That's a ton of talent, but the fit is fairly dubious, and the West is so absurdly stacked that a Conference Finals appearance would feel like a major overachievement.
This will be a big test for Melo - he has great players around him for the first time in a long time. If he keeps trying to play hero ball it's going to implode. If he can change his game to be primarily a spot-up and single dribble shooter, help move the ball, find spots to attack the boards and make at least a mediocre defensive effort, the team...will probably still lose in the 2nd round. MAN the West is stacked.
People have been saying that for so long now that I don't think that there's anymore "if" involved. Melo is what he is at this point and is probably best served to play the Mark Aguirre role as the latter did so well for the Pistons for some contending team, but starting? Well, that's pretty difficult at this point, imo, and he and Westbrook cannot play with each other. That's a terrible fit, imo, as you've got two me-me-me guys who suffer from acute tunnel vision, don't play defense, and absolutely destroy any semblance of ball movement. Pairing George with Westbrook would have been great by itself as PG plays very well without the ball, is an excellent passer, and, of course, his defense speaks for itself. He's not the problem, it's the other two that are really going to struggle, imo. At least in Houston both Paul and Harden can shoot, but Westbrook? No. Just no.
As for their bench now - yikes. I wouldn't be surprised to see Presti at least attempt to sign - assuming that they have any veteran minimum deals left, anyway - Barbosa and David Lee. Monta Ellis probably wouldn't fit, there, and the same goes for Rodney Stuckey, but we'll see what happens. Why didn't Presti just trade for George and Stephenson? Lance would have been a great sixth man at the 1, 2, and 3, imo. Oh well
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