Contest: Looks like Melo is headed out of Denver. Whats the deal? (Merged)

[Fafnir]

My prediction is there will not be a trade.  NY will just sign him in the off season.  There is no reason to give up any real talent just to have Carmelo for 1/2 a season.  Denver should have done the NJ trade but ya know, they never listen to me when I tell them what to do.  Now I am advising NY to not trade and hold onto their talent

That's not true. NY needs Eddie Curry's contract to make this trade work. Without Curry I'm pretty sure they can't offer a max contract to melo.

IE, if they go past the trading deadline, New York loses one of its easiest paths to Melo.

Once Curry's contract comes off the books the Knicks can create enough cap space to sign Melo as unrestricted FA.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

They will have to decline a few options but they can do it.

[indeedproceed]

So they decline wilson chandler and let Eddy Curry run off, then sign Carmelo Anthony and use the MLE on someone.

Or, they compete for a title this year (ideally, probably not practically) and trade away Wilson Chandler and Eddy Curry.

And they don't run the risk of getting a bunch of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" jokes?

[bdm860]

My prediction.  Melo gets traded, but not to New York.

Why you ask?

Well first, the Knicks feeling they have the advantage will continually low ball the Nuggets, not giving up anything Denver is happy with.

Then another team sneaks in and makes a decent offer. Basically rolling the dice, hoping if they set Melo up in a nice enough situation, he will end up re-signing instead of going to the Knicks.

And you know who the perfect team for that is, New Orleans.

They figure with Melo going to New York, it's only a matter of time before Chris Paul demands a trade there too.

So in the ultimate dice roll, New Orleans works out a trade that looks something like this:

To Denver:
David West
Trevor Ariza
(and maybe a trade exception, looks like they have several)

To New Orleans:
Carmelo Anthony


Why for Denver? They got a borderline All-Star talent in David West who doesn't have the leverage to demand trades, and a solid SF replacement in Ariza.  Not enough to win championships, but enough to keep the team respectable and the fans happy.  Puts off blowing the team up for a couple of more years.  Still a 40+ win team, and a contender for a lower playoff seed.


Why for New Orleans?  They try to beat New York to the punch.  It's clear Melo wants to follow in Miami's footsteps and be on a team with fellow superstars, and right now Melo probably thinks the best place for him to do that is New York.  The Hornets shows him the place to be is New Orleans though, as they will be able to put 2 superstars together.  If your Melo, would you rather team with Amare Stoudemire or Chris Paul?  Also by adding Melo, this makes Chris Paul happy and shows him the team is serious about contending.  After a strong playoff push and the city embracing him, Melo decides to re-sign in New Orleans, and New York gets screwed again.  I love it.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2fk8dsw

[Vermont Green]

My prediction is there will not be a trade.  NY will just sign him in the off season.  There is no reason to give up any real talent just to have Carmelo for 1/2 a season.  Denver should have done the NJ trade but ya know, they never listen to me when I tell them what to do.  Now I am advising NY to not trade and hold onto their talent

That's not true. NY needs Eddie Curry's contract to make this trade work. Without Curry I'm pretty sure they can't offer a max contract to melo.

IE, if they go past the trading deadline, New York loses one of its easiest paths to Melo.

Once Curry's contract comes off the books the Knicks can create enough cap space to sign Melo as unrestricted FA.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

They will have to decline a few options but they can do it.

OK, I admit that I didn't fully assess the cap space but say they sign/trade Chandler after the season to someone with a trade exemption such as Cleveland for a future draft pick (probably a lottery protected first).  Then they are free to just sign Melo.  They could do the same with Randolph maybe for a second and end up with Melo plus a first plus a second.  Even if I may not have figured out how to clear the space, I bet Donnie Walsh has.

[indeedproceed]

My prediction is there will not be a trade.  NY will just sign him in the off season.  There is no reason to give up any real talent just to have Carmelo for 1/2 a season.  Denver should have done the NJ trade but ya know, they never listen to me when I tell them what to do.  Now I am advising NY to not trade and hold onto their talent

That's not true. NY needs Eddie Curry's contract to make this trade work. Without Curry I'm pretty sure they can't offer a max contract to melo.

IE, if they go past the trading deadline, New York loses one of its easiest paths to Melo.

Once Curry's contract comes off the books the Knicks can create enough cap space to sign Melo as unrestricted FA.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

They will have to decline a few options but they can do it.

OK, I admit that I didn't fully assess the cap space but say they sign/trade Chandler after the season to someone with a trade exemption such as Cleveland for a future draft pick (probably a lottery protected first).  Then they are free to just sign Melo.  They could do the same with Randolph maybe for a second and end up with Melo plus a first plus a second.  Even if I may not have figured out how to clear the space, I bet Donnie Walsh has.

Well, to beat a dead horse, Donnie Walsh figured out how to clear the cap space for LeBron too. And everyone and their mother thought LeBron was either going to NY or staying in Cleveland. Does Donnie Walsh risk Carmelo anthony changing his "decision"?

[Lucky17]

My prediction is there will not be a trade.  NY will just sign him in the off season.  There is no reason to give up any real talent just to have Carmelo for 1/2 a season.  Denver should have done the NJ trade but ya know, they never listen to me when I tell them what to do.  Now I am advising NY to not trade and hold onto their talent

That's not true. NY needs Eddie Curry's contract to make this trade work. Without Curry I'm pretty sure they can't offer a max contract to melo.

IE, if they go past the trading deadline, New York loses one of its easiest paths to Melo.

Once Curry's contract comes off the books the Knicks can create enough cap space to sign Melo as unrestricted FA.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

They will have to decline a few options but they can do it.

It's no sure thing they can sign him as a free agent. They'd need to make some moves, and have a little luck with the new CBA: mainly, an increase above this current season's salary cap number.

Andre Iguodala would be Plan B, according to Chris Sheridan.

[celticsmaniac18]

NY: Carmelo

DEN: Danilo, Chandler, Randolph, and Mozgov

[indeedproceed]

Andre Iguodala would be Plan B, according to Chris Sheridan.

Here is a question to ponder: How much of an upgrade is Iggy over Chandler? ESP in Mike D'Antoni's system?

Very similar players. Iggy is no question better, but with the cap hit over the next 4 years, is he that much better?

[guava_wrench]

So they decline wilson chandler and let Eddy Curry run off, then sign Carmelo Anthony and use the MLE on someone.

Or, they compete for a title this year (ideally, probably not practically) and trade away Wilson Chandler and Eddy Curry.

And they don't run the risk of getting a bunch of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" jokes?

Would they have an MLE in the situation you describe?

It really isn't clear why Melo wants NY in the first place. I am guessing it is because it is NY.

[heitingas]

nuggets should give him the starbury treatment,shut his ass down.

[blackbird]

Well, I'm going big, too. 4 teams, 12 players, almost $100M in salary.

Denver trades Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and Kenyon Martin
Denver receives Mike Bibby, Eddy Curry, Joe Johnson, Danilo Gallinari, Marvin Williams, Utah's 2011 #1, Golden State's 2012 #2 (via Knicks)

Atlanta trades Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, and Marvin Williams
Atlanta receives Chauncey Billups, Wilson Chandler, and Kenyon Martin

New York trades Wilson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Bill Walker, and Golden State's 2012 #2
New York receives Carmelo Anthony and C.J. Miles

Utah trades C.J. Miles and 2011 #1
Utah receives Anthony Randolph and Bill Walker

Denver trades their superstar for an all-star and saves $8M this year, Atlanta upgrades PG and loses two bad contracts, New York gets their man, Utah saves some dough and facilitates Carmelo's departure from their division.

[Fafnir]

I know a lot of people think Joe Johnson is overpaid, but he's still got a lot more in the tank than Billups.

He's still an all-star quality SG/SF and isn't going to be dumped to save salary. Also why in the world would Denver take on Joe Johnson's deal? They'd be locked as an also-ran team with no cap space still.

If you trade Melo its to get young talent, cap space, and draft picks. Joe Johnson doesn't work for Denver in that situation.

This trade works a lot better as a three team deal without Atlanta being invovled.

[Fafnir]

My prediction is there will not be a trade.  NY will just sign him in the off season.  There is no reason to give up any real talent just to have Carmelo for 1/2 a season.  Denver should have done the NJ trade but ya know, they never listen to me when I tell them what to do.  Now I am advising NY to not trade and hold onto their talent

That's not true. NY needs Eddie Curry's contract to make this trade work. Without Curry I'm pretty sure they can't offer a max contract to melo.

IE, if they go past the trading deadline, New York loses one of its easiest paths to Melo.

Once Curry's contract comes off the books the Knicks can create enough cap space to sign Melo as unrestricted FA.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

They will have to decline a few options but they can do it.

It's no sure thing they can sign him as a free agent. They'd need to make some moves, and have a little luck with the new CBA: mainly, an increase above this current season's salary cap number.

Andre Iguodala would be Plan B, according to Chris Sheridan.

You misread the chat. A questioner asked is Iggy their plan B, and then Chris Sheridan said that signing (Melo) in unrestricted FA was their plan B.

Iggy isn't an unrestricted FA for a long time.

The Knicks can easily clear enough salary to sign Melo. They can decline their options and they'll be at 39 million. That's enough to sign Melo.

[Fafnir]

So they decline wilson chandler and let Eddy Curry run off, then sign Carmelo Anthony and use the MLE on someone.

Or, they compete for a title this year (ideally, probably not practically) and trade away Wilson Chandler and Eddy Curry.

And they don't run the risk of getting a bunch of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" jokes?

Would they have an MLE in the situation you describe?

It really isn't clear why Melo wants NY in the first place. I am guessing it is because it is NY.

No they wouldn't, assuming the MLE still works like it does now.

You either can use your cap space, or the MLE. Sometimes when teams have only a little cap space (like 3 or 4 million) they'll decline that space so they can use the MLE as it gives them more money to spend.

[StartOrien]

Probably by airplane