Would you trade Jeff Green+ for Carmelo Anthony?

[LooseCannon]

Melo is the much better player but I would not want him on my team.  He will never make it to a finals as the leading man on an nba team.  And I don't think he is nearly ready to modify his game like Pierce did when he got some talent to join him.  Carmelo plays first and foremost for Carmelo, not for his team.

You want to trade multiple assets then pay 120 million dollars over a contract extension to a man who this can be said about... be my guest!

moiso is right on.

As a Knick hater, nothing would be better than him staying on the Knicks.  Luckily it seems to be a lock.

And let it be known that Melo was one of my favorite players up to a point in Denver before I turned on him there.  He has done nothing to change his selfish game since then.

I'm not getting the selfish label.

Is it because he shoots too much? But that's how you make the most of Melo's abilities. He's a volume shooter. Not giving Melo around 20 shots a game is a waste of his productivity. His style of play is not like LeBron's. He's not a facilitator, he's a scorer. His team should put him in the best ways possible for him to score, and his job is to take shots and put the ball in the basket.

The perception of Carmelo Anthony as a selfish player is strongly related to how he prioritized himself over his team in forcing his way out of Denver to New York.

It's also something that you tend to pick up if you're a volume scorer who doesn't play defense.  Arguably, that's the sort of player who would be a poor fit into the type of team Brad Stevens is trying to build.  Just look at Marshon Brooks sitting there on the bench.

[PhoSita]

It would be interesting to see the responses if this thread was about Kevin Durant--who, as a player, is more similar to Carmelo than many people might want to admit.

Obviously age is a big difference there.

Durant is a more dangerous offensive player and is more of a two way player the last few years than Melo has been.

One of the biggest problems with Melo is that he compromises your help/transition defense so dang much. Destroys much of the value his offensive ability creates.

James Harden is going down that road too. Its shocking how he went from being an okay defender in OKC to an embarrassing one so quickly. A reminder that the focus and stamina to be a two-way player shouldn't be taken for granted.

It's worth noting that of all the positions to have a poor defender at, shooting guard is probably the least damaging one given the state of that position league-wide.

Whereas Melo plays at a position with lots of other deadly scorers.

[Fafnir]

It would be interesting to see the responses if this thread was about Kevin Durant--who, as a player, is more similar to Carmelo than many people might want to admit.

Obviously age is a big difference there.

Durant is a more dangerous offensive player and is more of a two way player the last few years than Melo has been.

One of the biggest problems with Melo is that he compromises your help/transition defense so dang much. Destroys much of the value his offensive ability creates.

James Harden is going down that road too. Its shocking how he went from being an okay defender in OKC to an embarrassing one so quickly. A reminder that the focus and stamina to be a two-way player shouldn't be taken for granted.

It's worth noting that of all the positions to have a poor defender at, shooting guard is probably the least damaging one given the state of that position league-wide.

Whereas Melo plays at a position with lots of other deadly scorers.

Its not that a talented dangerous guys are the biggest problem with Harden.

Instead its just shooters who move around to get open from deep. Or simple pick and rolls he's involved with.

A guard is easier to hide than a forward though, still its been bad so far. He and Crawford both stand upright on D and just get lost so easy.

[PhoSita]

It would be interesting to see the responses if this thread was about Kevin Durant--who, as a player, is more similar to Carmelo than many people might want to admit.

Obviously age is a big difference there.

Durant is a more dangerous offensive player and is more of a two way player the last few years than Melo has been.

One of the biggest problems with Melo is that he compromises your help/transition defense so dang much. Destroys much of the value his offensive ability creates.

James Harden is going down that road too. Its shocking how he went from being an okay defender in OKC to an embarrassing one so quickly. A reminder that the focus and stamina to be a two-way player shouldn't be taken for granted.

It's worth noting that of all the positions to have a poor defender at, shooting guard is probably the least damaging one given the state of that position league-wide.

Whereas Melo plays at a position with lots of other deadly scorers.

Its not that a talented dangerous guys are the biggest problem with Harden.

Instead its just shooters who move around to get open from deep. Or simple pick and rolls he's involved with.

A guard is easier to hide than a forward though, still its been bad so far. He and Crawford both stand upright on D and just get lost so easy.

Right.

These days the one position where you absolutely can't afford to have a defensive liability is center.  It's hard to get away with playing a center who is a turnstile on defense, even if you have a power forward who is a good defender.  Modern defenses are built around centers.

[D.o.s.]

Melo can't play with a team. It's always about Melo, and that's not how you win a championship. Say what you will about pre-2007/2008 Pierce, but once they got Ray Allen and KG on board Pierce played like the consummate team-player. I could never see Melo doing that.

Furthermore, just look at their advanced stats and you'll see that Pierce has always been statistically better than Melo for his entire career. The only advanced stat that says otherwise is PER, which is a garbage stat that rewards players for chucking up more shots arbitrarily.

(by the way, if there's one thing I could burn with fire it's PER. Honestly, the methodology behind it and its use are just horrendous. I think any GM that's familiar with advanced stats would probably vomit if you mentioned PER in their presence. The only reason, and I mean the ONLY reason, why it's not universally ridiculed/rejected/spit upon, is because it was invented by ESPN's John Hollinger so ESPN uses it ubiquitously).

Like someone else said, "no one's a winner until they are one."

Also, FWIW, Melo has always been a much better offensive rebounder than Pierce.

[Clench123]

Why is this even a question?  In a heartbeat

[soap07]

Has there ever been a year where Melo's hasn't made the playoffs?


Secondly, all this talk about him not being able to co-exist....his teams with Iverson were some of the best offensive teams in the league, no?

[bballee]

As the driver said to Gene Hackman as he exited the club in The Birdcage, "Not for a million bucks lady!"

[NocturnalRebel]

I wouldn't.

[Moranis]

Depends what the + is, but I would be hard pressed to say no.

[wdleehi]

Has there ever been a year where Melo's hasn't made the playoffs?


Secondly, all this talk about him not being able to co-exist....his teams with Iverson were some of the best offensive teams in the league, no?

I ignore the AI teams.  That was the two offensive teams.




I look at the Denver teams with Billups where they were top 4 seeds.  There were 5 players in double digit scoring.  (it was also the miracle year of 77 games of Nene)


He played well with a top level PG.  (which the Celtics would have with Rondo)

[TwinTower14]

the bottom line is that Melo literally does everything single thing on the basketball court better than Green.  So much so, I would trade anyone not named Rondo to get him.  Melo is one of the handful of guys in the league that can dominate a game offensively.  I hate when people say someone isn't a winner?  People thought Lebron was a choker?  Funny, he teams up  with two other good players and he plays at a historic level.  Take Pierce off the 08 team and put Melo in that spot and the C's still win the title...Melo is a great player, you may not like him but he is a great player and put him with a guy like Rondo and he is the 3rd or 4th best player in the league...

[Fafnir]

the bottom line is that Melo literally does everything single thing on the basketball court better than Green.

Except play defense.

[TwinTower14]

I bet he could play defense like that, like when Pierce got with KG.  Green can't all of sudden flip a switch and do things on Melo's level.  Melo is fully capable of playing defense like that. 

[Snakehead]

the bottom line is that Melo literally does everything single thing on the basketball court better than Green.

Except play defense.

And not making 16 million more per year.

I bet he could play defense like that, like when Pierce got with KG.  Green can't all of sudden flip a switch and do things on Melo's level.  Melo is fully capable of playing defense like that. 

He has never shown it so you have nothing to base that on.