CrushAlot wrote:meloshouldgo wrote:TripleThreat wrote:Bonn1997 wrote:I agree with most of what you wrote, but Luol Deng? That adds $19 mil to our 19-20 payroll. We can't make a trade that would be worse than waiving Melo. Otherwise we should just waive him.
Given Melo's massive salary, the trade kicker and the NTC, the Knicks are likely only going to trade him with at least one bad contract coming back. Likely more than one to be honest.
Is Deng an ugly contract? Yes, but at least he can play the wing and frankly the Knicks don't need another horrible contract center on the roster, I recognize Mozgov or a guy like Asik are ugly deals as well, but at least someone like Deng doesn't stack all the Knicks bad contracts in one place. A guy like Deng does not have a NTC and while his salary is ugly, it's not Melo NTC super size ugly. At least there is a chance Deng can be moved again in some fashion.
I don't see waiving Melo as a viable option for either side. Knicks would only do it if there was a decent cash savings in play. I.E. a buyout of some kind. Melo has never left real money on the table. Melo doesn't seem to care about winning, literally at all. To waive him at full salary would mean the situation got so toxic that the Knicks would be best served by gutting Melo in the press. Who are we kidding, both sides are hitting each other in the press right now. The Phil Sucks and Melo Sucks articles aren't coming from nowhere.
The NBAPA and the owners and league administration don't want a waiving situation. Every time a player guts his team by lack of effort/commitment, the owners beat down the players in the next labor war. Eddy Curry getting drunk, Baron Davis getting fat, Biedrins dogging it so he can go clubbing, Rip Hamilton mocking his coach, it all adds up and the owners want revenge and they stick it to the players. Taking Melo out of NY means taking the only marketing draw for the team out of the network/broadcast rotation.
Melo is toxic if he stays. The question is what amount of toxic if he goes can the team tolerate that's less than the harm inflicted if he stays.
Ship is sinking. You've got two kids. One seat on a lifeboat. There are no good solutions here. There's picking one misery or the other. Which misery is going to gut you down less. This is a Melo trade in a nutshell. It's not a question of ugly or not, it's a question of how ugly will it have to get. I wish it was different, but it's not.
Theres no need for all this what if stuff. Melo needs to be cut or told to stay home. We will pay hiits salary but he can't do anymore harm to the Knicks with his toxic presence. And if he says he wants to play, it's up to him to waive his NTC and trade kicker. Then if he does, that trade him to whatever team will give us picks.
I think an organization would have big problems with the league if they punish a player because he won't waive the NTC they gave him when they negotiated his contract. Maybe that would be enough for Silver to force Dolan to move on from Phil. The Knicks can waive Melo but they owe him over 54 mil for the next two years. Melo still has value in the league but the size of his contract, the NTC and the trade kicker make his deal almost impossible to move. It was a horrible contract to give out. It can't be fixed but trashing Melo in his presser didn't make things easier for Phil. At this point I don't see Melo doing Phil any favors. Prior to the presser, I think Phil might have been able to work with Leon Rose on a buy out where Melo had a deal in place with another team after he cleared waivers that would save the Knicks some money. Now I think he stays, gets an extra 9 mil if he is traded or gets a full buyout and then signs a new deal and makes more. Melo will be fine. The Knicks organization will continue to have to try to overcome the mistakes Phil makes.
This so far from reality its hard to read. Giving him an NTC doesn't mean we have to do what he wants. The NTC means we can't trade him unless he agrees. How you can take that and SPIN it into the Knicks punishing poor misunderstood Melo by agteeing to bench him is beyond any sane person's comprehension. We are not asking for favors are we are honoring what we signed up to do. Unless his contract states he cannot be benched the Knicks should tell the league to go fukk itself if it tries to intervene
I never understood why Phil insists on acting the way he does when he no longer values an asset.
It's actually fucking embarrassing, childish and has yield nothing for every asset he has or has tried to move.
He started on Tyson Chandler in the offseason, then made a terrible trade too early. Centers on expiring deals with championship experience are always in demand.
If you are looking to move JR Smith, perhaps implementing a complex offense when you have two low IQ players you're trying to move doesn't increase their value.
Maybe maximize Melo in order to trade him is the better idea instead of bringing up his short comings as a player. He had no problem praising Rose and his ability to score and get to the rim.
Let's face it, we are fucked when it comes to getting anything of value. The mere fact that he entertained Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford, whose contract is worse now then when we traded him 6 years ago is insane.
Had we just signed a stop gap at center last offseason, we would have actually been in a nice position this offseason to add a nice wing or shooting guard with the emergence of Willy.
