Melo #14- Can Melo Come Out and Play?

[siriusjames]

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[MrFortune3]

Apparently he went 9 hours without worrying about it. That seems like a good sign to me dude.

Doesn't mean it made a good impression if we gave him no hints at all how it would all shake out. And I wouldn't blame Melo at all at some point to be thinking....

In fairness though. He wants them to keep their talent, including Taj so he must know of their plan to move a couple of pieces.

[BahamaBull]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 47s
Around Carmelo Anthony, there's a belief that he plans to take the weekend in Los Angeles to make a decision on his free agency choice.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

Melo should not be hated in Chicago no matter what happens. Thats ridiculous.

Unless he goes to the Heat then you can hate him

Can I still hate the Knicks?

sure but why, they're irrelevant. It's like hating the Pistons.

At least the Pistons have won something in my lifetime. The Knicks haven't been truly relevant since the 70's.

[Payt10]

I'll just say that if Carmelo chooses the Knicks, he can no longer say he isn't about the money and all about winning, because that simply would not be true anymore.

Disagree somewhat. He can easily say Phil sold him on his plan and he believes the Knicks give him the best chance to win over the life of the contract.

You guys are making way too big of a deal about that quote, which was essentially made to posture the Knicks into taking him seriously about leaving.

You can't say its not about the money and then go back and take all the money. If he's true to his word, he can go back to NY and take the pay-cut Phil wants him to. If he accepts the super max, he's feeding everybody a line of bull, which is okay, but like I said, you can't use that line anymore if that's what he ends up doing.

[WinCity]

Apparently he went 9 hours without worrying about it. That seems like a good sign to me dude.

Doesn't mean it made a good impression if we gave him no hints at all how it would all shake out. And I wouldn't blame Melo at all at some point to be thinking....

IDK bro I think you might be over-thinking. I mean he was there with his reps right? Its their job to take care of his finances. If they were worried about it then it would have been addressed. Besides, I doubt GarPax completely shut the door on talking money.

I am sure they said something like "If you want to start talking dollars we are ready and willing, but we dont need to do that today. Suffice it to say we will do whatever it takes to make the finances work if you give is a commitment.

[Jordan45822]

@WojYahooNBA: Around Carmelo Anthony, there's a belief that he plans to take the weekend in Los Angeles to make a decision on his free agency choice.

[fleet]

Sounds like the Bulls ran some mysterious Ben Kenobi Jedi mind tricks on Melo. Better hope that Ben was onto something.

[Blue Note]

Has nothing to do with money. Lala loves NY. his kids like their schools. He remembers as a young kid moving and hating it. That's what I mean by life decision.

Yeah, I agree there are other factors probably more predominant than $. The Chicago argument is essentially the Miami argument four years ago: a star player's first chance to share the load and experience a championship culture. PJ's presence partially offsets the latter advantage.

An extra $40 million goes into the "pro" pile and clarifies the decision in an extremely tangible way, but I think family, love for the city, and personal pride (a salary at market level, building and leading his own team) are higher on the list.

And to the point some other posters have been making, a miss on Melo is not fatal to the Bulls offseason. I would be disappointed in a Gasol overpay (considering the MLE-comparative offers from SA and OKC), but barring that the Bulls are in a good position regardless of the direction Melo chooses.

[NecessaryEvil]

I'll just say that if Carmelo chooses the Knicks, he can no longer say he isn't about the money and all about winning, because that simply would not be true anymore.

Disagree somewhat. He can easily say Phil sold him on his plan and he believes the Knicks give him the best chance to win over the life of the contract.

You guys are making way too big of a deal about that quote, which was essentially made to posture the Knicks into taking him seriously about leaving.

Not sure why everyone has it made up in their mind that Phil Jackson isn't going to be able to do anything within 5 seasons to help a franchise he won a TITLE with, get back on it's feet.

[Chitownbulls]

Melo is a freakin winner! He won at Cuse!!! He can do it at this level too! You don't need the money!!! Especially with your wife who makes money too!

[megatrom4]

Everyone take deep breaths. This up and down roller coaster of emotion is not good. Let this process play out, Bulls FO want him as bad as we do.

Lets hope we all crack open a beer on saturday/sunday and cheers to melo in chicago.

[Rerisen]

I have a hard time believing that in the 9hrs they spent there wasn't any mention of "if you sign for $15, we can keep Taj/McDermott/Butler and lose MDJ/Snell, if you need $18, we have to lose Butler, if you need $20-22, we have to lose Taj and then some combo of the others."

My guess is they didn't talk contract specifics, just that different salary ranges entail different sets of moves that the Bulls would have to make (unless they can get NY to agree to an S&T). But there's no way given the long-term interest between the 2 parties that there wasn't some sense of how much he'd make with the Bulls, and I can't believe they'd be stupid enough to only have one option available for him.

Well yeah its more of a hypothetical argument on the merits of not discussing it.

Someone probably just fed KC that blurb knowing he is the mouthpiece and would get it out. It suits our FO to not let out the specifics of any money options we did discuss.

[WinCity]

Sounds like the Bulls ran some mysterious Ben Kenobi Jedi mind tricks on Melo. Better hope that Ben was onto something.

Lets also remember that Thibs and Melo share an agent. If Leon Rose wasn't demanding some hard numbers then and there I doubt it was a problem for Melo's side.

[otwok]

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔ @WojYahooNBA
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Pat Riley is still setting up free agent meetings for his trip to L.A. this week, selling promise of rings over Miami's shrinking cap space.
10:16 AM - 3 Jul 2014

[Droseisthe1]

What about all that stuff Stephen A said months ago about how Melo is looking at his own mortality and he's gone and all that??

I still have this glimmer of hope that he's actually coming here.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

Disagree somewhat. He can easily say Phil sold him on his plan and he believes the Knicks give him the best chance to win over the life of the contract.

You guys are making way too big of a deal about that quote, which was essentially made to posture the Knicks into taking him seriously about leaving.

Not sure why everyone has it made up in their mind that Phil Jackson isn't going to be able to do anything within 5 seasons to help a franchise he won a TITLE with, get back on it's feet.

Because he hasn't done dick as an executive. he got his second choice as coach - also completely inexperienced. He has a crap roster, and is going into an off-season with largely underwhelming FA's. Why would i have any faith in him? He won his rings as a coach of teams with very strong/successful GM's.

[greenl]

Can I still hate the Knicks?

sure but why, they're irrelevant. It's like hating the Pistons.

At least the Pistons have won something in my lifetime. The Knicks haven't been truly relevant since the 70's.

Agreed- they are irrelevant- but then why the heck do they get shoved down my throat every time I watch tv or go to a website? Knicks all day and all night. Madison Square Garden (which is a dump) is supposed to be the mecca of basketball. The franchise has some indefinable allure- that I've never understood. This is why I hate the Knicks. I can never remember them winning anything- and yet they are constantly a topic of conversation in the media. I've never seen so much hype around such a mediocre franchise.

[Indomitable]

Just think of Cleveland and Toronto in 2010...refused to do a S&T and look what happened..

WTF They both did a sign and trade.

[davhern]

Just think of Cleveland and Toronto in 2010...refused to do a S&T and look what happened..

WTF They both did a sign and trade.

I believe that's his point.