Where to play the Melo Man?

[Mr. E]

Putting the cart before the horse a bit here; but all signs seem to point to Daryl Morey finally getting his Carmelo Anthony signing.

A lot has been discussed about his health, his age and how his game has/has not changed.

Where do you see Carmelo Anthony being the most effective for Houston?

Starting Small Forward? Starting Power Forward? Bench role?

[RoyceDa59]

Would love to see you guys put him in a position to win 6man of the year award. He can still score in isolation and tradition but inserting him into the starting line up will stifle ball movement and hurt you defensively. Ideally 28-30 mins off the bench tearing up 2nd units would be ideal.


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[texasholdem]

Gerald Green probably regrets re-signing up with us now.
D'Antoni uses such a short bench he's probably gonna be left out.

[TMU]

I actually think G Money will get more playing time with Ariza and Luc out the door. Of course some of that will change if Ryno can knock down some shots and get his mojo back.

[K_chile22]

Ideally backup 4 and some spot 3 minutes. Interesting thing came out today from Stein: He's expected to take the minimum, not the mle. So, after signing Melton with it so he can have a three year deal vs two, they will still have $4.5M to spend. $3.66M if they decide to give Hartenstien a third year also (minimums over two years must be signed with an exception or cap space, two or fewer years for the minimum can pretty much always be signed). Wonder if they give both guys three year deals and sit on that remainder until buy out season, or try to get someone else to join. Nwaba would be awesome. Kinda short at 6'4 but has a 7' wingspan and plays bigger than he is. Great defender who shot the ball fairly well last season

[RaoulDuke79]

Would love to see you guys put him in a position to win 6man of the year award. He can still score in isolation and tradition but inserting him into the starting line up will stifle ball movement and hurt you defensively. Ideally 28-30 mins off the bench tearing up 2nd units would be ideal.


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This is the scenario which makes me not cringe at signing him, although for the minimum we're not really risking anything and it's worth a shot so whatever, let's see what we can see.

[Ripcity4life]

Gratz for handing another ring to golden state for destroying your team with Melo and i am not joking. I am not trying to start anything just stating an opinion that will prolly be a fact in 10 months ish.

If i am wrong then the D'antoni deserves coach of the year ... er correction coach of the decade cause he got something out of a player who is running on fumes and a shell of a player. Good luck with melo -- your going to need it.

[hookshot]

I dont mind starting him to keep him happy but keep his minutes down. Harden and CP3 will unlock his potential!

[ozwizard8]

I like Melo a lot. But I voted for bench PF role for him. Let me explain it:
Melo had couple issues that got severe in last couple years.

*One is holding the ball too much on offense. He used to be good scorer but he can locked down easily in those days. So his tendency to hold the ball actually disrupts offensive flow of the team. And he cant draw double teams like he used to. In 12-13 season Knicks, he was getting so much attention and he was playing like prime Dirk and Knicks were finding shooters. Not anymore.
I believe offensive flow is one of the key quality of Rockets so they should watch out.

*Defense. He was never a good or willing defender. As he aged and got knee injuries etc he got even slower. Right know I dont think he can stay against perimeter players. And in todays game there are many many fast guys playing the 3. It feels like you put a big man against a perimeter player when you watch Melo tries to defend a random SF.
Cuts, running through screens I mean he'd get exposed in many ways.
In PF he's actually pretty strong and good rebounder imo. But still he's not above average post defender. He's slow to bring help defense and he is struggling when he switches with guards. He also doesnt provide rim protection. I mean not even Ariza level.
Melo cant leap much anymore and players are actually going at him without any fear.

Defensively, letting couple easy points sometimes change the momentum so much. It also makes opponent team defense tougher. D'Antoni's teams are actually falling when they cant defend. What makes his offense that great is also that momentum. You cant let too many easy points on D and expect that hyped up performance on offense. Its always tough to initiate offense when you're behind compared to having a 10-2 run.

So how to utilize him?
Just using Melo as a good 3pt shooter from the bench doesnt make sense. One way or other you need to use his 1 on 1 skills too. So put him in 2nd unit as PF. Opponent defense would have hard task other than the guards running the offense at 2nd unit (Cp3-Harden-Gordon)

Melo in small minutes can defend better. And bench players in SF/PF positions are less skilled. Also guards running those 2nd units wont be much of a threat to get switch on Melo and score easily.
Melo on offense playing PF position for 2nd unit actually worked pretty well in OKC. But Donovan was clueless coach and he abondoned that so easily.

I hope best for Melo. I really think less minutes would help his efficiency and defense. I oberserved good sequences of games with good D and efficient offense at OKC. I suspected if he drains fluid from his knee time to time. I dont know whether it was the case but he looks like he cant take 30+mpg in 82 game season. Keep him fresh.

[moofs]

Gratz for handing another ring to golden state for destroying your team with Melo and i am not joking. I am not trying to start anything just stating an opinion that will prolly be a fact in 10 months ish.

If i am wrong then the D'antoni deserves coach of the year ... er correction coach of the decade cause he got something out of a player who is running on fumes and a shell of a player. Good luck with melo -- your going to need it.

Good thing that a 2.1m former all-star is easily cut or traded if he doesn’t work out, neh?

Check my comment history. I’ve been super anti-Melo for 8+ years, and even I think this is a good move, whether it works or not.

[moofs]

I like Melo a lot. But I voted for bench PF role for him. Let me explain it:
Melo had couple issues that got severe in last couple years.

I accidentally polled starting PF, but meant to put bench PF for that exact reason - so he doesn’t get eaten on defense.

He’s likely not going to be a huge help in the playoffs for that exact reason.

[texasholdem]

Gratz for handing another ring to golden state for destroying your team with Melo and i am not joking. I am not trying to start anything just stating an opinion that will prolly be a fact in 10 months ish.

If i am wrong then the D'antoni deserves coach of the year ... er correction coach of the decade cause he got something out of a player who is running on fumes and a shell of a player. Good luck with melo -- your going to need it.

Good thing that a 2.1m former all-star is easily cut or traded if he doesn’t work out, neh?

Check my comment history. I’ve been super anti-Melo for 8+ years, and even I think this is a good move, whether it works or not.

While it might seem like an easy out, I don't think the team wants to anger Chris Paul by cutting his friend and I don't think Morey would even consider it after all these years of pursuit.

Maybe we should sign Chris Bosh with the vet min too.

[moofs]

Gratz for handing another ring to golden state for destroying your team with Melo and i am not joking. I am not trying to start anything just stating an opinion that will prolly be a fact in 10 months ish.

If i am wrong then the D'antoni deserves coach of the year ... er correction coach of the decade cause he got something out of a player who is running on fumes and a shell of a player. Good luck with melo -- your going to need it.

Good thing that a 2.1m former all-star is easily cut or traded if he doesn’t work out, neh?

Check my comment history. I’ve been super anti-Melo for 8+ years, and even I think this is a good move, whether it works or not.

While it might seem like an easy out, I don't think the team wants to anger Chris Paul by cutting his friend and I don't think Morey would even consider it after all these years of pursuit.

Maybe we should sign Chris Bosh with the vet min too.

I don’t think Bosh is even cleared to play, is he?

But yeah, the cut option would only be if he was being disruptive/grumpy/etc to where he had to be removed from the team and couldn’t be traded. I’d think there was a market for 1.5m Melo, though. I’m sure that in any of those situations, Morey would consult Paul and Harden, given personal connections.

[texasholdem]

Good thing that a 2.1m former all-star is easily cut or traded if he doesn’t work out, neh?

Check my comment history. I’ve been super anti-Melo for 8+ years, and even I think this is a good move, whether it works or not.

While it might seem like an easy out, I don't think the team wants to anger Chris Paul by cutting his friend and I don't think Morey would even consider it after all these years of pursuit.

Maybe we should sign Chris Bosh with the vet min too.

I don’t think Bosh is even cleared to play, is he?

But yeah, the cut option would only be if he was being disruptive/grumpy/etc to where he had to be removed from the team and couldn’t be traded. I’d think there was a market for 1.5m Melo, though. I’m sure that in any of those situations, Morey would consult Paul and Harden, given personal connections.

Bosh isn't cleared yet but he was talking about joining the Lakers if he did get clearance. Its hypothetical, but should the rockets be interested if he does get clearance.

Morey pursued Bosh almost as much as he did Melo.

[moofs]

While it might seem like an easy out, I don't think the team wants to anger Chris Paul by cutting his friend and I don't think Morey would even consider it after all these years of pursuit.

Maybe we should sign Chris Bosh with the vet min too.

I don’t think Bosh is even cleared to play, is he?

But yeah, the cut option would only be if he was being disruptive/grumpy/etc to where he had to be removed from the team and couldn’t be traded. I’d think there was a market for 1.5m Melo, though. I’m sure that in any of those situations, Morey would consult Paul and Harden, given personal connections.

Bosh isn't cleared yet but he was talking about joining the Lakers if he did get clearance. Its hypothetical, but should the rockets be interested if he does get clearance.

Morey pursued Bosh almost as much as he did Melo.

If he got cleared, yeah, sign him.

“Of course we all know he’d actually sign with the Warriors, of course.”

[BallerTalk]

I expect he'll start as an interchangeable forward alongside Tucker
much like James and Chris are interchangeable playmakers/scorers in the backcourt.

I also expect his minutes will get staggered in a fashion similar to CP3. Between Harden, Gordon, Anthony and Paul, the team will always have at least two legit scoring threats on the floor at all times.

[Clutch City Relic]

I expect he'll start as an interchangeable forward alongside Tucker
much like James and Chris are interchangeable playmakers/scorers in the backcourt.

I also expect his minutes will get staggered in a fashion similar to CP3. Between Harden, Gordon, Anthony and Paul, the team will always have at least two legit scoring threats on the floor at all times.

Agreed.

If I were MDA this would roughly be my rotation:

PG: Paul (30) / Harden (18)
SG: Harden (20) / Gordon (28)
SF: Ennis (26) / Green (16) / Melo (6)
PF: Melo (24) / Tucker (14) / Anderson (10)
C: Capela (30) / Tucker (10) / Nene (8)

Melo subs in/out with CP3 every time. Start him, keep him on/off the floor with his banana boat buddy, stay drama free. Keep at least 3 of our defensive "plus" players (Paul, Gordon, Ennis, Tucker, Capela) on the court at any given time.

Still hoping Morey can turn Anderson and picks into a 3&D (Bazemore or Lee?) wing. I don't like Tucker or Melo at the 3 at all. And as much as I love Green and am happy he re-signed, his defense is super inconsistent.

Work your magic Dork Elvis...

[moofs]

I’d like to see CP3 down to 28-29 mpg, Capela up to 34-37, and Melo maybe closer to 24-27.

[Clutch City Relic]

I’d like to see CP3 down to 28-29 mpg, Capela up to 34-37, and Melo maybe closer to 24-27.

I'm hoping Melton can be good enough early on, to the point that CP3 could just play one game on back-to-backs, Nenê style. I have high hopes for him... just needs to get his FG% up. We had 14 back-to-backs last season, so it'd make a big difference.

[MaxRider]

you start Melo at SF
let MDA figure out which combination work the best