Knicks · Melo: I want to test free agency (page 3)

Melo is an easy nut to crack. To know what his actions will be in the future just ask yourself 1 question. What will make him the most money? Every decision in his NBA career was done for max money. I said this last season and it still holds true today. Different players have different motivations. Melo's motivation is money. I am not angry at that fact , that is his decision to make. I just ask you not to be surprised when that is the direction he goes in.

Papabear wrote:

tkf wrote:

dk7th wrote:

arkrud wrote:Now he is talking...
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/...

melo spooging prematurely again... just like his heat check threes. LMAO what a guy. knicks are tracking to implode this season.

yep..

Papabear Says

LOL the haters are out tonight

And all have fallen for the negotiating ploy, just like Dolan! Though mainly because they WANT to believe he's speaking the truth because it fits in with their view of Melo as being greedy and evil.

blkexec wrote:

smackeddog wrote:It's a negotiating ploy that Dolan has already fallen for. What contender could afford to sign him to a max? None. He wants to play with Kobe on the Lakers? Absolute BS- they couldn't play well together, plus Kobe is done- I don't get why people think he's magically going to heal from that Achilles injury, especially at his age.

But Dolan will fall for it like he always does.

I was majically healed at the same age with the same injury.....And mine was worse, because it was a chronic injury. Kobe will come back close to his normal self, which is still championship worthy. In fact, he might be a better team player, and he will definately be a better set shooter. It's the second Achilles injury you have watch for.....Usually happens on the other leg, if he's still playing into his 40's

No offense, blkexec, but I suspect you are no Kobe Bryant! But you do have more personal experience of this injury than I do- however I will say I can't think of any elite nba player who has returned 100% from this and not lost a step. Plus last season was like a miracle- I still don't get how Kobe put up the numbers he did and played the minutes he did at his age and with an arthritic knee.

IF I am the Knicks I offer him the extra year and $10 million more than anyone else can offer (4/96, I think, so 5/106). If he does not like it, then he can leave. Unless he leads them to a title this year, what has he done to deserve the max and to handcuff the team for the next 5 years?

arkrud wrote:If Melo will opt out and looks like he will, this opens the possibility of trading him...
Will Dolan do this... may be... he is dumb but he is a contrarian.
So he may get tired of Melo getting his way all the time.
This way Melo can still get his max and sht on winning it all with some other healthy star or capable organization.
NY can get a new fresh start and Dolan get a lot of drama and media attention which he likes.
This can get much more interesting that dump the ball to Melo stuff we are about to see..

Management must constantly assess how good a group of players can truly be. The New York front office will have to go through this process during next season and consider all options. If the team doesn't show significant improvement, Melo's impending free agency could mean big changes with the Knicks.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/york-knicks...

I forgot about the trade option. I guess if the season is not going well, that will be on the table. If they have any illusions of winning, it wont be.

However, if they are a 5-8 seed, I would make the deal, get some picks and some young talent. Why not?

Again, he has won nothing, except a scoring title.

The problem is the casual fans and media will kill the Knicks for letting Melo walk because they are infatuated with his ppg total. For that reason he will be back for $29mil

If he leaves what a tragic Irony that would be. His trade gutted the team of its depth which has been the very problem of the franchise come playoff time. No, Im not saying Gallo and company takes us further, but the assets either if remained, or traded for players picks has forced use to get players in other ways. Ok, not revisiting the trade but if Melo leaves I know we have cap space, but without draft picks we fall into the same problem again. And again........

One season at a time. Im not gonna worry about this.

I have such low expectation with this team under Dolan that anything above .500 is a good season! He will lost the team to the Nets over time and no frivolous "bridges" can save him.

I hope the Lakers give him the max contract he's looking for!
Trading him while his value is high would make more sense though.

Melo is not going anywhere. The Knicks plan on extending him in February and Melo is not the guy to leave any money on the table. Unfortunately Melo will get maxed out.

2020 baby! CANT WAIT!!!!

This is Carmelo.

Is it the smart business decision yes. Wrong thing to say.

"I ain't going nowhere!"

Then back tracks and gives people something to tall about. Him. Instead of the team. Just like the last go around because he wanted the extra year of money instead of being a free agent with the heat boys, he made an entire season about him.

First round exit here come the Knicks

This interview was a month ago. The I ain't goin nowhere was back tracking. I'm so sick of clowns like Melo and JR speaking in general

The Knicks need to get him to STFU. You can't have these comments all season. Tell him that if he keeps talking about opting out or testing the market, you're going to trade him to the highest bidder so that you can get something for him even if it's a place he would hate like spending the next two years in Minnesota.

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Finestrg wrote:This stuff kills me....Why say something like that -- something that will obviously rub a lot of people the wrong way???? Just like JR saying he wasn't gonna tell anyone the full extent of his knee injury until after he signed a deal with someone. Huh? WTF bro -- WHY SAY THAT?!?!?!? If Melo feels that way, great--it's his right that he's earned, just keep it to yourself. I don't wanna hear stuff like this, not this close to the start of the season... All I want to hear outta these jokers is talk about winning, winning the Atlantic, winning a friggin' title. NOTHING ELSE!! Shit man, and I love Melo. Why throw out a bad vibe like that, that you're contemplating leaving, could possibly leave?? I know that's not technically what he said but still man. Come on -- this close to the start of the season??? Nobody -- from the fans, to Knicks mgmt. wants to hear that right now. I'd like to see some of these guys resist whatever a guy like Marc Berman tries to stir up when he sticks a tape recorder in their face. The correct answer here: "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I'm committed to the NY Knicks and to winning."

To answer your question, there are two reasons someone says this. 1) The player is stupid or not well-rehearsed in media relations 2) the player cares more about money than winning

My biggest fear in all of this is not that we lose Melo,it's that I know when the times comes Knicks management won't have the balls to take a hard stance and say 17 mil/year or you're out of here.

Papabear Says

No I disagree with your comment. If Melo want to win a championship or come close to winning one. Now one will have to ask him he will just be willing to do that. Something you must understand though. Leborn have many endorsements. I LeBron gave up his whole salary he would still be making crazy money. Thats not the same for Melo. No if the right piece comes available Melo might jump. I don't think that Melo is very happy with this team and because of Amare's injury and the money Amare is taking we could have gotten 2 very good players with Amares money. I don't think Melo will see crazy money offers from teams who have a big payroll. It will be from team who don't have a chance to win anyway.

Why do you think Lebron makes so much money in endorsements? Because he's better at basketball than Melo. If Melo were that good then he would be raking in that much money in endorsement deals as well. This isn't some rigged system where everything is stacked against melo like it seems to be in your head, if Melo were better he'd have more endorsements, but he's not the best player in the league so he doesn't get the same draw. Besides the dude is a top level ambassador of the Jordan brand anyway, it's not like sponsors are ignoring him. Melo is not some average income dude that needs the money to feed his kids, no family I know can't be fed on a budget of 17 MILLION DOLLARS. With the enormous wealth Melo has acquired in his career he's very well off, he has nothing to worry about financially. He can take 17mil and play for us, or he can play for the bobcats for the max he can get and be labeled as a greedy loser.

Papabear Says

You answered your on question or this boards discussion. Yes LeBron is making more money because he is a better player and he has many endorsements. So why should Melo give up his money if thats all he is going to make? Don't you think he should get what he can just like everyone else?

You're missing the point, what do you mean all he is going to make? He doesn't deserve to make more because he's not good enough to warrant getting more money. The dude is filthy rich, I couldn't care less how much money he makes, if you care about winning in Melo's position you don't take 29 million a year. Do you know how much the salary cap in the NBA is? If you did know you'd realize how crippling 30 million to ONE PLAYER is. The Knicks already made a big sacrifice to ensure Melo gets all his money via the trade, or did you forget? If he can't even get us to the ECF why on earth does he deserve the opportunity to demand an even higher max contract again in his older years? I've said it a million times about Amar'e and I'll say it about Melo, we don't owe him anything! Patrick Ewing, Clyde Frazier, Willis Reed those are the players that you owe as an organization, the ones that shape team history. Melo gets to the ECF or Finals and makes things competitive then well see about his pay raise.

i'm not mad at melo for opting out or for getting the most money he can get - if anyone of us was in that position we'd do the same thing. personally i don't see him leaving 30million on the table and going elsewhere but i'm fine with calling his bluff and letting him explore other opportunities. if he ends up signing somewhere else, so be it, it'll open a boatload of money for us to sign some other guys.

smackeddog wrote:

Dagger wrote:

To answer your question, there are two reasons someone says this. 1) The player is stupid or not well-rehearsed in media relations 2) the player cares more about money than winning

Actually its:

3) the players agent is using a negotiating ploy.

Melo's not really doing anything wrong here, or anything different from most players. Even the beloved Paul George pretended he was going to sign with the Lakers when he became a FA, in order to push the Pacers along in negotiations for an extension now.

Has no one who's having a nervous breakdown about this ever negotiated in their life? If at work you could get paid say $15mil a year, but if you pretended you were leaving to join another employer, your current employer would pay you $25mil to do the same job- are you honestly telling me you wouldn't do it?!

The problem is Dolan- he is the world worst negotiator. CAA know his history and they know after all the money he's spent on the MSG refurb, he can't afford to not have a 'star' player, especially at the current ticket prices.

It's not the announcemenment itself I was criticizing, it's the timing. There is no advantage to saying this right before the start of the season, you wait till the appropriate time comes and then you say this stuff. At this point in time it only serves as a distraction for the organization.

Besides, your answer falls in line with reason #2 quite nicely, in that he's only looking out for the money.

nyk4ever wrote:i'm not mad at melo for opting out or for getting the most money he can get - if anyone of us was in that position we'd do the same thing. personally i don't see him leaving 30million on the table and going elsewhere but i'm fine with calling his bluff and letting him explore other opportunities. if he ends up signing somewhere else, so be it, it'll open a boatload of money for us to sign some other guys.

realy? Cause I just took some less money to be in a better workplace, better culture, better quality of life. Some other players have done that as well. Lebron, Duncan, Wade all come to mind..

Melo leaving would help the Knicks. Then they can gut and clean up after next year. Get a good pick, build up the roster and have enough to sign 2 max guys in one shot.

OR

We could could pay Melo like Kobe and watch him lead us to 45-55 wins each year and shoot us right out of the playoffs when he has his usual 10-35 shooting games in the playoffs, BUT he will average 30ppg and say he cant do it all himself. Doesnt really strike me as terribly exciting.

fish quit his IT job and is now a sploogemopper at the hustler club.

melo says he wants to be a knick but then also says he wants to be wined and dined.

so which team out there is going to wine and dine him if at the end of the day he is going to sign with the knicks.

paul opted out but then told everyone he's re-signing so there was no visits to other teams. melo wants those visits.

it's amazing really. right before the season starts he's talking about visiting other teams. lol. most guys would just say "i'll deal with that at the end of the year, my focus right now is the knicks and the playoffs". but this rocket surgeon says i can't wait to see what's out there.

it's all good tho. you'll still have bargs lol...

btw, just 4 months ago, nobody thought dwight would pass up the money and extra year either.

dolan deserves a guy like this.

Dagger wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Finestrg wrote:This stuff kills me....Why say something like that -- something that will obviously rub a lot of people the wrong way???? Just like JR saying he wasn't gonna tell anyone the full extent of his knee injury until after he signed a deal with someone. Huh? WTF bro -- WHY SAY THAT?!?!?!? If Melo feels that way, great--it's his right that he's earned, just keep it to yourself. I don't wanna hear stuff like this, not this close to the start of the season... All I want to hear outta these jokers is talk about winning, winning the Atlantic, winning a friggin' title. NOTHING ELSE!! Shit man, and I love Melo. Why throw out a bad vibe like that, that you're contemplating leaving, could possibly leave?? I know that's not technically what he said but still man. Come on -- this close to the start of the season??? Nobody -- from the fans, to Knicks mgmt. wants to hear that right now. I'd like to see some of these guys resist whatever a guy like Marc Berman tries to stir up when he sticks a tape recorder in their face. The correct answer here: "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I'm committed to the NY Knicks and to winning."

To answer your question, there are two reasons someone says this. 1) The player is stupid or not well-rehearsed in media relations 2) the player cares more about money than winning

My biggest fear in all of this is not that we lose Melo,it's that I know when the times comes Knicks management won't have the balls to take a hard stance and say 17 mil/year or you're out of here.

Papabear Says

No I disagree with your comment. If Melo want to win a championship or come close to winning one. Now one will have to ask him he will just be willing to do that. Something you must understand though. Leborn have many endorsements. I LeBron gave up his whole salary he would still be making crazy money. Thats not the same for Melo. No if the right piece comes available Melo might jump. I don't think that Melo is very happy with this team and because of Amare's injury and the money Amare is taking we could have gotten 2 very good players with Amares money. I don't think Melo will see crazy money offers from teams who have a big payroll. It will be from team who don't have a chance to win anyway.

Why do you think Lebron makes so much money in endorsements? Because he's better at basketball than Melo. If Melo were that good then he would be raking in that much money in endorsement deals as well. This isn't some rigged system where everything is stacked against melo like it seems to be in your head, if Melo were better he'd have more endorsements, but he's not the best player in the league so he doesn't get the same draw. Besides the dude is a top level ambassador of the Jordan brand anyway, it's not like sponsors are ignoring him. Melo is not some average income dude that needs the money to feed his kids, no family I know can't be fed on a budget of 17 MILLION DOLLARS. With the enormous wealth Melo has acquired in his career he's very well off, he has nothing to worry about financially. He can take 17mil and play for us, or he can play for the bobcats for the max he can get and be labeled as a greedy loser.

Papabear Says

You answered your on question or this boards discussion. Yes LeBron is making more money because he is a better player and he has many endorsements. So why should Melo give up his money if thats all he is going to make? Don't you think he should get what he can just like everyone else?

You're missing the point, what do you mean all he is going to make? He doesn't deserve to make more because he's not good enough to warrant getting more money. The dude is filthy rich, I couldn't care less how much money he makes, if you care about winning in Melo's position you don't take 29 million a year. Do you know how much the salary cap in the NBA is? If you did know you'd realize how crippling 30 million to ONE PLAYER is. The Knicks already made a big sacrifice to ensure Melo gets all his money via the trade, or did you forget? If he can't even get us to the ECF why on earth does he deserve the opportunity to demand an even higher max contract again in his older years? I've said it a million times about Amar'e and I'll say it about Melo, we don't owe him anything! Patrick Ewing, Clyde Frazier, Willis Reed those are the players that you owe as an organization, the ones that shape team history. Melo gets to the ECF or Finals and makes things competitive then well see about his pay raise.

Making more money is winning...

Clean wrote:Melo is an easy nut to crack. To know what his actions will be in the future just ask yourself 1 question. What will make him the most money? Every decision in his NBA career was done for max money. I said this last season and it still holds true today. Different players have different motivations. Melo's motivation is money. I am not angry at that fact , that is his decision to make. I just ask you not to be surprised when that is the direction he goes in.

+10000000!!!! Don't know why people are actually surprised by this! He's been this way since forever. One of the main reason why I didn't want him here. For some people who actually thought MElo was looking out for the best interest of the team is just histarical! But don't worry, Dolan will give him his money and Melo will do enough to win us the Atlantic Division, then we'll get dropped in the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs.....wash, rinse, repeat!

holfresh wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Dagger wrote:

Finestrg wrote:This stuff kills me....Why say something like that -- something that will obviously rub a lot of people the wrong way???? Just like JR saying he wasn't gonna tell anyone the full extent of his knee injury until after he signed a deal with someone. Huh? WTF bro -- WHY SAY THAT?!?!?!? If Melo feels that way, great--it's his right that he's earned, just keep it to yourself. I don't wanna hear stuff like this, not this close to the start of the season... All I want to hear outta these jokers is talk about winning, winning the Atlantic, winning a friggin' title. NOTHING ELSE!! Shit man, and I love Melo. Why throw out a bad vibe like that, that you're contemplating leaving, could possibly leave?? I know that's not technically what he said but still man. Come on -- this close to the start of the season??? Nobody -- from the fans, to Knicks mgmt. wants to hear that right now. I'd like to see some of these guys resist whatever a guy like Marc Berman tries to stir up when he sticks a tape recorder in their face. The correct answer here: "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I'm committed to the NY Knicks and to winning."

To answer your question, there are two reasons someone says this. 1) The player is stupid or not well-rehearsed in media relations 2) the player cares more about money than winning

My biggest fear in all of this is not that we lose Melo,it's that I know when the times comes Knicks management won't have the balls to take a hard stance and say 17 mil/year or you're out of here.

Papabear Says

No I disagree with your comment. If Melo want to win a championship or come close to winning one. Now one will have to ask him he will just be willing to do that. Something you must understand though. Leborn have many endorsements. I LeBron gave up his whole salary he would still be making crazy money. Thats not the same for Melo. No if the right piece comes available Melo might jump. I don't think that Melo is very happy with this team and because of Amare's injury and the money Amare is taking we could have gotten 2 very good players with Amares money. I don't think Melo will see crazy money offers from teams who have a big payroll. It will be from team who don't have a chance to win anyway.

Why do you think Lebron makes so much money in endorsements? Because he's better at basketball than Melo. If Melo were that good then he would be raking in that much money in endorsement deals as well. This isn't some rigged system where everything is stacked against melo like it seems to be in your head, if Melo were better he'd have more endorsements, but he's not the best player in the league so he doesn't get the same draw. Besides the dude is a top level ambassador of the Jordan brand anyway, it's not like sponsors are ignoring him. Melo is not some average income dude that needs the money to feed his kids, no family I know can't be fed on a budget of 17 MILLION DOLLARS. With the enormous wealth Melo has acquired in his career he's very well off, he has nothing to worry about financially. He can take 17mil and play for us, or he can play for the bobcats for the max he can get and be labeled as a greedy loser.

Papabear Says

You answered your on question or this boards discussion. Yes LeBron is making more money because he is a better player and he has many endorsements. So why should Melo give up his money if thats all he is going to make? Don't you think he should get what he can just like everyone else?

You're missing the point, what do you mean all he is going to make? He doesn't deserve to make more because he's not good enough to warrant getting more money. The dude is filthy rich, I couldn't care less how much money he makes, if you care about winning in Melo's position you don't take 29 million a year. Do you know how much the salary cap in the NBA is? If you did know you'd realize how crippling 30 million to ONE PLAYER is. The Knicks already made a big sacrifice to ensure Melo gets all his money via the trade, or did you forget? If he can't even get us to the ECF why on earth does he deserve the opportunity to demand an even higher max contract again in his older years? I've said it a million times about Amar'e and I'll say it about Melo, we don't owe him anything! Patrick Ewing, Clyde Frazier, Willis Reed those are the players that you owe as an organization, the ones that shape team history. Melo gets to the ECF or Finals and makes things competitive then well see about his pay raise.

Making more money is winning...

Yes, if you're a greedy player that doesn't care about team success that is true.