Melo Will Only Sign Extension if Traded to Knicks

[soap07]

Honestly, this kind of stuff is nothing new from athletes. Maybe it's more in the spotlight because of the Heat but it has gone on for years. Kobe, Kidd, ARod, Manny...all have asked for trades or made demands specifically related to what they feel is in their best interest.

I don't see anything wrong with it. Does anyone see a Denver team as currently constituted as ever good enough win a championship? I don't. Karl's teams have always been awful defensively. There's a reason he's never won a ring.

[soap07]

If I were Melo, I'd want to go to Orlando or Dallas.  Both teams with very solid veteran cores, excellent defenses, super-spendy owners, and giant holes where a go-to scorer should be.  He could make both teams legit championship contenders. 

You think Dallas doesn't have a go-to scorer?

[guava_wrench]

If I were Melo, I'd want to go to Orlando or Dallas.  Both teams with very solid veteran cores, excellent defenses, super-spendy owners, and giant holes where a go-to scorer should be.  He could make both teams legit championship contenders. 

You think Dallas doesn't have a go-to scorer?

I would go to Dirk every time for the last shot, even if Melo was on the team. Dirk just doesn't force as many bad shots as Melo. Forcing bad shots is not equal to go-to scorer.

Is it even close between the Dirk fadeaway in the high post and Melo's iso at the 3pt line?

Orlando probably does need a guy who can force the issue when needed, but Melo would have to learn to play within the system for most of the game. Melo needs to be able to blend in more as Pierce has done under Doc.

[jsingh1699]

nuggets management definitely screwed him over with their current roster. its a bunch of overpaid old guys.

that one year when the nuggets made it to the conf finals, melo pushed the lakers hard. i remmember he wanted to guard kobe down the stretch of the games. he gave it his all but ultimately, it was his cast that failed him.

since that time, they have done zero to get him help. compare that to lebron, who they brought in so many diff players for him, only for ihm to quit on them.

melo is being honest with the nuggets so there are no surprises. hes put in his time there and they have done nothing for him (very similar to when KG was with the twolves).

this may prove to be a problem for us next year (nobody is taking this year from us), but id rather have the knicks represent the east than the heat.

[Fafnir]

Dallas needs another offensive option to go with Dirk, Melo would fit in there very well. Dallas lacks the pieces to swing a deal however, unless it was a very whacky three team deal. I think Dallas is one of the few teams that'd make the deal and risk Melo walking.

Dirk would be my guy to run the offense through in crunch time however, a much more efficient scorer.

[get_banners]

i agree that this is not like the lebron situation...melo is letting denver know early, instead of making them destroy their roster in the long-run to please him, then bolting. honestly, denver brought this on themselves. they signed a bunch of solid guys to ridiculous deals (nene, martin immediately come to mind). for the money they spent on them, they could have brought in much better players. now, they don't really have a ton of room to do much of anything. melo sees that and doesn't want to spend the next 5 years in mediocrity. can't really blame him much.

[Who]

Denver built a very good team around Carmelo Anthony but they were always one piece away from having a Championship caliber team.

And after acquiring Chauncey Billups, given Chauncey's age and the age/injuries of Kenyon/Nene/Camby, the Nuggets only had a short window to acquire that final piece ... and unfortunately they didn't have the trade assets needed to get that final piece of the puzzle.

The combination of the short window to field a dominant team and the lack of trade assets was always going to doom that team.

And the timing in terms of Carmelo's career was atrocious. He was going to be 8 years into his career when his contract expired, in his prime, facing a 4-5 year contract on a team with an aging supporting cast that badly needs to be blown up and enter a serious rebuilding process. Something that will likely take at least 3 seasons before Denver get back to where they just were. At which point Carmelo is about 30 years old, 11/12 seasons, and still hasn't been on a team that is capable of winning a title.

The whole Chauncey Billups trade was a terrible short sighted move that would hurt the Nuggets for years to come ... and now they should pay the price for their incompetence.

[housecall]

Anybody else sick of this from athletes.

I hear ya but we never here about some of the bad deals GM/owners give players,for instance Tim Legler addressed that very issue with a story of his own.He found out that he was traded while on a cruise with his current team during his days in the NBA .He didn't have a clue he was being traded beforehand.That must have turned into one uncomfortable cruise.According to Leggs there are others who have stories that show owners don't always play fair.Its not always reported the way it happens.Im not sticking up for players but the business of the NBA can be dogeat dog.I can understand some players decisions more than others.The one thing i do agree with is they're all overpaid.  

[LooseCannon]

The one thing i do agree with is they're all overpaid.  

If players were paid what they were worth, the money saved would go back into the owners' pockets as extra profit.  It's not going back to the fans as cheaper prices.  If that money is going to either the players or the owners, I'd rather the players be overpaid than the owners get more money by squeezing players without having to put out better teams.

[housecall]

The one thing i do agree with is they're all overpaid.  

If players were paid what they were worth, the money saved would go back into the owners' pockets as extra profit.  It's not going back to the fans as cheaper prices.  If that money is going to either the players or the owners, I'd rather the players be overpaid than the owners get more money by squeezing players without having to put out better teams.

When making that statement better prices for the fan were meant.

[nba is the worst]

To me, it's clear that for 'Melo, winning is secondary to location.

His skills overlap with Amare's (they are more similar in style than James/Wade IMO), and with D'Antoni, there's little chance of winning a title with the Knicks...

[Witch-King]

Here's that the Knicks will eventually work out some sort of a deal with Carmelo this season. They are currently the 6th seed in the East, though it is highly likely that other teams in the East may make a run and challenge their regular season record.

Quite a few teams that currently have worse records than the Knicks have been playoff-level teams throughout last decade so the fact that Amare has helped turn that team into something that even resembles a playoff franchise says something about him as a player.

If the Knicks go into sort of a slump as far as wins are concerned, Carmelo may be less inclined to sign with them at the trade deadline and instead wait until next season.

I for one am hoping that the Celtics can defeat the Knicks on Wednesday; that could just be one less Eastern Conference team that we'd have to worry about in the post season 

[Chris]

1. Until Melo goes on the record with something like this (which he will never do), I don't believe this is anything more than a planted story to pressure the Nuggets to make a trade with the Knicks...with perhaps the Knicks behind it.

2. If another team trades for Melo, and he likes the situation/team, I am not sure he will turn down the opportunity to get an extension on the current CBA, over trying to sign one on the new CBA, which could be for significantly less money/years.

So, basically, I think we are the same place we were a few days ago.  We all know Melo likes the Knicks...but I don't think he is dead set on going there.

[Bankshot]

Dallas needs another offensive option to go with Dirk, Melo would fit in there very well. Dallas lacks the pieces to swing a deal however, unless it was a very whacky three team deal. I think Dallas is one of the few teams that'd make the deal and risk Melo walking.

Dirk would be my guy to run the offense through in crunch time however, a much more efficient scorer.

Dallas doesn't look like they need another offensive option to me.  They have Caron Butler.

[Fafnir]

Dallas needs another offensive option to go with Dirk, Melo would fit in there very well. Dallas lacks the pieces to swing a deal however, unless it was a very whacky three team deal. I think Dallas is one of the few teams that'd make the deal and risk Melo walking.

Dirk would be my guy to run the offense through in crunch time however, a much more efficient scorer.

Dallas doesn't look like they need another offensive option to me.  They have Caron Butler.

Caron Butler of the 100 offensive rating? He's had a nice run lately, but he's primarly a long two point jump shooter still.

I don't have faith he'll play any better than he has the past two years, which has been pretty meh.