LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

Post #1901 » by **fatlever** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 6:49 am

So this random text message from some player or someone in the league that perk decides read out loud on a show - so this theory they are peddling is that the Hornets are intentionally capping melo's Minutes at 25 to 28 minutes per game in order to keep his numbers low enough to not be an All Star because they are afraid of the public backlash of trading Lamelo as a two time All Star rather than a one time All Star. Implying that if we played him, say, 32 minutes a game this year he would be a two time All Star which would lead to too much fan backlash once he's traded. The mental gymnastics you have to do to contort yourself into a pretzel to believe this bull is why I weep for the world.

And Richard Jefferson can attach himself to a **** space rocket and launch himself to **** Mars

Maybe just **** maybe they have lowered his minutes to keep him healthier. And the only conspiracy theory related to trades that could be tied back to his lower minutes this year would simply be a healthy Lamelo, who is actually playing games, has a higher trade value than one who's not playing games. And the way to help keep him on the floor is to lower his minutes.

Post #1902 » by **fatlever** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 6:54 am

the melo stans are the nba equivalent of the maga cult

SWedd523 · Post #1903 » by **SWedd523** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 11:45 am

fatlever wrote:the melo stans are the nba equivalent of the maga cult

Go ahead and rope the TDS crew in as the other side of that coin.

luciano-davidwesley · Post #1904 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 1:03 pm

Kendrick Perkins somehow manages to outstupid himself again.

LofJ · Post #1905 » by **LofJ** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 1:18 pm

I quit watching talking head stuff a decade ago. It's way too stupid for me.

tondi123 · Post #1906 » by **tondi123** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 1:20 pm

LofJ wrote:I quit watching talking head stuff a decade ago. It's way too stupid for me.

Same here. I watch the game or highlights and hang out on here. Thats it as far as the Hornets go.

Liver_Pooty · Post #1907 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 1:58 pm

Lamelo wasnt making an all star team this year if we played him 38 minutes a game. Have they even seen him play this season? lol

johanliebert · Post #1908 » by **johanliebert** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 11:11 pm

LofJ wrote:I quit watching talking head stuff a decade ago. It's way too stupid for me.

What he said isn't farfetched. Teams do operate in that manner if only you knew half of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors.

Post #1909 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 11:23 pm

johanliebert wrote:
LofJ wrote:I quit watching talking head stuff a decade ago. It's way too stupid for me.

What he said isn't farfetched. Teams do operate in that manner if only you knew half of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors.

Disagree, it seems completely non-sensicle to me. How would artistically decreasing his effectiveness on the court and keeping him from an all star game increase his trade value?

SWedd523 · Post #1910 » by **SWedd523** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 11:31 pm

johanliebert wrote:
LofJ wrote:I quit watching talking head stuff a decade ago. It's way too stupid for me.

What he said isn't farfetched. Teams do operate in that manner if only you knew half of the stuff that goes on behind closed doors.

I don't see any world where they'd limit his minutes out of malice with intent to trade him under the hope of getting less fan backlash.

Post #1911 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Jan 7, 2026 11:35 pm

It's a completely asinine theory - tanking the value of their marquee asset so they can move it for less value and set back the entire franchise's rebuild.

Even if there is a FO out there that would intentionally harm their franchise by reducing the value of their best player because they are worried about fan sentiment, the history of this FO makes very clear that they have a vision for where they are going and they are not worried about fan sentiment in making their moves.

It also ignores the reality of the real drain on Melo's value - his inability to stay healthy. Even if he is 30% less effective but 30% more available, that would have a net positive impact on his trade value.

Rich4114 · Post #1912 » by **Rich4114** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 5:21 pm

Looks like they limited Brandon Miller's games and mins to make sure he's not an all star and can trade him with better optics too then?

If the Hornets ever did this for real, anyone associated with it should be banned from being employed by an NBA team again. That said, the notion of purposely tanking your players value to limit the return you got just to avoid public backlash in one of the softest media markets of all time is quite a stretch.

Post #1913 » by **fatlever** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:01 pm

If there was a conspiracy theory about him traded it would be much simpler. It would be: The Hornets are limiting his minutes in order to keep him on the floor to raise his trade value. Melo playing 65-70 games at 28 minutes per game is better for trade value than him playing 40 games at 34 minutes per game.

It's not that far-fetched to believe that would be the case and does not require a tin foil hat.

But limiting his minutes to keep him off the All-Star team because a "two-time All-Star" would be much harder for the fans to swallow being traded than a one-time all-star. All based on the assumption that he would make the All-Star team anyway if he played more minutes, which wasn't the case last year when he was playing better and top three in fan and player voting... and he still couldn't get into the all-star game.

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JustBuzzin · Post #1914 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:04 pm

Rich4114 wrote:Looks like they limited Brandon Miller's games and mins to make sure he's not an all star and can trade him with better optics too then?

If the Hornets ever did this for real, anyone associated with it should be banned from being employed by an NBA team again. That said, the notion of purposely tanking your players value to limit the return you got just to avoid public backlash in one of the softest media markets of all time is quite a stretch.

So you agree with Kendrick Perkins?

JustBuzzin · Post #1915 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:05 pm

We aren't getting any all-star's this year regardless.

We have like 4 guys all averaging 20ppg and we are a losing team.

Post #1916 » by **fatlever** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:10 pm

JustBuzzin wrote:We aren't getting any all-star's this year regardless.

We have like 4 guys all averaging 20ppg and we are a losing team.

Everyone knows that except Perkins and Melo stans, apparently.
The league showed us last year they are never going to let him the All-Star game as long as the Hornets have a losing record.

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Rich4114 · Post #1917 » by **Rich4114** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:13 pm

JustBuzzin wrote:
Rich4114 wrote:Looks like they limited Brandon Miller's games and mins to make sure he's not an all star and can trade him with better optics too then?

If the Hornets ever did this for real, anyone associated with it should be banned from being employed by an NBA team again. That said, the notion of purposely tanking your players value to limit the return you got just to avoid public backlash in one of the softest media markets of all time is quite a stretch.

So you agree with Kendrick Perkins?

Why would that be your takeaway from my comments? I'm saying what Perk is suggesting sounds preposterous. Thus the "quite a stretch" part. :lol:

JustBuzzin · Post #1918 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jan 8, 2026 6:18 pm

Rich4114 wrote:
JustBuzzin wrote:
Rich4114 wrote:Looks like they limited Brandon Miller's games and mins to make sure he's not an all star and can trade him with better optics too then?

If the Hornets ever did this for real, anyone associated with it should be banned from being employed by an NBA team again. That said, the notion of purposely tanking your players value to limit the return you got just to avoid public backlash in one of the softest media markets of all time is quite a stretch.

So you agree with Kendrick Perkins?

Why would that be your takeaway from my comments? I'm saying what Perk is suggesting sounds preposterous. Thus the "quite a stretch" part.

Just checking.

Post #1919 » by **Diop** » Fri Jan 9, 2026 3:44 am

Read on Twitter

?

he clearly isn't 100% and it's all about managing his body

Post #1920 » by **Diop** » Fri Jan 9, 2026 3:45 am

fatlever wrote:
JustBuzzin wrote:We aren't getting any all-star's this year regardless.

We have like 4 guys all averaging 20ppg and we are a losing team.
Everyone knows that except Perkins and Melo stans, apparently.
The league showed us last year they are never going to let him the All-Star game as long as the Hornets have a losing record.

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i dont think Perkins actually believes it, he just understands that stupid shocking statements gets you paid in this dumb society