Melo #14- Can Melo Come Out and Play?

[bad knees]

If Melo "chooses" us, he would be aware of the possibility of NY refusing an S&T. He'd either be ok with leaving for whatever capspace the Bulls had, or perhaps just remaining with the Knicks for max money. That's the only logical reason he'd choose us and not another team with more capspace.

How about we try to put some S&T pressure on Phil by making him the decider of how much Melo will be paid.

1. Melo agrees to an FA contract at $15.8M, which allows the Bulls to keep Rose, Butler, Taj, Noah and McDermott.
2. Go to Phil, and offer a sweet S&T where Boozer goes to another team for two picks, and the Knicks get one pick and a TPE, AND THE BULLS AGREE TO RENOUNCE THE MLE, so long as the S&T contract pays Melo $22M per year.

So the only benefit to the Bulls of the S&T would be that they would "get" to pay Melo more, which actually hurts the Bulls and helps the Knicks by increasing the Bulls' salaries. And Phil looks bad to the FA community if he does not agree since the only reason not to agree would be out of spite.

Melo would be taking the risk that, if Phil were spiteful, then he would have to sign for $15.8M. But maybe he would be more willing to do it because he would be confident that, in the end, Phil would be more mature about it and agree to the S&T that would result in Melo getting more money. Plus, Melo would have to be moved a little bit by the Bulls offering to give up three picks in order to get him paid.

F*** making Melo feeling "moved." If Melo is willing to get 15.8 mill, and we'd have to give up 4 picks and the MLE in order to pay him 22, lets just go ahead and not do that.

Plus, you misunderstood. Part of the incentive for Melo to sign for 15.8M would be that he would have a better shot at getting more through a S&T.

The Bulls would offer this option, of course, only if Melo said no to the 15.8M plan without this possibility.

[ChiefILL53]

First Chris Sheridan is an idiot.

Nex skip Bayless is pretty much clueless.

It's obvious it's a two horse race between NY and Chicago.

If the Bulls let Taj Gibson get in the way of getting Melo the whole administration should be fired. Absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard but pretty much exactly what I expect from Gar/Pax.

But its been reported that Melo has said he doesnt want Taj traded, so he shouldnt ask for money thats gonna force us to trade him then amirite?

[RalphieSpeaks]

Has anyone else mentioned this? Apparently there is a rumor that LeBron and Melo could potentially end up in Phoenix together with near max money for both. A team that would include Dragic, Bledsoe and Plumlee.

I read it (or heard it) yesterday but didn't give it much thought.

Anyone else hear this?

Not a big enough stage for Melo and that team is not a lock to make it out of the West.

[detlef_schrempf]

Has anyone else mentioned this? Apparently there is a rumor that LeBron and Melo could potentially end up in Phoenix together with near max money for both. A team that would include Dragic, Bledsoe and Plumlee.

I read it (or heard it) yesterday but didn't give it much thought.

Anyone else hear this?

LeBron isn't leaving Miami. Neither are Bosh and Wade. They never were.... don't fall for the media hype...for them, there HAS to be a story, even if there isn't one.

[rtblues]

N.Y. is saying they won't take Boozer back in a sign-and-trade deal.
Sound familiar? It's what Cleveland's mantra was, right
up until they did it.
They'll take Boozer, and LIKE IT!

[Rerisen]

Bulls supposedly think that if Melo wants to come they can make financials work. They've also been planning this for about 6 mo. So either a)they're stupid, or b)they have plans to get Melo in scenarios other than where he takes $16.6M

If we recall, way back in the season the Bulls were said to be 'extremely confident' regarding the scenario here, and that was even before the higher than expected cap figures came out.

If they were 'extremely confident' merely based on offering Melo 15m and him taking it, and that's it, then they would have duped everyone and indeed been moronic.

I have to think the Gasol stuff is possibly an alternative option in which we give up Taj Gibson and Dunleavy to get Melo more should it become necessary.

Then we can tell Phil that's what is going to happen if he doesn't want to do a S&T. Taj is going somewhere else, Melo will get his money, we'll get a PF with the MLE, and they will get nothing.

[Jimmy Forums]

Stein saying LA has no real chance.

Also says the Bulls are flying to LA to meet with Gasol, he feels because we're concerned we won't get Melo.

Mark another one down for the Knicks.

[IcemanGervin]

Worst case, trade Jimmy Butler, sign a 3 and D veteran wing player. Right now we want to have our cake and eat it too.

[Vince Strong]

N.Y. is saying they won't take Boozer back in a sign-and-trade deal.
Sound familiar? It's what Cleveland's mantra was, right
up until they did it.
They'll take Boozer, and LIKE IT!

Right. What are they going to say? "Ughhh yeah, for sure, we'll take Boozer". This is exactly what they HAVE to say. It means nothing.

[Red8911]

Surprised how bad bulls fans want melo.I never liked him or his game but the fact that he would have noah,rose,Jimmy,taj around him,it can work.,.If though bulls need to trade picks, jimmy and taj to get melo,then its a bad deal and will not make us better...Also with the capspace we have wouldn't it be wiser to get 3-4 solid guys to have a strong roster and bench,rather than just one? What if melo or rose get injured,then we back to where we were..Look at spurs,they dont have a super star.

[danzou]

Bulls supposedly think that if Melo wants to come they can make financials work. They've also been planning this for about 6 mo. So either a)they're stupid, or b)they have plans to get Melo in scenarios other than where he takes $16.6M

If we recall, way back in the season the Bulls were said to be 'extremely confident' regarding the scenario here, and that was even before the higher than expected cap figures came out.

If they were 'extremely confident' merely based on offering Melo 15m and him taking it, and that's it, then they would have duped everyone and indeed been moronic.

I have to think the Gasol stuff is possibly an alternative option in which we give up Taj Gibson and Dunleavy to get Melo more should it become necessary.

Then we can tell Phil that's what is going to happen if he doesn't want to do a S&T. Taj is going somewhere else, Melo will get his money, we'll get a PF with the MLE, and they will get nothing.

I don't think its possible to clear cap to sign Melo outright and have the full MLE, right?

[SlikRik7]

One thing I had not realized is that under the new CBA a sign and trade cannot take place with Anthony's bird rights. So even if we sign and trade for him he can only get 4 years with 4.5% raises vs 5 years with 7.5% raises.

If necessary to get him to come, I think the Bulls should give him a player option in year 2 of the contract. That way if Rose's knees don't hold up Melo can leave. If everything is is going awesome and we've won a ring or two though he can opt out and we can potentially re-sign him with early-bird rights. In theory even if we initially signed with us for 16M he could at least get closer to matching what he would have made in NY over the next 5 years. With early bird rights we can resign him for up to 4 additional years with 7.5% raises at a starting salary of 175% of his previous.

NY Max Offer:
Year 1: 22.5
Year 2: 24.19
Year 3: 26
Year 4: 27.95
Year 5: 30.05

Chicago Lowball Offer with 2-year Opt-out + Max Early Bird Resigning:
Year 1: 16
Year 2: 16.72
Year 3: 29.26
Year 4: 31.45
Year 5: 33.81

Of course it would be illegal for the bulls to commit to paying a 32 year old Mel 29M, but in any case discussing something like this might give him some peace of mind that he's only really making a two year commitment on his end. For us it makes sense to give him an early opt-out because we aren't giving up much to get him in this scenario anyway, and if things are going poorly after two years there's little point in keeping an aging Melo around anyway.

[Rerisen]

N.Y. is saying they won't take Boozer back in a sign-and-trade deal.

This is instrumental wording if we peer closely.

Why isn't NY just saying "We won't do a S&T AT ALL"?

They are saying specifically they don't want Boozer in a S&T. Sure sounds like a compromise position to me. Find a 3rd team in the deal and we are ready to go, assuming Melo wants out.

[Vince Strong]

Surprised how bad bulls fans want melo.I never liked him or his game but the fact that he would have noah,rose,Jimmy,taj around him,it can work.,.If though bulls need to trade picks, jimmy and taj to get melo,then its a bad deal and will not make us better...Also with the capspace we have wouldn't it be wiser to get 3-4 solid guys to have a strong roster and bench,rather than just one? What if melo or rose get injured,then we back to where we were..Look at spurs,they dont have a super star.

I'm with you.

As exciting as it would be to get Melo - I'm not about to have 6 rotation players who should be 10-12 guys on other teams.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

Stein saying LA has no real chance.

Also says the Bulls are flying to LA to meet with Gasol, he feels because we're concerned we won't get Melo.

Mark another one down for the Knicks.

Same report Stein had last night. I'd argue we're going after Gasol more to pair with Melo than as a Plan B. Between Taj, Mirotic, and Noah where does Gasol fit? Are we sending Taj back to the bench? Is Gasol going to back up Noah? Are we getting rid of Mirotic?

There have been some reports that PaxGar know that their window to compete is now - might explain why they have been connected to the Paul Pierce and Gasol's of the world. Might also mean mirotic is on the move and might explain why we drafted rotation ready players like McDermott and Cam-Bear.

[Rerisen]

I don't think its possible to clear cap to sign Melo outright and have the full MLE, right?

Melo would have to take a bit less than his max, but still plenty close enough 20m or so, that NY could not afford to believe its a bluff.

If Melo isn't willing to leave 1 or 2m a year on the table then this has all been a big waste of time and he will have re-signed in NY long since at that point.

[IcemanGervin]

Bulls supposedly think that if Melo wants to come they can make financials work. They've also been planning this for about 6 mo. So either a)they're stupid, or b)they have plans to get Melo in scenarios other than where he takes $16.6M

If we recall, way back in the season the Bulls were said to be 'extremely confident' regarding the scenario here, and that was even before the higher than expected cap figures came out.

If they were 'extremely confident' merely based on offering Melo 15m and him taking it, and that's it, then they would have duped everyone and indeed been moronic.

I have to think the Gasol stuff is possibly an alternative option in which we give up Taj Gibson and Dunleavy to get Melo more should it become necessary.

Then we can tell Phil that's what is going to happen if he doesn't want to do a S&T. Taj is going somewhere else, Melo will get his money, we'll get a PF with the MLE, and they will get nothing.

This is just beautiful.

[TyrusRose2425]

Pax and P-Jaxs relationship will help us IMO

[danzou]

I don't think its possible to clear cap to sign Melo outright and have the full MLE, right?

Melo would have to take a bit less than his max, but still plenty close enough 20m or so, that NY could not afford to believe its a bluff.

If Melo isn't willing to leave 1 or 2m a year on the table then this has all been a big waste of time and he will have re-signed in NY long since at that point.

I thought the full MLE was only available to teams over the cap?

[pb-ceo]

I keep reminding myself that Melo declined his PO even though they knicks really wanted him to accecpt it. If he loved NY that much why not accecpt and see what they do in F/A next year.

this one's been answered countless times...but what if he had a career ending injury? he's an independent contractor who must maximize his long term income. People do things for themselves, not for others. by option out he can maximize his long term income and avoid an income stoppage due to career ending injury.