for Brooklyn's flip pick their 2018#1 and Sacramento 2019 with the two ending contracts of Johnson and whoever else--Id do it if they would heres why.
We are a good team with Carmelo--hes a great player just like the ad says--he s a 9 time all star and won a chip in college like Shabazz Napier. But I ultimately do not think hes our pied piper and this draft (and additional free agent funds) would allow us to pair two great young guards with KP and Willy---we can keep Rose and make the team more guard centric(faster) with MUCH better ball movement
Give the Celtics a chance with Crowder Horford Thomas and Anthony--they could compete with Clev--we cannot. Our team needs to move to the next phase--one that is a tad younger faster with emphasized KP as the star and for now Rose as the 2nd guy
We could use a player like we saw last night in Roberson. A guy at 6-7 6-8 can hit a three but also strangle the opponents 2-3 . This draft has the best PG in a decade--guards that we can pair with Rose and Lee--so we can let Jennings walk if he wants too much $$$ bigger guards who play defense pass and can hit a 3.
Yes Im ready for the FU's but really this is the time and this is the year in the right deal like this to go for it. I want to win a chip I dont want to win 45 games/
If I could only change the meaning of the phrase No Trade Clause...
jrodmc wrote:If I could only change the meaning of the phrase No Trade Clause...
If only more posters understood the meaning of it!
Might as well flip Noah as well. Why pay him if we are not contending?
smackeddog wrote:jrodmc wrote:If I could only change the meaning of the phrase No Trade Clause...
If only more posters understood the meaning of it!
Even though Melo said he wants to play here, what if he has a chance to win a chip? He doesn't have much time left. We all know a "no trade" clause just means the player has to approve.
That said, I would not be trading him till after the All Star break. I still think this team can do some damage, we have talent.
everyone assumes Melo wants to win a chip. I am pretty sure he would rather be part of a NY resurgence than win a ride the coat tails type chip
fishmike wrote:everyone assumes Melo wants to win a chip. I am pretty sure he would rather be part of a NY resurgence than win a ride the coat tails type chip
I'm not so sure. You may be right, but then again he may have "legacy" thoughts percolating in his head. And Boston is close by. I love the trade idea. Watching Melo continue to be a mega ball-stopper is no fun at all.
I would do it in a heartbeat. Melo is becoming detrimental to what we have with Kristaps, Rose, Willy and the like. He is stopping the ball, a liability on defense and bombing up crazy shots for the sole purpose of scoring 20+ points. Celtics need a star, we need a clean start and young bloods. Just remember that uncanny ability Phil has had to draft Kristaps number 4, and trade for Hernangomez. He's got a great eye for talent, and in a loaded draft I really believe we would come out winners. Of course the main problem is that clause. But think about it, Boston isn't too far away, it's a storied franchise, it's missing a star around the rest of their AMAZING pieces. I think Melos era may be coming to a close, he must be thinking about legacy mustn't he? We aren't winning a chip like this, however with Melos help they can surely challenge the Cavs.
Knicks67 wrote:I would do it in a heartbeat. Melo is becoming detrimental to what we have with Kristaps, Rose, Willy and the like. He is stopping the ball, a liability on defense and bombing up crazy shots for the sole purpose of scoring 20+ points. Celtics need a star, we need a clean start and young bloods. Just remember that uncanny ability Phil has had to draft Kristaps number 4, and trade for Hernangomez. He's got a great eye for talent, and in a loaded draft I really believe we would come out winners. Of course the main problem is that clause. But think about it, Boston isn't too far away, it's a storied franchise, it's missing a star around the rest of their AMAZING pieces. I think Melos era may be coming to a close, he must be thinking about legacy mustn't he? We aren't winning a chip like this, however with Melos help they can surely challenge the Cavs.
One can dream... but to do this he need courage...
I cannot see him having one. He looks insecure to me.
Finishing his contract in NY is most secure option.
So he is not going anywhere.
jrodmc wrote:If I could only change the meaning of the phrase No Trade Clause...
its amazing people still include his name in pipe dream trades
fishmike wrote:everyone assumes Melo wants to win a chip. I am pretty sure he would rather be part of a NY resurgence than win a ride the coat tails type chip
It is hard to imagine what goes through a 30 or so year olds mind who is a professional basketball player, won a championship at every level but I would think winning is up there!
But then again, he sort of forced his way here, so if winning was #1, he might have just came here, risking a little bit of money to be happy at home on a team with enough talent to trade for more and build what he needed.
We all know, we can't trust what (most) players say to the media. I do think he wants to be here and I do think we have a chance to win it all, not this year though - we need 1 more strike of gold w/ a FA (maybe having KP here gets it or maybe we get lucky (again) in this next draft). If it doesn't happen this off season, I could see him agreeing to a trade to try to win a chip... or not.
You know, just watching last night, the one thing I think we're really lacking -- a player like Enes Kanter. Man, what a good player -- real good post scorer/rebounder. I was all for getting this guy when it became clear Utah was looking to unload him a couple of seasons ago.. Last night, he actually provided some rim protection as well. Hopefully Willy can turn into this type of player, although I don't think he has the ceiling Kanter has.
You know a trade I would do -- something like Melo to OKC for Kanter/cash or Melo/Willy for Kanter/cash + their 2017 1st rounder. Too many variables that would prevent this from going anywhere, however: I agree with Fish--I think Melo wants to stay here more than being a hired gun somewhere else, even teamed with a guy like Westbrook (if anything--I can still see Melo agreeing to go to the LAC to play with his buddy CP3 -- how 'bout something like Melo/Willy for some combination of Deandre Jordan/Austin Rivers/Diamond Stone/a pick? Remote, I know...) and also I think OKC would look at this idea and say no good--if we couldn't win it with KD/Westbrook AND Kanter, no way we're winning anything with Melo/Westbrook minus Kanter. But a player like Kanter (a legit post threat/deluxe rebounder), paired with KP and what he brings, would do us wonders. Hard to find that type of player, just looking around the league. Ideally, I'd like to see Phil look around for a Jermaine O'Neal-type move (how Indy stole O'Neal away from the Blazers). Not sure I see something like that out there...Philly's got a lot of good bigs. I really like Richaun Holmes. Anyone think he could help us? We're not getting Embiid or Okafor, not sure about Noel and it would take some package to get him, but Holmes is a guy that we might be able to trade for. Not the post threat I'd like but this guy's a pretty good all-around player that could possibly take the next step and blossom into something very decent in a situation with more playing time. Talented (underrated) offensively, toughness, he'll rebound and also provide rim protection. I also really like Robert Covington at the 3 spot. We saw last night what a guy like Andre Roberson can provide -- this dude Covington's very similar, probably a better all-around player...Maybe we look to Europe/the DL for help. And I still think a heavy dose of Marshall Plumlee could help. He might be able to provide more of what we're looking for from Noah. I wonder if Plumlee could've been able to help neutralize Adams/Kanter/Lauvergne a little better if he was available last night..
A big question for us -- what's the chances Willy could evolve into a player similar to Kanter? I had high hopes initially just watching video but not sure I see that now. I like Willy, think he's more than serviceable, same with O'Quinn who's playing pretty well, better than last year -- they're just not there with Kanter. Willy's already pretty advanced in his maturity, playing professionally for awhile in Europe. Not sure how much better he'll get. I know this--Willy had no answers last night for OKC's big men...Yeah Westbrook was great and Morrow hurt us but we lost last night because we couldn't handle their bigs inside.
I would love to unload Noah and Lee by the way but how?? I respect Noah's hustle but he's not nearly as effective as he once was (let's face it--the Noah signing for that amount of money was a misfire--dude's only gonna regress further from here) and Lee's just not what many thought he would be. Too bad we didn't resign Afflalo. I still say he's a better player than Lee, esp. for half the contract and he was already here, already knew the system. Would've been a much more potent 4th option for us over Lee. Swapping out Afflalo for Lee for double the money was a classic the-grass-ain't-always-greener move imo. Trouble here is--who would take on Noah or Lee in a trade, at the money they're making?? No one! Believe me, everyone around the league sees the same regression in those two that we do. Hard to see how we improve this situation and take the next step here.
I also think Mo Ndour should be sent to the DL asap to get 30-35 mins a night (and he needs to be encouraged to shoot the ball). He has good potential on both ends but is playing with absolutely no confidence whatsoever. Send this guy down to build his confidence and hone his skills.
Finestrg wrote:I also think Mo Ndour should be sent to the DL asap to get 30-35 mins a night (and he needs to be encouraged to shoot the ball). He has good potential on both ends but is playing with absolutely no confidence whatsoever. Send this guy down to build his confidence and hone his skills.
I agree about Ndour. I don't think he played much last year either. He needs court time. With the close proximity of the County Center the Knicks could call him up on very short notice if the need came up.
Finestrg wrote:You know, just watching last night, the one thing I think we're really lacking -- a player like Enes Kanter. Man, what a good player -- real good post scorer/rebounder. I was all for getting this guy when it became clear Utah was looking to unload him a couple of seasons ago.. Last night, he actually provided some rim protection as well. Hopefully Willy can turn into this type of player, although I don't think he has the ceiling Kanter has. You know a trade I would do -- something like Melo to OKC for Kanter/cash or Melo/Willy for Kanter/cash + their 2017 1st rounder. Too many variables that would prevent this from going anywhere, however: I agree with Fish--I think Melo wants to stay here more than being a hired gun somewhere else, even teamed with a guy like Westbrook (if anything--I can still see Melo agreeing to go to the LAC to play with his buddy CP3 -- how 'bout something like Melo/Willy for some combination of Deandre Jordan/Austin Rivers/Diamond Stone/a pick? Remote, I know...) and also I think OKC would look at this idea and say no good--if we couldn't win it with KD/Westbrook AND Kanter, no way we're winning anything with Melo/Westbrook minus Kanter. But a player like Kanter (a legit post threat/deluxe rebounder), paired with KP and what he brings, would do us wonders. Hard to find that type of player, just looking around the league. Ideally, I'd like to see Phil look around for a Jermaine O'Neal-type move (how Indy stole O'Neal away from the Blazers). Not sure I see something like that out there...Philly's got a lot of good bigs. I really like Richaun Holmes. Anyone think he could help us? We're not getting Embiid or Okafor, not sure about Noel and it would take some package to get him, but Holmes is a guy that we might be able to trade for. Not the post threat I'd like but this guy's a pretty good all-around player that could possibly take the next step and blossom into something very decent in a situation with more playing time. Talented (underrated) offensively, toughness, he'll rebound and also provide rim protection. I also really like Robert Covington at the 3 spot. We saw last night what a guy like Andre Roberson can provide -- this dude Covington's very similar, probably a better all-around player...Maybe we look to Europe/the DL for help. And I still think a heavy dose of Marshall Plumlee could help. He might be able to provide more of what we're looking for from Noah. I wonder if Plumlee could've been able to help neutralize Adams/Kanter/Lauvergne a little better if he was available last night..
A big question for us -- what's the chances Willy could evolve into a player similar to Kanter? I had high hopes initially just watching video but not sure I see that now. I like Willy, think he's more than serviceable, same with O'Quinn who's playing pretty well, better than last year -- they're just not there with Kanter. Willy's already pretty advanced in his maturity, playing professionally for awhile in Europe. Not sure how much better he'll get. I know this--Willy had no answers last night for OKC's big men...Yeah Westbrook was great and Morrow hurt us but we lost last night because we couldn't handle their bigs inside.
I would love to unload Noah and Lee by the way but how?? I respect Noah's hustle but he's not nearly as effective as he once was (let's face it--the Noah signing for that amount of money was a misfire--dude's only gonna regress further from here) and Lee's just not what many thought he would be. Too bad we didn't resign Afflalo. I still say he's a better player than Lee, esp. for half the contract and he was already here, already knew the system. Would've been a much more potent 4th option for us over Lee. Swapping out Afflalo for Lee for double the money was a classic the-grass-ain't-always-greener move imo. Trouble here is--who would take on Noah or Lee in a trade, at the money they're making?? No one! Believe me, everyone around the league sees the same regression in those two that we do. Hard to see how we improve this situation and take the next step here.
Dude Kanter was barely avg 12 points, and while is is a decent post player, he clearly is not an allstar, he benefits from westbrooks penetration.
If you watch the game, you see how westbrooks sucks in all of our bigs, he draws so much attention, that kanter and adams get a lot of easy wide open buckets.
Our bigs were out of position trying to protect the paint(rambis plan), allowing 17 offensive rebounds..
If you think the lost came because of melo's shooting, you were not paying attention. The question at hand should be, how on earth did a pg (westbrook-18 rebounds) and a sg( lamb17 rb) out rebound our our center and fwd in back to back games
knicks1248 wrote:Finestrg wrote:You know, just watching last night, the one thing I think we're really lacking -- a player like Enes Kanter. Man, what a good player -- real good post scorer/rebounder. I was all for getting this guy when it became clear Utah was looking to unload him a couple of seasons ago.. Last night, he actually provided some rim protection as well. Hopefully Willy can turn into this type of player, although I don't think he has the ceiling Kanter has. You know a trade I would do -- something like Melo to OKC for Kanter/cash or Melo/Willy for Kanter/cash + their 2017 1st rounder. Too many variables that would prevent this from going anywhere, however: I agree with Fish--I think Melo wants to stay here more than being a hired gun somewhere else, even teamed with a guy like Westbrook (if anything--I can still see Melo agreeing to go to the LAC to play with his buddy CP3 -- how 'bout something like Melo/Willy for some combination of Deandre Jordan/Austin Rivers/Diamond Stone/a pick? Remote, I know...) and also I think OKC would look at this idea and say no good--if we couldn't win it with KD/Westbrook AND Kanter, no way we're winning anything with Melo/Westbrook minus Kanter. But a player like Kanter (a legit post threat/deluxe rebounder), paired with KP and what he brings, would do us wonders. Hard to find that type of player, just looking around the league. Ideally, I'd like to see Phil look around for a Jermaine O'Neal-type move (how Indy stole O'Neal away from the Blazers). Not sure I see something like that out there...Philly's got a lot of good bigs. I really like Richaun Holmes. Anyone think he could help us? We're not getting Embiid or Okafor, not sure about Noel and it would take some package to get him, but Holmes is a guy that we might be able to trade for. Not the post threat I'd like but this guy's a pretty good all-around player that could possibly take the next step and blossom into something very decent in a situation with more playing time. Talented (underrated) offensively, toughness, he'll rebound and also provide rim protection. I also really like Robert Covington at the 3 spot. We saw last night what a guy like Andre Roberson can provide -- this dude Covington's very similar, probably a better all-around player...Maybe we look to Europe/the DL for help. And I still think a heavy dose of Marshall Plumlee could help. He might be able to provide more of what we're looking for from Noah. I wonder if Plumlee could've been able to help neutralize Adams/Kanter/Lauvergne a little better if he was available last night..
A big question for us -- what's the chances Willy could evolve into a player similar to Kanter? I had high hopes initially just watching video but not sure I see that now. I like Willy, think he's more than serviceable, same with O'Quinn who's playing pretty well, better than last year -- they're just not there with Kanter. Willy's already pretty advanced in his maturity, playing professionally for awhile in Europe. Not sure how much better he'll get. I know this--Willy had no answers last night for OKC's big men...Yeah Westbrook was great and Morrow hurt us but we lost last night because we couldn't handle their bigs inside.
I would love to unload Noah and Lee by the way but how?? I respect Noah's hustle but he's not nearly as effective as he once was (let's face it--the Noah signing for that amount of money was a misfire--dude's only gonna regress further from here) and Lee's just not what many thought he would be. Too bad we didn't resign Afflalo. I still say he's a better player than Lee, esp. for half the contract and he was already here, already knew the system. Would've been a much more potent 4th option for us over Lee. Swapping out Afflalo for Lee for double the money was a classic the-grass-ain't-always-greener move imo. Trouble here is--who would take on Noah or Lee in a trade, at the money they're making?? No one! Believe me, everyone around the league sees the same regression in those two that we do. Hard to see how we improve this situation and take the next step here.
Dude Kanter was barely avg 12 points, and while is is a decent post player, he clearly is not an allstar, he benefits from westbrooks penetration.
If you watch the game, you see how westbrooks sucks in all of our bigs, he draws so much attention, that kanter and adams get a lot of easy wide open buckets.
Our bigs were out of position trying to protect the paint(rambis plan), allowing 17 offensive rebounds..
If you think the lost came because of melo's shooting, you were not paying attention. The question at hand should be, how on earth did a pg (westbrook-18 rebounds) and a sg( lamb17 rb) out rebound our our center and fwd in back to back games
It was his shooting that lost the game. I don't know what you were watching. Defense was bad but they were in the game until 2 minutes left. If Melo maybe hits a below average 40% the Knicks win. But he shot closer to 20%. He was putting to much of a burden on the other who had to carry him. His teammates take responsible shots while Melo is blatantly irresponsible. He needs to stop putting himself ahead of his team.
CrushAlot wrote:Finestrg wrote:I also think Mo Ndour should be sent to the DL asap to get 30-35 mins a night (and he needs to be encouraged to shoot the ball). He has good potential on both ends but is playing with absolutely no confidence whatsoever. Send this guy down to build his confidence and hone his skills.
I agree about Ndour. I don't think he played much last year either. He needs court time. With the close proximity of the County Center the Knicks could call him up on very short notice if the need came up.
Yeah, he needs court time and encouragement to shoot the ball. By far he's the one guy who can benefit from a sustained DL run. There's potential here with this dude on both ends--I'd like to see it realized.
knicks1248 wrote:Finestrg wrote:You know, just watching last night, the one thing I think we're really lacking -- a player like Enes Kanter. Man, what a good player -- real good post scorer/rebounder. I was all for getting this guy when it became clear Utah was looking to unload him a couple of seasons ago.. Last night, he actually provided some rim protection as well. Hopefully Willy can turn into this type of player, although I don't think he has the ceiling Kanter has. You know a trade I would do -- something like Melo to OKC for Kanter/cash or Melo/Willy for Kanter/cash + their 2017 1st rounder. Too many variables that would prevent this from going anywhere, however: I agree with Fish--I think Melo wants to stay here more than being a hired gun somewhere else, even teamed with a guy like Westbrook (if anything--I can still see Melo agreeing to go to the LAC to play with his buddy CP3 -- how 'bout something like Melo/Willy for some combination of Deandre Jordan/Austin Rivers/Diamond Stone/a pick? Remote, I know...) and also I think OKC would look at this idea and say no good--if we couldn't win it with KD/Westbrook AND Kanter, no way we're winning anything with Melo/Westbrook minus Kanter. But a player like Kanter (a legit post threat/deluxe rebounder), paired with KP and what he brings, would do us wonders. Hard to find that type of player, just looking around the league. Ideally, I'd like to see Phil look around for a Jermaine O'Neal-type move (how Indy stole O'Neal away from the Blazers). Not sure I see something like that out there...Philly's got a lot of good bigs. I really like Richaun Holmes. Anyone think he could help us? We're not getting Embiid or Okafor, not sure about Noel and it would take some package to get him, but Holmes is a guy that we might be able to trade for. Not the post threat I'd like but this guy's a pretty good all-around player that could possibly take the next step and blossom into something very decent in a situation with more playing time. Talented (underrated) offensively, toughness, he'll rebound and also provide rim protection. I also really like Robert Covington at the 3 spot. We saw last night what a guy like Andre Roberson can provide -- this dude Covington's very similar, probably a better all-around player...Maybe we look to Europe/the DL for help. And I still think a heavy dose of Marshall Plumlee could help. He might be able to provide more of what we're looking for from Noah. I wonder if Plumlee could've been able to help neutralize Adams/Kanter/Lauvergne a little better if he was available last night..
A big question for us -- what's the chances Willy could evolve into a player similar to Kanter? I had high hopes initially just watching video but not sure I see that now. I like Willy, think he's more than serviceable, same with O'Quinn who's playing pretty well, better than last year -- they're just not there with Kanter. Willy's already pretty advanced in his maturity, playing professionally for awhile in Europe. Not sure how much better he'll get. I know this--Willy had no answers last night for OKC's big men...Yeah Westbrook was great and Morrow hurt us but we lost last night because we couldn't handle their bigs inside.
I would love to unload Noah and Lee by the way but how?? I respect Noah's hustle but he's not nearly as effective as he once was (let's face it--the Noah signing for that amount of money was a misfire--dude's only gonna regress further from here) and Lee's just not what many thought he would be. Too bad we didn't resign Afflalo. I still say he's a better player than Lee, esp. for half the contract and he was already here, already knew the system. Would've been a much more potent 4th option for us over Lee. Swapping out Afflalo for Lee for double the money was a classic the-grass-ain't-always-greener move imo. Trouble here is--who would take on Noah or Lee in a trade, at the money they're making?? No one! Believe me, everyone around the league sees the same regression in those two that we do. Hard to see how we improve this situation and take the next step here.
Dude Kanter was barely avg 12 points, and while is is a decent post player, he clearly is not an allstar, he benefits from westbrooks penetration.
If you watch the game, you see how westbrooks sucks in all of our bigs, he draws so much attention, that kanter and adams get a lot of easy wide open buckets.
Our bigs were out of position trying to protect the paint(rambis plan), allowing 17 offensive rebounds..
If you think the lost came because of melo's shooting, you were not paying attention. The question at hand should be, how on earth did a pg (westbrook-18 rebounds) and a sg( lamb17 rb) out rebound our our center and fwd in back to back games
I didn't think the loss came from Melo's bad shooting. Where did I say that? I said the loss came from our bigs not getting the job done inside (rebounding and then we really don't have a post presence--I think that hurts us too. We have no sustainable high % offense coming from 7' and in). Look, Melo's been great. The man's entitled to a bad game every so often. I for one don't care for the fans jumping on him when it's not going well. That's horseshit. WTF? Support the guy!! He's doing his job. I don't blame Melo with anything that's going on really...You do make a good point though on another matter -- yeah, how the hell are guards like Westbrook and Lamb allowed to put up monster rebounding numbers like that? Mind-boggling...I really thought Noah would be a bigger factor. He's been disappointing. Not a huge factor on the glass for the most part and to me anyway, it looks like guys are scoring on him in the post at will. Also, if you notice, he gets caught way too many times with his back turned, not knowing where the ball is. Then there's the 'no offensive game to speak of' aspect and even his FT % is plummeting. A good friend of mine texted me today that he wished we had Tyson Chandler back. I mean what does that say about Noah right there? 
Finestrg wrote:CrushAlot wrote:Finestrg wrote:I also think Mo Ndour should be sent to the DL asap to get 30-35 mins a night (and he needs to be encouraged to shoot the ball). He has good potential on both ends but is playing with absolutely no confidence whatsoever. Send this guy down to build his confidence and hone his skills.
I agree about Ndour. I don't think he played much last year either. He needs court time. With the close proximity of the County Center the Knicks could call him up on very short notice if the need came up.
Yeah, he needs court time and encouragement to shoot the ball. By far he's the one guy who can benefit from a sustained DL run. There's potential here with this dude on both ends--I'd like to see it realized.
NDour has been lacking outside of anything but at the rim, and yes some reps in the DL may be nice to get him going. He's being left wide open on the baseline 10-15" out and I can't remember him hitting one.
Finestrg wrote:knicks1248 wrote:Finestrg wrote:You know, just watching last night, the one thing I think we're really lacking -- a player like Enes Kanter. Man, what a good player -- real good post scorer/rebounder. I was all for getting this guy when it became clear Utah was looking to unload him a couple of seasons ago.. Last night, he actually provided some rim protection as well. Hopefully Willy can turn into this type of player, although I don't think he has the ceiling Kanter has. You know a trade I would do -- something like Melo to OKC for Kanter/cash or Melo/Willy for Kanter/cash + their 2017 1st rounder. Too many variables that would prevent this from going anywhere, however: I agree with Fish--I think Melo wants to stay here more than being a hired gun somewhere else, even teamed with a guy like Westbrook (if anything--I can still see Melo agreeing to go to the LAC to play with his buddy CP3 -- how 'bout something like Melo/Willy for some combination of Deandre Jordan/Austin Rivers/Diamond Stone/a pick? Remote, I know...) and also I think OKC would look at this idea and say no good--if we couldn't win it with KD/Westbrook AND Kanter, no way we're winning anything with Melo/Westbrook minus Kanter. But a player like Kanter (a legit post threat/deluxe rebounder), paired with KP and what he brings, would do us wonders. Hard to find that type of player, just looking around the league. Ideally, I'd like to see Phil look around for a Jermaine O'Neal-type move (how Indy stole O'Neal away from the Blazers). Not sure I see something like that out there...Philly's got a lot of good bigs. I really like Richaun Holmes. Anyone think he could help us? We're not getting Embiid or Okafor, not sure about Noel and it would take some package to get him, but Holmes is a guy that we might be able to trade for. Not the post threat I'd like but this guy's a pretty good all-around player that could possibly take the next step and blossom into something very decent in a situation with more playing time. Talented (underrated) offensively, toughness, he'll rebound and also provide rim protection. I also really like Robert Covington at the 3 spot. We saw last night what a guy like Andre Roberson can provide -- this dude Covington's very similar, probably a better all-around player...Maybe we look to Europe/the DL for help. And I still think a heavy dose of Marshall Plumlee could help. He might be able to provide more of what we're looking for from Noah. I wonder if Plumlee could've been able to help neutralize Adams/Kanter/Lauvergne a little better if he was available last night..
A big question for us -- what's the chances Willy could evolve into a player similar to Kanter? I had high hopes initially just watching video but not sure I see that now. I like Willy, think he's more than serviceable, same with O'Quinn who's playing pretty well, better than last year -- they're just not there with Kanter. Willy's already pretty advanced in his maturity, playing professionally for awhile in Europe. Not sure how much better he'll get. I know this--Willy had no answers last night for OKC's big men...Yeah Westbrook was great and Morrow hurt us but we lost last night because we couldn't handle their bigs inside.
I would love to unload Noah and Lee by the way but how?? I respect Noah's hustle but he's not nearly as effective as he once was (let's face it--the Noah signing for that amount of money was a misfire--dude's only gonna regress further from here) and Lee's just not what many thought he would be. Too bad we didn't resign Afflalo. I still say he's a better player than Lee, esp. for half the contract and he was already here, already knew the system. Would've been a much more potent 4th option for us over Lee. Swapping out Afflalo for Lee for double the money was a classic the-grass-ain't-always-greener move imo. Trouble here is--who would take on Noah or Lee in a trade, at the money they're making?? No one! Believe me, everyone around the league sees the same regression in those two that we do. Hard to see how we improve this situation and take the next step here.
Dude Kanter was barely avg 12 points, and while is is a decent post player, he clearly is not an allstar, he benefits from westbrooks penetration.
If you watch the game, you see how westbrooks sucks in all of our bigs, he draws so much attention, that kanter and adams get a lot of easy wide open buckets.
Our bigs were out of position trying to protect the paint(rambis plan), allowing 17 offensive rebounds..
If you think the lost came because of melo's shooting, you were not paying attention. The question at hand should be, how on earth did a pg (westbrook-18 rebounds) and a sg( lamb17 rb) out rebound our our center and fwd in back to back games
I didn't think the loss came from Melo's bad shooting. Where did I say that? I said the loss came from our bigs not getting the job done inside (rebounding and then we really don't have a post presence--I think that hurts us too. We have no sustainable high % offense coming from 7' and in). Look, Melo's been great. The man's entitled to a bad game every so often. I for one don't care for the fans jumping on him when it's not going well. That's horseshit. WTF? Support the guy!! He's doing his job. I don't blame Melo with anything that's going on really...You do make a good point though on another matter -- yeah, how the hell are guards like Westbrook and Lamb allowed to put up monster rebounding numbers like that? Mind-boggling...I really thought Noah would be a bigger factor. He's been disappointing. Not a huge factor on the glass for the most part and to me anyway, it looks like guys are scoring on him in the post at will. Also, if you notice, he gets caught way too many times with his back turned, not knowing where the ball is. Then there's the 'no offensive game to speak of' aspect and even his FT % is plummeting. A good friend of mine texted me today that he wished we had Tyson Chandler back. I mean what does that say about Noah right there?
Noah's free throw shooting is horrific. I believe his percentage is in the 30s. It is hard to believe that he ever hit his free throws at a rate of 70%. I get awkward releases if they work but it might be time to try something different.
Melo's 11 for 44 underscores what he's become and It won't improve. There will be games where he gets 30 and he'll score 20 consistently but he's a detriment and has been and going on 33 without an athletic frame. The time to move him passed 18 months ago or more but I'll take draft choices and I'm fine with trading himnto Boston. Fact is I am. It sure Celtics will play.
Friend of mine floated bringing JOHN Wall herenover Rose and I agree. Let Jennings go and Rose and bring in Wall. Wall/KP/ Hernangomez are a better nucleus and forget being an 8th seed.
