Source: Celtics tried to trade for Carmelo he didn't agree to waive clause

[Granath]

I think Boston needs to stay away from the 30+ crowd.

That crowd is fine as long as it does not cost the Celtics their best trade assets.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Danny said some time ago that he wanted to stay away from star players in their 30s this time around because he wanted the next good era of Celtics basketball to have a larger window of title contention than what the KG-Paul-Ray teams had. But maybe I made that up.

My preference is that our next stars be under 30, for that very reason. I don't mind having solid role players who are 30+, because those guys won't be playing a ton, but I want the team's best players to have fresh legs for many years.

I am not saying get only over 30 stars.   



If you can get a star, go for it.   But guys over a certain age or towards the end of a contract are not worth the best assets.

I think you both are mostly saying the same thing.

Danny isn't going to give up top assets for guys who are already on the downside of their career. It's one thing to acquire a 30+ year old who can fill a role, provide leadership and contribute to the team. It's another thing to heavily invest in one whose return on that investment will decline from here on out and at some point will likely fall off a cliff.

Melo is still a very good, borderline great player (I'm not talking about his inability to make those around him better...just his own skills). But his scoring and FG percentage are way down and his true shooting percentage was only lower in his rookie year. He's grabbing rebounds but his offensive rebound percentage is down.

You look at who he's compared to (similarity-wise) from a historical standpoint and you find those guys all fell off dramatically around 'Melo's age and/or minutes played. Now maybe 'Melo has one good year left. Maybe three. Maybe this is his last one. You can never tell. But 'Melo has played over 32,000 minutes in his career. That's a lot of wear-and-tear. He's not as dynamic as he used to be. And so you don't bet the farm on a guy like that. Hence I find tril's proposal above fairly absurd and I'm sure Danny wouldn't do that deal.

Which is why if (and that's a big if) Danny inquired about 'Melo, I'd place money that it was to see if he'd be available in a 3 way trade and not coming back directly to the Celtics.

[CelticsBR]

The Knicks could still improve quite a bit over next few seasons. Porzingis is one heck of a prospect. Depending on how quickly or how slowly Porzingis grows, the Knicks can re-open their chances of challenging for a title. They should become a more attractive FA destination with Porzingis and Melo there too. Robin Lopez is the only real big contract they have there outside of Melo that goes past next season. There will be cap space.

There is still a chance that New York could build a title contender with Melo there.

Are you saying the Knicks ever had any chance of challenging for a title after they traded for Melo?

[Who]

The Knicks could still improve quite a bit over next few seasons. Porzingis is one heck of a prospect. Depending on how quickly or how slowly Porzingis grows, the Knicks can re-open their chances of challenging for a title. They should become a more attractive FA destination with Porzingis and Melo there too. Robin Lopez is the only real big contract they have there outside of Melo that goes past next season. There will be cap space.

There is still a chance that New York could build a title contender with Melo there.

Are you saying the Knicks ever had any chance of challenging for a title after they traded for Melo?

Yes, definitely. They had a chance to build a title contender after getting Melo. They didn't pull it off. Amare got hurt and was never the same again. Billups got hurt. Effectively ended his career. Things fell apart for New York before they ever really got going.

They might still get another chance if Porzingis develops quickly enough.

[greece66]

The Knicks could still improve quite a bit over next few seasons. Porzingis is one heck of a prospect. Depending on how quickly or how slowly Porzingis grows, the Knicks can re-open their chances of challenging for a title. They should become a more attractive FA destination with Porzingis and Melo there too. Robin Lopez is the only real big contract they have there outside of Melo that goes past next season. There will be cap space.

There is still a chance that New York could build a title contender with Melo there.

Are you saying the Knicks ever had any chance of challenging for a title after they traded for Melo?

If I were Jackson the first thing I would try to do would be get rid of Melo (and Calderon) and then hit the Free Agency with lots of cap space. And pray that Porzingis develops really fast. With luck (and this is sthg Jackson always had on his side) he could turn NYC to a contender in a few years.

With Melo staying in the NYK your best hope for the next couple of years is a decent playoff run.

The key problem is that they lack picks and (Porzingis apart) rookie contracts (=cheap labour), so they do not have enough cap space to manoeuver. They can add one good FA to their roster in the summer, but unless we are talking of KD, this will not be enough.

[LarBrd33]

So I guess Danny is finally OK with trading for a star even past his (or in) 30's?

So we would have an offense of IT, and either Bradley or Smart next to Melo? Yikes. Pretty nasty.

Wouldn't be the first time we traded a top 5 pick for a star in their 30s... We traded a package around the #5 pick for 32 year old Ray Allen, afterall... and this seems like it might be a similar draft (2 players and a drop off). 

There also would have been some sense to getting Melo now prior to free agency.  Kind of like how Ray was enough to get KG to waive his no trade clause and come to Boston (after it was widely publicized he killed our first attempt to land him before the 2007 draft), perhaps landing Melo would be enough to get a big star to sign here this Summer.

[Granath]

Wouldn't be the first time we traded a top 5 pick for a star in their 30s... We traded a package around the #5 pick for 32 year old Ray Allen, afterall... and this seems like it might be a similar draft (2 players and a drop off). 

The fact that in entirely different circumstances Ainge made an entirely different decision has no bearing on the current situation.

There also would have been some sense to getting Melo now prior to free agency.  Kind of like how Ray was enough to get KG to waive his no trade clause and come to Boston (after it was widely publicized he killed our first attempt to land him before the 2007 draft), perhaps landing Melo would be enough to get a big star to sign here this Summer.

Yeah, 'cause that's worked out so well for the Knicks. And Denver. There's such a long history of players just yearning to play with 'Melo.

Ainge had a pretty good idea that if he could present an attractive situation in BOS, he could get KG to waive that no trade clause and make a deal for him to come here. If he makes a deal to get 'Melo, has there been any indication that any player suddenly wants to come to BOS because the situation is significantly more attractive?

Seriously, your examples are horrible because the situations aren't remotely the same. Here's a hint for you regarding the upcoming draft: just because Red managed to prevent the Rochester Royals from drafting Bill Russell by promising them the Ice Capades doesn't mean that Ainge is going to prevent a team from drafting Simmons by promising them that he'll get Anna and Elsa to skate in the other arena for a week.

[CelticSooner]

Clickbait!

Have you noticed how after Danny said he had discussions about one unnamed player there's been la ton of articles written about how he tried to trade for the Unibrow, WCS, Okafor, 'Melo, etc? There's a bunch of stuff written with unnamed "league sources" that's pure speculation. It's clickbait, folks.

I am sure that Danny sent out feelers to every team to see what kind of deals were out there. That's his job and of course that would include contacting the Knicks so he could see if there was a deal to be made. My guess is that given 'Melo's age, if Danny did specifically ask about him it was to see if he could be part of a multi-team deal that would have brought in a younger player to Boston. But I sincerely doubt that Danny wanted any part of 'Melo on the Celtics.

Every little "discussion" is turning into a piece it seems. Yeah Ainge may have called about Melo but after they mentioned the Brooklyn pick that was the end of it.

As for Melo, starting to remind me of KG in Minnesota. I'm sure he loves NYC but he's never going to win anything there. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[LooseCannon]

Clickbait!

Have you noticed how after Danny said he had discussions about one unnamed player there's been la ton of articles written about how he tried to trade for the Unibrow, WCS, Okafor, 'Melo, etc? There's a bunch of stuff written with unnamed "league sources" that's pure speculation. It's clickbait, folks.

I am sure that Danny sent out feelers to every team to see what kind of deals were out there. That's his job and of course that would include contacting the Knicks so he could see if there was a deal to be made. My guess is that given 'Melo's age, if Danny did specifically ask about him it was to see if he could be part of a multi-team deal that would have brought in a younger player to Boston. But I sincerely doubt that Danny wanted any part of 'Melo on the Celtics.

Every little "discussion" is turning into a piece it seems. Yeah Ainge may have called about Melo but after they mentioned the Brooklyn pick that was the end of it.

As for Melo, starting to remind me of KG in Minnesota. I'm sure he loves NYC but he's never going to win anything there. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

The key difference is that KG was still playing like an all-time great his last season in Minnesota and Carmelo Anthony is currently not a great player (and never really was).

[indeedproceed]

The key difference is that KG was still playing like an all-time great his last season in Minnesota and Carmelo Anthony is currently not a great player (and never really was).

There's a hot take. Carmelo Anthony will be a hall of famer, first ballot.

[LooseCannon]

The key difference is that KG was still playing like an all-time great his last season in Minnesota and Carmelo Anthony is currently not a great player (and never really was).

There's a hot take. Carmelo Anthony will be a hall of famer, first ballot.

That's because volume scoring is over-rated.  Guys like Paul Pierce and Shawn Marion are significantly better than Carmelo Anthony.

[SHAQATTACK]

All I can say ..... I hope this is not true ......wanting him is an act of desperation move .......why would a young fast paced defensive team want this guy.   He is pathetic

[Diggles]

Heard Bradley Beal was a target too.   Wonder what his asking price was.   

[Ilikesports17]

People are over analyzing this I think. We kicked the tires on every star/borderline star. That doesn't mean we put the Nets pick up for sale for all these guys.

It would be very similar to the Allen for 5 deal, but until we are assured that this pick is #5 I think Nets for Melo is an overpay.

Plus he denied that he was approached about the Cs

[86MaxwellSmart]

Hall of Fame Loser....let him stay in NY.

[alldaboston]

Heard Bradley Beal was a target too.   Wonder what his asking price was.

That was Tanguay who said that right? Don't believe anything he says.