrace a bench roll though, and I don't see that happening from his recent comments.

Knowing Lue he'd start point guard, George, LeBron, Melo, Love