Melo 15: The End Is Nigh

[ChiefILL53]

Bottom line is the "Derrick Rose rule" is really **** us right now. With out it we could get right in to that 21-22 million range on an offer to Melo. BTW, thanks for taking full advantage of that Derrick.

Well the team just offered him the max, to be fair. I mean I woulda took it too.

[cbjackson7]

If Joakim likes Taj so much why is he recruiting Gasol?

Because he doesnt want to play 46 min a night like last year.

[CloudyFuture]

For the optimists: Woj says Melo is deciding between the Bulls, Rockets and Knicks.

Sorry where did you see this cause I cant find it Know he was just on Fox Sports one but only saw lebron talk I see a Sam Amick tweet saying its down to Bulls Rockets knicks though

[Darius Miles Davis]

I also think that trading Taj to clear cap space for Melo would have probably left us with a stronger team going forward than a Boozer sign and trade that probably would have required us to relinquish all kinds of assets (picks, Mirotic, Dougie).

And, by the way, I really like Taj and think he's going to be a better player than Gasol going forward. So, after all these years, I finally don't want Pau anymore.

[WinCity]

Melo isn't choosing money or winning

He's choosing Thibs

Dont do this to me bro. Dont...

[Betta Bulleavit]

Lol come on guys.

Joakim is not just gonna blab to some guy at the airport. Get serious.

I'm a little worried about the report Melo asked Pau to go to NY. (But how would that even work?) But don't be worried about the dude at the airport lol.

He broke LAX AND Gasol news but he is lying about Melo?

He said the Noah was in LA. He didn't know what Noah was there for. None of us did. But we all sort of assumed that he was there with the rest of the Bulls brass to recruit Gasol. It wasn't that hard to figure out. I would bet a good bit that the Melo part was a fabrication. I have lost bets...but I'd feel pretty good about this one.

[CalilLove89]

Jo is definitely the type of person to tell a random LA bulls fan about melo staying in NY.

I am serious. Jo gives no **** about non teammates.

[MoneyMitch]

If Joakim likes Taj so much why is he recruiting Gasol?

3 man rotation up front

They all being something different and fit great

[coldfish]

Fish, I agree that this was most likely not going to happen. But I still claim that Taj shouldn't have been at the meeting. If we didn't provide the 1) with Taj and 2) without Taj option, then we didn't give it our best shot. And if there was a behinds the scenes without Taj option, why was he at the meeting?

I think we could have appeared more flexible, which would have made our presentation stronger. Yes, it most likely wouldn't have mattered.

We are Bulls fans here and we obviously think a lot of the team.

Other people might not. Well, quite frankly, they don't think as much of the Bulls as we do.

If melo leaves NY, he is automatically going to give up $30M. He would be doing so for one reason: To win.

The Bulls strategy was pretty smart. They did everything they could to make it look like they were the choice to make if Melo decided to prioritize winning over money. That included Taj.

With the reports rolling in, it seems as if Melo did not prioritize things that way. It was always about this:



and the Bulls had no shot. They never could compete with $130 million dollars.

.......

If you believe the last few reports: LA offered Melo a straight up max offer and he isn't considering them. Dallas probably did too. If these are true, Melo is deciding between money (NY) and winning (Hou and Chi).

[singal3]

For the optimists: Woj says Melo is deciding between the Bulls, Rockets and Knicks.

Wait, so you're saying John Johnny's cousin from LAX isn't reliable?

My cousins' friends baby daddy's auntie on her father's side confirmed what Johnny said, Noah a dumbass for spilling such important info to John, should have known this would happen.

I agree and am usually skeptical about such claims.

In this case the guy actually was credible about two other pieces of info. Furthermore, his twitter timeline does nothing to suggest he is a troll.

[Axl Rose]

Lol come on guys.

Joakim is not just gonna blab to some guy at the airport. Get serious.

I'm a little worried about the report Melo asked Pau to go to NY. (But how would that even work?) But don't be worried about the dude at the airport lol.

He broke LAX AND Gasol news but he is lying about Melo?

read my post above

i think the guy saw noah and maybe noah told him he was there for Gasol

but the guy made up the Melo part for some more juiciness to the story....it doesn't make sense for noah to just tell some random stranger in a airport ground breaking news

[Sonny_D1]

Melo called our presentation "tremendous."

Maybe if they discussed hard numbers it would have been spectacular?

Maybe it's difficult to discuss hard numbers when there are multiple directions that the team could go about acquiring him. NY made a max offer because they don't have any contingencies to worry about. Same with the Lakers. The Bulls, Rockets and Mavs didn't have that luxury. Hence the reason why we haven't heard about a hard offer from either of them either.

Right. Problem is you've got Taj there and there's only so much you can offer if Taj stays. Hence, it's all pretty much been a waste of time.

[Nucky Thompson]

Bottom line is the "Derrick Rose rule" is really **** us right now. With out it we could get right in to that 21-22 million range on an offer to Melo. BTW, thanks for taking full advantage of that Derrick.

Well the team just offered him the max, to be fair. I mean I woulda took it too.

Probably because he demanded it.

[Red Larrivee]

1. They should of talked money at the meeting

2. They should of had Rose in recruiting mode way before he was able to open his mouth about the topic

And my point wasn't just the Melo talks. It's been going on for years and years. If it keeps happening it ain't bad luck. There is a reason we can't trade for a sign anyone of significance. No one demands to be traded here. That is about recruiting on selling yourself. Good recruiting college coaches can go to any team and recruit top talent. Same in the NBA with good GM's and owners. It may not always lead to winning it all but it puts you in the ball game.

Chicago is in Melo's Final 3 despite not making an offer. Houston also, did not make an offer.

The financial part of it isn't important until Melo commits. I'm sure both teams know for a fact that they can clear space, or make a deal happen if they get a verbal from Melo. They've been preparing for his free agency for months.

[MoneyMitch]

Melo isn't choosing money or winning

He's choosing Thibs

Dont do this to me bro. Dont...

I wouldn't come here and do that to you guys

Melo will be a Bull

[PaKii94]

If Joakim likes Taj so much why is he recruiting Gasol?

"come be the third head in our monster frontcourt if melo joins us so we can win some chips?"

[LoveDaBoo]

I'm like 100 pages behind (yes, I'm really trying to follow our Melo threads instead of the actual news), so I'm behind the news by like 12 hours.

Is it true that the Lakers are offering Melo the max? If so, this is INCREDIBLE NEWS.

Now Melo can leverage LA's offer against NY to force NY to S&T to Chicago or lose Melo for nothing!

"Phil, if you don't cooperate with CHI on a S&T, then I'll happily just sign with LA for the max."

Phil then has to do a S&T with us to allow Melo to get more than 17-18M or risk losing Melo for nothing.

Am I on the same page as everyone? I'm literally 100 pages behind, so no idea what's going on right now.

That was already true. He could do that with the Rockets. That was a point I made a few days back. If Melo says he's leaving and the Bulls are 1A and the Rockets are 1B, doesn't he force NY to take whatever option gets assets in a S&T? I think it kinda does.

[kurtatx]

Our front office tries and is very professional but they suck at recruiting. They couldn't persuade a dehydrated man in the desert to drink some water.

What should they have done differently? I ask that of anyone that is positioning themselves to throw a kiddie tantrum against the front office for basically handling the situation almost flawlessly.

1. They should of talked money at the meeting

2. They should of had Rose in recruiting mode way before he was able to open his mouth about the topic

And my point wasn't just the Melo talks. It's been going on for years and years. If it keeps happening it ain't bad luck. There is a reason we can't trade for a sign anyone of significance. No one demands to be traded here. That is about recruiting on selling yourself. Good recruiting college coaches can go to any team and recruit top talent. Same in the NBA with good GM's and owners. It may not always lead to winning it all but it puts you in the ball game.

You're frustrated and that's okay. I don't have the patience to address all of the incorrect things you are saying individually, but this isn't a league where you can just trade for whomever you want. No one does. The players hold most of the keys.

The NBA isn't college. GMs and owners don't determine where players go. All they can do is make a presentation and market their brand.

I'm sorry you're frustrated, but you need get over it.

[TheCly]

If Melo signs in LA, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy watching that team implode here up close. It will be the Dwight Howard fiasco all over again.

I agree with the poster that the LA threat "could" help get Phil to do a S&T to Chicago.

But, frankly guys, I don't think Melo has the balls or stomach to be on a championship team. He had a deer in the headlights look on his face in Chicago. I'm just not convinced he can handle the "blue collar city, grimy, win or die" culture we expect from our players. I believe that's what he was really asking Noah when he wanted to know what it was like playing for Thibs. He's wanting to know how hard Thibs would be on him. How the hell would Melo feel if Thibs had him on the bench in the 4th for defensive purposes. I don't think he would take it well at all.

At the end of the day, I expect him to either re-up in NY or head to LA for the max and soak in the celebrity lifestyle here. He really is just too "Mellow"...

[ChiefILL53]

Bottom line is the "Derrick Rose rule" is really **** us right now. With out it we could get right in to that 21-22 million range on an offer to Melo. BTW, thanks for taking full advantage of that Derrick.

Well the team just offered him the max, to be fair. I mean I woulda took it too.

Probably because he demanded it.

I dont remember hearing about any report on negotiations regarding his extension. I remember Derrick saying he wanted to be here and that he would sign an extension, but nothing about negotiating money.