LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

[JMAC3]

I haven't been following the thread close enough to know who was mocking/getting mocked about Melo staying healthy as the #1 goal for the front office. I actually think their #1 goal should be close to this, but it is actually building a competent enough roster so that Melo is in position to where it makes sense for him to actually play 60-70 games a season. Right now, we aren't in this position as LaMelo played 47 games and we are 3rd worst team in the league. As mentioned earlier in the thread I think LaMelo could have played close to 60 games this year if our record was close to .500 and we actually were competing to get into the playoffs.

As far as trading LaMelo and entering an even deeper rebuild, that makes no sense to me. A team should rebuild once they have fired all their shots in their gun and they didn't pan out. Hornets are the exact opposite, we have all our bullets, plus a few extra. We should fire these rounds and in 2-3 years if we still aren't good then sure we can trade LaMelo at age 26 in his prime, prior to him signing a supermax and recoup some of the bullets we fired in an attempt to be good around LaMelo. And then maybe that is when you enter a rebuild where you lack picks, us trading LaMelo now for even more picks makes no sense to me.

I just wish I felt like we had the right GM and right HC in place because in theory us drafting top 5, and making a trade where we acquire one above average starter probably puts us in a great spot. However, I fear many on here will get their wish, we trade Melo and take another step back and are once again a bottom 5 team for the 4th year in a row, but hey we will have 10+ future firsts that Jeff Peterson can hold onto to ensure he keeps his job for another 5+ yrs.

[SWedd523]

I see we still have a lot of folks stuck on the bargaining stage.


Another year, 47/82 games played: "Yeah but" he totally woulda coulda shoulda played more games if he wanted to.

Another year, two more surgeries: "Yeah but" this is normal. the timing is good. he'll have a full off-season.

Another year, career lows in FG%, 3P%, eFG%, TS%, TRB, APG (since his rookie year), and SPG: "Yeah but" this was a get right year just trying to keep guys healthy. Oops

Nothing about this season was good for Melo. Yet another wasted season where he saw no team success, no personal success, couldn't stay healthy, and showed a regression from prior years.

[fatlever]

I thought plowed in a pretty good job of articulating concerns about melo In his most recent podcast posted today.
- This many surgeries 4 player at this age, No matter the severity of this most recent surgery, rarely is a good thing for a player and rarely is a situation that just magically gets better over time
- The fact that he's still having wrist problems five years after initially hurting his wrist is concerning.
- He pointed to lack of explosion over the past few years, Using dunks in his first two seasons versus dunks in the last three seasons and the significant steep drop-off as a potential side effect of lack of explosion due to the numerous ankle injuries

I think anyone expecting things to just magically get better for his ankles and wrist is probably wishful thinking. Yeah there's a small chance that it happens but there's also a pretty significant chance that this is something that isn't going away.

I really have no idea what the best course of action is here for the Hornets or the player. Put him on the trade block and hope you get a decent return. Hang on to him in hope he finally gets healthy.

[JustBuzzin]

I see we still have a lot of folks stuck on the bargaining stage.


Another year, 47/82 games played: "Yeah but" he totally woulda coulda shoulda played more games if he wanted to.

Another year, two more surgeries: "Yeah but" this is normal. the timing is good. he'll have a full off-season.

Another year, career lows in FG%, 3P%, eFG%, TS%, TRB, APG (since his rookie year), and SPG: "Yeah but" this was a get right year just trying to keep guys healthy. Oops

Nothing about this season was good for Melo. Yet another wasted season where he saw no team success, no personal success, couldn't stay healthy, and showed a regression from prior years.

The truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

[JustBuzzin]

If we get Flagg the decision becomes much easier. Move on. Love Melo wish him well, but he's proven he can't stay healthy.

Some may say why can't we keep him with Flagg. My response what good is 40 games of Melo with Flagg?

Flagg/Miller is good enough to build around. Whatever we get for Melo is just a bonus.

If we don't get Flagg, then we continue to gamble on Melo's health every season. Something that has not worked well in our favor so far. It is what it is.

[SWedd523]

If we get Flagg the decision becomes much easier. Move on. Love Melo wish him well, but he's proven he can't stay healthy.

Some may say why can't we keep him with Flagg. My response what good is 40 games of Melo with Flagg?

Flagg/Miller is good enough to build around. Whatever we get for Melo is just a bonus.

If we don't get Flagg, then we continue to gamble on Melo's health every season. Something that has not worked well in our favor so far. It is what it is.

I disagree completely here.

Getting Flagg or one of the Rutgers kids means the timeline extends and you see if he can take a more complimentary role for a more gravitational player.

Everyone is doing a disservice by forcing him to carry such a huge burden. We need to see what he's like as a third option to see if he can last.

[JustBuzzin]

If we get Flagg the decision becomes much easier. Move on. Love Melo wish him well, but he's proven he can't stay healthy.

Some may say why can't we keep him with Flagg. My response what good is 40 games of Melo with Flagg?

Flagg/Miller is good enough to build around. Whatever we get for Melo is just a bonus.

If we don't get Flagg, then we continue to gamble on Melo's health every season. Something that has not worked well in our favor so far. It is what it is.

I disagree completely here.

Getting Flagg or one of the Rutgers kids means the timeline extends and you see if he can take a more complimentary role for a more gravitational player.

Everyone is doing a disservice by forcing him to carry such a huge burden. We need to see what he's like as a third option to see if he can last.

Again I'm not concerned about the talent of LaMelo. I'm concerned we will only have him for 40 games yet again. Which goes back to my original point what good is 40 games of LaMelo with a roster upgrade?

Health is his biggest concern moving forward.

[HornetJail]

If we get Flagg the decision becomes much easier. Move on. Love Melo wish him well, but he's proven he can't stay healthy.

Some may say why can't we keep him with Flagg. My response what good is 40 games of Melo with Flagg?

Flagg/Miller is good enough to build around. Whatever we get for Melo is just a bonus.

If we don't get Flagg, then we continue to gamble on Melo's health every season. Something that has not worked well in our favor so far. It is what it is.

I disagree completely here.

Getting Flagg or one of the Rutgers kids means the timeline extends and you see if he can take a more complimentary role for a more gravitational player.

Everyone is doing a disservice by forcing him to carry such a huge burden. We need to see what he's like as a third option to see if he can last.

i don't think he even becomes a "third option", just not making him carry an offense like prime Harden and becomin just a regular 1 or a 1a/1b like he was the last time we made the play-ins will make him a monster.

[JustBuzzin]

If we get Flagg the decision becomes much easier. Move on. Love Melo wish him well, but he's proven he can't stay healthy.

Some may say why can't we keep him with Flagg. My response what good is 40 games of Melo with Flagg?

Flagg/Miller is good enough to build around. Whatever we get for Melo is just a bonus.

If we don't get Flagg, then we continue to gamble on Melo's health every season. Something that has not worked well in our favor so far. It is what it is.

I disagree completely here.

Getting Flagg or one of the Rutgers kids means the timeline extends and you see if he can take a more complimentary role for a more gravitational player.

Everyone is doing a disservice by forcing him to carry such a huge burden. We need to see what he's like as a third option to see if he can last.

i don't think he even becomes a "third option", just not making him carry an offense like prime Harden and becomin just a regular 1 or a 1a/1b like he was the last time we made the play-ins will make him a monster.

Good point something I didn't consider his workload would decrease. Maybe that puts less stress on his body as the season goes. This is a fair take.

[HornetJail]

we have only mentioned his usage being a problem 68754 times over the last few months

[Rich4114]

I actually can't get over the surface level one dimensional takes around LaMelo. I shouldn't even bother arguing, but I just can't help myself.

Are we really saying things like "well if we get Flagg then we DEFINITELY should trade LaMelo because 0 games of LaMelo is better than 40?". The whole reason we suck is because we had nobody else other than LaMelo who can: Score, ball handle, facilitate, increase pace. Do you really want to see how Flagg and Miller look in an offense run by KJ Simpson? Or is someone giving us an even better player than LaMelo if we trade him in your world?

Does anyone know what surgery he's having on his wrist and ankle? I've heard scoping on the ankle (which is likely to remove bone spurs) and maybe something similar on the wrist since he's always twisting and flexing it. Do we feel as though scoping on anything other than knees is going to lead to some disability in a 23 year old professional NBA player?

LaMelo's efficiency was down this season because he was a one man show on a bad team. It's really straight forward.

But hey, let's just ignore all context and only look at the following:

47 games played out of 82
surgery

Clearly we must trade him. Maybe we can get 2 seasons of Dru Holiday before he retires.

Wouldn't you guys rather see what LaMelo looks like on a roster that has some support and talent on it before we make a decision while he's only 23? Like do we not even want to try that one time in his tenure here just to see what happens?

[JustBuzzin]

My goodness!

Melo plays 40 games a season. Stop acting like you don't know what the issue is. I don't care about trading him. Keep him for all I care. The problem is his health!

I can't debate people who refuse to recognize the real issue. Who cares if we trade him. I care that we are only getting him for 40 games a season. That's a real issue and it doesn't matter if we put talent around him if he's gonna get hurt it will set us back.

[Rich4114]

My goodness!

Melo plays 40 games a season. Stop acting like you don't know what the issue is. I don't care about trading him. Keep him for all I care. The problem is his health!

I can't debate people who refuse to recognize the real issue. Who cares if we trade him. I care that we are only getting him for 40 games a season. That's a real issue and it doesn't matter if we put talent around him if he's gonna get hurt it will set us back.

And you think that if this team was positioning for playoff seeding he still would have only played in 47 games this season?

[KembaWalker]

I love the “you want to see an offense led by KJ Simpson?” strawman as if that’s literally not what we get half the season every year with LaMelo

[JustBuzzin]

My goodness!

Melo plays 40 games a season. Stop acting like you don't know what the issue is. I don't care about trading him. Keep him for all I care. The problem is his health!

I can't debate people who refuse to recognize the real issue. Who cares if we trade him. I care that we are only getting him for 40 games a season. That's a real issue and it doesn't matter if we put talent around him if he's gonna get hurt it will set us back.

And you think that if this team was positioning for playoff seeding he still would have only played in 47 games this season?

He needs surgery.

We always play these what if games with Melo and it pisses me off. The fact of the matter is we aren't playing for playoff seeding, and he's ending the season with yet another surgery. Same story different year.

I would be much more confident had he not have to get multiple surgeries. I just can't ignore that fact.

[fatlever]

needing surgery is never a good thing even if it's "minor"
As plow said in his podcast, this isn't like going to the dentist
We saw this almost every offseason with Kemba... Season ends, he has minor surgery on his knee. And just like that his career is over 5 years before it should have been.
Of course we're all sitting here hoping that this time, this is the surgery that finally gets his body fully healthy.
At this point I think it's fair to say he has both chronic wrist problems and ankle problems.
I don't think any of us want melo to be the ultimate what if... What if he would have been healthy and his body wouldn't have broken down by the time he was 28. What if he was actually capable of playing more than 50 or 60 games in a season. what if he hadn't lost what little explosiveness he had in his first few years.
Injury prone players with chronic injuries rarely just magically get better over time. Steph Curry is the exception Not the norm.

[countryboi]

needing surgery is never a good thing even if it's "minor"
As plow said in his podcast, this isn't like going to the dentist
We saw this almost every offseason with Kemba... Season ends, he has minor surgery on his knee. And just like that his career is over 5 years before it should have been.
Of course we're all sitting here hoping that this time, this is the surgery that finally gets his body fully healthy.
At this point I think it's fair to say he has both chronic wrist problems and ankle problems.
I don't think any of us want melo to be the ultimate what if... What if he would have been healthy and his body wouldn't have broken down by the time he was 28. What if he was actually capable of playing more than 50 or 60 games in a season. what if he hadn't lost what little explosiveness he had in his first few years.
Injury prone players with chronic injuries rarely just magically get better over time. Steph Curry is the exception Not the norm.

While I agree, Kemba career is over because he had his meniscus removed that shorten recover time but shortened his career

[fatlever]

needing surgery is never a good thing even if it's "minor"
As plow said in his podcast, this isn't like going to the dentist
We saw this almost every offseason with Kemba... Season ends, he has minor surgery on his knee. And just like that his career is over 5 years before it should have been.
Of course we're all sitting here hoping that this time, this is the surgery that finally gets his body fully healthy.
At this point I think it's fair to say he has both chronic wrist problems and ankle problems.
I don't think any of us want melo to be the ultimate what if... What if he would have been healthy and his body wouldn't have broken down by the time he was 28. What if he was actually capable of playing more than 50 or 60 games in a season. what if he hadn't lost what little explosiveness he had in his first few years.
Injury prone players with chronic injuries rarely just magically get better over time. Steph Curry is the exception Not the norm.

While I agree, Kemba career is over because he had his meniscus removed that shorten recover time but shortened his career

I hear you. fair point. Situations are different.
but... We're all already talking about multiple surgeries on lamelo's foot, one that already has metal screws inserted into it. sigh.
And another summer where he spends the summer doing physical therapy and rehab rather than adding strength and potentially adding other parts to his game.

[Liver_Pooty]

needing surgery is never a good thing even if it's "minor"
As plow said in his podcast, this isn't like going to the dentist
We saw this almost every offseason with Kemba... Season ends, he has minor surgery on his knee. And just like that his career is over 5 years before it should have been.
Of course we're all sitting here hoping that this time, this is the surgery that finally gets his body fully healthy.
At this point I think it's fair to say he has both chronic wrist problems and ankle problems.
I don't think any of us want melo to be the ultimate what if... What if he would have been healthy and his body wouldn't have broken down by the time he was 28. What if he was actually capable of playing more than 50 or 60 games in a season. what if he hadn't lost what little explosiveness he had in his first few years.
Injury prone players with chronic injuries rarely just magically get better over time. Steph Curry is the exception Not the norm.

While I agree, Kemba career is over because he had his meniscus removed that shorten recover time but shortened his career

I hear you. fair point. Situations are different.
but... We're all already talking about multiple surgeries on lamelo's foot, one that already has metal screws inserted into it. sigh.
And another summer where he spends the summer doing physical therapy and rehab rather than adding strength and potentially adding other parts to his game.

Shams said he was going to have a normal complete offseason. Not sure how unless the surgeries are truly minimal as hell, but that’s what he said.

[fatlever]

While I agree, Kemba career is over because he had his meniscus removed that shorten recover time but shortened his career

I hear you. fair point. Situations are different.
but... We're all already talking about multiple surgeries on lamelo's foot, one that already has metal screws inserted into it. sigh.
And another summer where he spends the summer doing physical therapy and rehab rather than adding strength and potentially adding other parts to his game.

Shams said he was going to have a normal complete offseason. Not sure how unless the surgeries are truly minimal as hell, but that’s what he said.

"normal" Is semantics. I'm not saying he's going to be sidelined all summer. how soon after the surgeries will he be able to start? they mentioned full recovery within four to six weeks. But I don't necessarily think that means in 4 to 6 weeks he's going to be playing 5 on 5 basketball, not that there's anything to play. How long is he going to be stuck doing physical therapy? How does having wrist surgery impact his ability to lift weights and shoot the ball this summer? how will Having ankle surgery impact his ability to add muscle to his legs and strengthen those ankles?

also, He has never really been someone who seems to heal and recover quicker than average. So it's possible that this lingers on more than four to six weeks. What if there's still pain and discomfort after 4 to 6 weeks? Then what?

I don't see any way that this is a "normal complete offseason" for him. It's going to be an off season of therapy and rehab.