Is Melo to NY Inevitable? Or.... (Poll Included)

[Trader_Joe]

With word from executives that it's rather apparent Melo is not interested in the Nets and would not sign an extension with them, most signs point to Melo being a Knick next season. While this is not guaranteed, it probably has the highest chance of all options happening. If Melo, wants to be a Knick next season he will be a Knick, he controls his destiny in that regard. Denver in the meanwhile needs to do all they can to control their own destiny in this situation.

A couple questions now arise for Denver:

1. Can they trade him to NY before the trade deadline to get something out of it?
My guess is no.

a. Melo seems content to ride out the season and not sign an extension, and in fact has even stated he will not sign an extension so that he can keep his options open.

b. Melo probably does not want to gut his incoming team.

c. If the choices are 3/65 if he extends, vs. 5/100 or 6/130 (in a summer sign and trade) he actually get a longer deal by either 1 or 2 years with more guaranteed money. And yes, while there is a new CBA looming, it should all be relative and with possible roll backs. Either way, the new CBA clearly hasn't intimidated Melo up until now, so it seems to be a non-factor.


2. Does Denver ride out the season and get the typical sign and trade return?
From NY that would be a 2014 #1 + 2016 #1.
Denver probably would not get a TPE as they could renounce it in favor of cap space.


3. Does Denver look for offers for an un-extended Melo?
This may be their best option. Granted they are not going to get a great return, they could still come away with some decent players, the question is who would be willing to do the 1/2 season rental


4. Would Melo actually sign an extension now with a team other than NY that Denver could trade him to?
NJ seems to be out of the picture, but Chicago was originally mentioned as a possibility.


5. Or, does Denver ultimately convince Melo to resign with them?
This seems like a long-shot, but not beyond the scope of reality. They can offer him the most money, arguably the best team, and he is obviously comfortable there.


6. They ultimately lose him for nothing after this season.

[Flash3]

It would make the most sense for Melo to end up in NY but with th eimpending CBA on the table does it make sense to accept the extension and get traded to whomever Denver gets the best pieces from? 'Tis the question

[pwayknicks]

As a Knick fan, with all the Melo talk going around, I wouldnt give up much for the guy. While he is an exceptional talent, the Knicks have big needs at Center & Shooting Guard while their small forward position is amongst their greatest strengths....

2014, 2016 and a TPE....heck no...let him go somewhere else...

Ill take Marc Gasol and call it an offseason...

[Trader_Joe]

It would make the most sense for Melo to end up in NY but with th eimpending CBA on the table does it make sense to accept the extension and get traded to whomever Denver gets the best pieces from? 'Tis the question

Again, Melo has waited this long, and probably knows more about the possibility ramifications of the new CBA than any of us. It seeming doesn't phase him.

[Trader_Joe]

As a Knick fan, with all the Melo talk going around, I wouldnt give up much for the guy. While he is an exceptional talent, the Knicks have big needs at Center & Shooting Guard while their small forward position is amongst their greatest strengths....

2014, 2016 and a TPE....heck no...let him go somewhere else...

Ill take Marc Gasol and call it an offseason...

I almost agree with this.
$21m per year for Melo or spend your money where you need it most.. C, SG and depth.
Also, Amare seems to be thriving as an undisputed #1 option.

But... I'm sure NY signs Melo as soon as they can.

[JustDwight]

I smell a trade to the Magic and soon.

[pwayknicks]

As a Knick fan, with all the Melo talk going around, I wouldnt give up much for the guy. While he is an exceptional talent, the Knicks have big needs at Center & Shooting Guard while their small forward position is amongst their greatest strengths....

2014, 2016 and a TPE....heck no...let him go somewhere else...

Ill take Marc Gasol and call it an offseason...

I almost agree with this.
$21m per year for Melo or spend your money where you need it most.. C, SG and depth.
Also, Amare seems to be thriving as an undisputed #1 option.

But... I'm sure NY signs Melo as soon as they can.

I agree, I think they get Melo just to appease some of the (Please Use More Appropriate Word) fans & Amare....

It will be like Miami bringing in James Wade AND Bosh....if anything bring in James and Wade and instead of Bosh which is overkill load up on some depth....

We already have Gallo, Chandler & Fields all capable of playing the 3 very well, Amare at the 4, and Felton as a DECENT 1....

I would rather worrk a deal for OJ Mayo & Marc Gasol in the offseason as opposed to working a deal for Melo..

[Spider156]

If I was Denver and I know that he's going to New York no matter what. I would trade him for young prospects and picks right away. They're going to wait too much and not get anything from him. This is a bad idea.

[Trader_Joe]

If I was Denver and I know that he's going to New York no matter what. I would trade him for young prospects and picks right away. They're going to wait too much and not get anything from him. This is a bad idea.

To who?
Who is going to give them young prospects and picks if they too must know he's going to NY?

[illiance]

He's going to the Knicks. I'd bet every dollar I have and every dollar I will ever earn on it. It's laughably obvious. Some of my fellow Bulls homers along with desperate Magic and Nuggets fans will try to clamor up false hope but it's inevitable.

And it's going to be a straight up sign this offseason since the Knicks won't give up their team for a player they can easily sign this offseason.

[Trader_Joe]

He's going to the Knicks. I'd bet every dollar I have and every dollar I will ever earn on it. It's laughably obvious. Some of my fellow Bulls homers along with desperate Magic and Nuggets fans will try to clamor up false hope but it's inevitable.

And it's going to be a straight up sign this offseason since the Knicks won't give up their team for a player they can easily sign this offseason.

I can see them offering the standard 2 future 1st rounders so that Melo can get a 6th year and $30m more assuming that is part of the new CBA.
Otherwise I agree that NY is inevitable.

In which case do they find someone willing to rent him for half a season giving Denver some assets, or do they see how far this team can go with him in the playoffs and earn some revenue?

[ballchat]

If the Knicks can sign Melo in the offseason they could play Gallo\Fields\Chandler at SG which is pretty formidable. A Felton\Gallo\Melo\Amare quartet is amongst the best in the NBA.

[corona]

for denver, trading melo to new york is kind of pointless considering what they have to offer.

it would be absolutely terrible from a PR standpoint to trade melo for peanuts just cause you think he might leave for new york. you can justify Favors to fans....but not anything from new york.

and also from a competitive standpoint. with kmart back, denver has the potential to be a damn good team. basically the same team that went to the WCFs two years ago....except with a much better bench, and no anthony carter. to throw that away for wilson chandler because melo might leave. yuck. unless you're the lakers/celtics, you don't get many chances as a franchise to go far in the playoffs.

those same peanuts (picks, chandler, randolph, whatever combination of mediocrity) can most likely be had in a S&T in the summer....if that's where melo definitely wants to go. there's almost no harm done in waiting.

even if denver doesn't get those things in a s&t, i believe new york would have to renounce a couple players to make room for melo's contract. might as well just offer those guys contracts and get the same end result minus a couple picks from next decade.

and don't think melo's committed to leaving. he'd be downright stupid to think that going to new york and playing with microfracture stoudemire is going to make winning easy or more likely. particularly after watching the current unraveling of the heat. to think that stoudemire will stay healthy and help melo compete for the duration of their contracts is laughable. and you know the first miscue he has, that new york media that's pleading for him to go to NY is going to be all over him with tube locks full of padlocks. watch lebrons reception tonight. you really think melo's gonna be excited to ditch a franchise after that?

[Pharmcat]

there is nothing set in stone, nothing inevitable

even after last summer, some havent learned this

[Invictus]

.

and don't think melo's committed to leaving. he'd be downright stupid to think that going to new york and playing with microfracture stoudemire is going to make winning easy or more likely. particularly after watching the current unraveling of the heat. to think that stoudemire will stay healthy and help melo compete for the duration of their contracts is laughable. and you know the first miscue he has, that new york media that's pleading for him to go to NY is going to be all over him with tube locks full of padlocks. watch lebrons reception tonight. you really think melo's gonna be excited to ditch a franchise after that?

For a player of Melo's caliber, going to the eastern conference already makes is easier to win, that is as clear as day. Staying in the West, Melo has to deal with playoff mainstays like Dallas and San Antonio, an increasingly dangerous and improving OKC Thunder, as well as threats like Phoenix, and now to a lesser extent, Portland. Let's not forget the 2 teams with the best PGs in the NBA, Utah and New Orleans. Denver can finish with a 50 win record and still have to face one of those teams in the first round, with competition only getting stiffer if they procede to later round. Then there're the Lakers at the end of the road.

And let's be honest, people outside of NY have used the NY media as some kind of deterrant that applies to all players. Melo has gone on record as saying that the media in general does not concern him at all. He wouldn't be any more under scrutiny than he is now with the nuggets with all the free agency speculation. Unless he pulls a lebron in the playoffs...you can't logically draw a comparison between them in any form.

He hasn't produced a "Decision" and to compare the Melo and Lebron free-agency situations is completely unsubstantiated. Is Melo a native of Colorado? Did he grow up and play basketball near Denver? Is he openly flirting with other teams in interviews and post-game press conferences? Is Melo making excuses for his own play while telling Nuggets fans that they've been spoiled because of his talent? Did he promise Denver that he would never leave until he wins a title? Is he now colluding with Paul and Stoudemire or whoever else to join him on 1 team?

Melo will look at the list of all those things he hasn't done, and will find that making his FA decision this summer will be more painless than LeBron's was controversial.

[panthermark]

Who knows...
I would prefer him traded to NY to clog up their cap on a contract under the old CBA.

Also...to the OP...

Without knowing the new CBA...you don't know what he can S&T for this summer.
His 3/65 extension will be there until June 30th, but after that...it is an unknown....

[Trader_Joe]

Who knows...
I would prefer him traded to NY to clog up their cap on a contract under the old CBA.

Also...to the OP...

Without knowing the new CBA...you don't know what he can S&T for this summer.
His 3/65 extension will be there until June 30th, but after that...it is an unknown....

I realize that but again

a. This is risk Melo is willing to take. He has not signed an extension, and says he wants to keep his options open.

b. It should be all relative in a new CBA, esp. if there are rollbacks.

[lukekarts]

The clear thing to me is that there are not many options.

In free agency, really the only plausible choices would be NY or staying in Denver. I'm sure a lot of teams would trade for him if they thought they could keep him - but I don't think many teams would be able to keep him.

So for FA:

Denver
NY

would almost certainly re-sign if traded to:

NY
Orlando
LAL?
Boston?
Miami?

(obviously the last 3 are exceptionally unlikely)

[boogie-reke]

If the Knicks can sign Melo in the offseason they could play Gallo\Fields\Chandler at SG which is pretty formidable. A Felton\Gallo\Melo\Amare quartet is amongst the best in the NBA.

Yea like Gallo can guard the 2's.. the guy barely keeps up with the 3's of the league on D.

If Melo comes, Gallo is preety much unseless for the Knicks, and it would be in thier best intrests to trade him for other pieces, preferebly a C, cause I see Fields as a great 2, and Toney Douglas is a combo 1/2 so they're kinda ok there, atleast compared to the Center position... and Chandler D gives him the edge over Gallo imo, the guy block shots, can create for himself, can shoot open 3's, practicly do everything, and with Gallo having a high value as in you'll get a better deal for him, he's the better guy to trade, and bring Chandler off the bench to Melo, as he adapted preety good to the off the bench role this season anyways.

[KB24Gold]

As important as it is for Melo to think about his extension, If he is set for NY then I can see why the money won't be a problem for him. Melo & Stat in NY is money right off the bat in terms of endorsements. He will be all over NY and will be showered with love if he and stat can bring that team into title contention. To me I think it's a 70% chance he's set on NY and the other 30 could be any other team. The longer Denver waits, the more likely he's a Knick.