Carmelo Anthony

[d-train]

What will Carmelo Anthony do next season?

Will he re-sign with Blazers for a portion of MLE or BAE?

Will he leave Portland for a better financial deal?

Or, will he leave Portland for same or worse financial deal?

[GEE]

I think we cash out our chips on Melo, when the season is over. He's been a surprisingly good stop gap for us, but I think we would be pushing our luck by resigning him. Plus, I think Whiteside returning is a strong possibility, and if so, a better option at back-up PF/SF should be available this off-season for the MLE, BLE, or via trade. I'm also assuming that Ariza returns next season, hopefully on a restructured, but longer deal.

I also think Melo has, and will continue to play well enough (much to my amazement and previous skepticism), to get himself a roster spot somewhere in the NBA. Or... he could go the Starberry route and get PAID over in China.

[Myth]

I'd welcome him back, but with ZC returning, I expect Melo would choose to leave. I doubt he gets much more if any more than he gets currently from Portland.

[Village Idiot]

I'd welcome him back, but with ZC returning, I expect Melo would choose to leave. I doubt he gets much more if any more than he gets currently from Portland.

It'll be interesting to see how the line-ups and roles will be when the season resumes. Personally I expect Melo to stay and try to win 6th man of the year next season. That and playoff success would be a nice way to wind down his career. I would love to see some of his game rub off on Zach, Nurk and Little.

[Goldbum]

Double post

[Goldbum]

Assuming Ariza and Whiteside stay, then Melo makes a lot of sense in the second unit...The problem is its Melo who's ego likely won't allow him to play second banana off the bench...
Dame/Ant
CJ/GTJ
Ariza/Little
Zach/Melo
Nurkic/Hassan

Melo adds a lot of playmaking to that second unit and his ball handling + shooting balance Little's energy +recklessness and Hassans limitations. GTJ isn't the best at creating and Ant needs a bit of help as a pressure release while still in his infancy...
Draft picks should be Melo and Ariza replacements as both + Hood are likely one year rentals...

[d-train]

We have at least an 8 game preview of what Blazers will do with our big 4 healthy (Lillard, CJ, Nurk, and Collins) plus Melo, Ariza, and Whiteside. Who gets the minutes and where? Ariza, Melo, Trent, and Hezonja will get minutes at 3. Ariza will get the most because Melo will also get a lot of minutes at the 4. Blazers will also play a lot of small ball with Melo at the 4, Ariza at the 3, and Collins at the 5. The small ball lineup is going to cost Hassan some minutes, although sometimes Hassan can be in the small ball lineup.

Aside from Nurk and Whiteside, who are solely centers, Blazers have tons of interchangeability in the lineups. Our guards are either combos or wings. Our 3's are combo 3/4's. Some say Melo is a 4/3 (they are wrong). Collins is a 4/5, who can move his feet well-enough to defend 3's.

Melo will probably be the 5th highest minutes player, but Ariza might start because of his defense. Hassan will drop to the 7th highest minutes player with the return of Nurk and Collins.

[red_power]

Melo is more like a ring chasing bench warmer nowadays.
He was still a better player than Tolliver and Little but that wasn't because he's any good.

Hopefully Blazers find better quality for his role the next season.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Obviously we will have to see how the team looks with Nurkic and Collins healthy, so we will get a little taster of that in August. If it doesn't look good we have to look at making changes.

If I had to guess now, I would say that it seems like Melo liked the team and the team liked Melo, so if he is willing to come back for the BAE then he likely will be a Blazer next year.

I also think you start a guy like Melo because if he hits a few early buckets it can change the game but in general have most of his minutes leading the bench unit. He also is an option to close the game if the coach wants a guy who is a threat to get his own shot out there. Collins should get plenty of minutes with the starters, but he doesn't have the same sort of game where a couple early buckets opens things up and there is no reason to hand him the starting spot.

Of course if Collins plays so damn well that he deserves the starting role then obviously you move Carmelo back to the bench. Collins is just not good or senior enough to get the starting spot just handed to him, so prefer penciling him in as the first PF/C off the bench, with the ability to earn more with his play.

[GEE]

Obviously we will have to see how the team looks with Nurkic and Collins healthy, so we will get a little taster of that in August. If it doesn't look good we have to look at making changes.

If I had to guess now, I would say that it seems like Melo liked the team and the team liked Melo, so if he is willing to come back for the BAE then he likely will be a Blazer next year.

I also think you start a guy like Melo because if he hits a few early buckets it can change the game but in general have most of his minutes leading the bench unit. He also is an option to close the game if the coach wants a guy who is a threat to get his own shot out there. Collins should get plenty of minutes with the starters, but he doesn't have the same sort of game where a couple early buckets opens things up and there is no reason to hand him the starting spot.

Of course if Collins plays so damn well that he deserves the starting role then obviously you move Carmelo back to the bench. Collins is just not good or senior enough to get the starting spot just handed to him, so prefer penciling him in as the first PF/C off the bench, with the ability to earn more with his play.

The BAE for Melo would be just fine I guess, if he'd accept a role of backup PF, get in such great shape that he can maybe play some SF too, and Blazers don't have a better option for those minutes, but I think Collins is pretty much a lock at starting PF.

I honestly think we can find a better solution, but your points about Melo vs. Collins, especially in clutch playoff type minutes, made me think a little. I would want to separate, or scatter Ariza and Melo's minutes as much as possible, but having Melo, in the playoffs next year with a 10 man rotation like this:

Dame/CJ/Simons/Trent/Ariza/Hood/Collins/Melo/Nurkic/Whiteside

...That's pretty damn good!!!

[Goldbum]

If he comes back I think he's closer to 7th or 8th man. I think he's fine against most back up PF's but having him play SF is a nightmare on the defensive perimeter. Most back up stretch 4s can shoot but can't dribble drive so he can cover them. He's strong enough that he likely won't be abused in the post. Little and Melo can work together along with GTJ/Ant/Whiteside. I think GTJ is our 6th man guarding 3s and 2s in space and spreading the floor while playing with that dog mentality. Whiteside is our 8th man with Ant as 9th and Little 10th.
Hopefully our picks land a backup PF and near starting level wing (Vassell please!). Maybe Hoard or Gabriel step up to take Melo's place and that wing replaces Ariza in 2022.
Alternatively we take a backup PG and shift GTJ and Ant up a position while that wing starts.
Dame/Ant
CJ/GTJ
Vassell(S.Bey, Nesmith)/Little
Collins/Killian Tillie
Nurkic/Whiteside

Or

Dame/Riller
CJ/Ant
Vassell(S.Bey,Nesmith)/GTJ
Collins/2021 pick or development guy
Nurkic/Whiteside
That scenario leaves Little out in the cold and gives us a smaller bench.
That's why I brought up offering our Mid Level to Wood.
Either way we need to nail this draft. Indont think Hood suits up in Portland again unless he has an awesome inspiring recovery.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

Of course if Collins plays so damn well that he deserves the starting role then obviously you move Carmelo back to the bench. Collins is just not good or senior enough to get the starting spot just handed to him, so prefer penciling him in as the first PF/C off the bench, with the ability to earn more with his play.

blazers let aminu walk so collins could start and play with nurk

both neil olshey and dame lillard said collins is our starter and im pretty sure tery stotts thinks the same, so i dont know if hes gonna start (just like nurk) when the season resumes, but next season both of them are starters obviously

when it comes to carmelo, explain to him that he would be backup to collins and if he doesnt like that or the cheap contract blazers will give him (i assume we want him back), then he leaves surely

[d-train]

Of course if Collins plays so damn well that he deserves the starting role then obviously you move Carmelo back to the bench. Collins is just not good or senior enough to get the starting spot just handed to him, so prefer penciling him in as the first PF/C off the bench, with the ability to earn more with his play.

blazers let aminu walk so collins could start and play with nurk

both neil olshey and dame lillard said collins is our starter and im pretty sure tery stotts thinks the same, so i dont know if hes gonna start (just like nurk) when the season resumes, but next season both of them are starters obviously

when it comes to carmelo, explain to him that he would be backup to collins and if he doesnt like that or the cheap contract blazers will give him (i assume we want him back), then he leaves surely

Nurk and Collins are starters in our next 8 games. Lillard, CJ, Nurk, and Collins are sure starters. The final starter is between Ariza and Melo. As far as PT goes, it doesn't matter who starts. These are our top 6 players and each will get as many minutes as they can handle. Ariza is an important defensive player because he's a ball-hawking defender and that frees CJ and Lillard from that physically tasking responsibility. Melo is a premier offensive player that teams have to game plan for in addition to Lillard, CJ, and Nurk. That's 4 deep in players that have to be defended by more than 1-on-1 coverage, no team can deal with this.

[BlazersBroncos]

I would give him the BAE to be the 7-8th man, a 20mpg gunner off the bench. Sorta like the Bobby Jackson of power forwards lol

But I have a feeling he leaves regardless. He has shown he can still play, albeit not that efficiently. I think some superstar will lobby for him this summer and he goes to a real contender for his farewell tour.

[Norm2953]

Interesting Melo is in the news today for he seems to be one of the group of players who wants to know
more about the details of a proposed start up before he commits to playing.

One thing that make the players pause is that Florida has seen a big spike in the virus and is now in
the top 8 states with the virus with 69k confirmed cases. Players would be smart to know all the
details for Portland if they make the playoffs as the 8 seed will have to deal with the Lakers in the
first round.

[Village Idiot]

I have a feeling getting Nurk and Collins back and starting at SF is going to be huge for Melo.

Post ups - If Nurkic's outside shooting is not just a unfounded rumor and Collins continues to be solid from deep we may see a lot of Melo abusing and schooling the small forwards of the West with help defenders too far away to help.

Open looks - Nurkic was #4 in the NBA last season in screen assists. Collins was #4 in the NBA in screen assists this season before injury. Whiteside was #10. We didn't see much Melo pick and roll this season but Melo against scrawny SFs is an appealing prospect. More likely though is CJ or Lillard kicking out to Melo

Corner 3's - Melo connected on 52.8% of his corner threes this season. That's a whole other level than Aminu or Harkless

Melo as a complimentary player? Contrary to his reputation as a ball stopper, he's proven he can be a willing and extremely effective as a tertiary option

Watch on YouTube

[BlazersBroncos]

That's a great write up. Slightly OT but I am extremely interested in Nurkic can translate that 3PT shot to games. It could elevate him to the next level if he doesn't go all Rasheed and fall deep in love with them.

[Matt800]

That's a great write up. Slightly OT but I am extremely interested in Nurkic can translate that 3PT shot to games. It could elevate him to the next level if he doesn't go all Rasheed and fall deep in love with them.

There was a video of him hitting them in practice before his last played season and then he bricked his attempts in game pretty bad. But I think his shot has evolved a lot since then. There's also a video of Whiteside hitting a lot of 3s in a row recently. I've only seen videos of whiteside shooting from a standstill, but it seems to be working, and he hit some in games. But the video of nurkic running, pulling up and hitting 3s is intriguing. That's a whole other level from standstill shooting.

With Carmelo I am excited because I think we will see him have some big games. In a recent article he mentioned he's going to flip his switch and treat it like the playoffs. I imagine the whole team will, just because they need to win. But I'm not so sure how long they will be able to maintain that.

[GEE]

Been thinking about Melo alot recently. All of a sudden, with Ariza's opt-out, Melo becomes a very interesting player to me. He has a HUGE opportunity in his hands: To possibly be back in the playoffs, with all the minutes he can handle, as the most experienced veteran, playing a vital role, on a contract year.

A total wildcard for our Blazers, but what does he have left in that tank? I think motivation has always been one of his biggest foes, but I can imagine his wanting to face Lebron, and a reemergence of the Melo we saw in the Olympics under Coach K.... and Nate. 8-9 dogs is what you really need to win the playoffs, and this ain't bad. Would also love to have them all return next year, with Hood, and fill out the bench with our picks and other assets. We could be deep, well into our 3rd string next year as Dame hits his prime. Windows open.

Dame/CJ/Simons/Trent/Melo/Collins/Nurkic/Whiteside

[d-train]

It's going to be a challenge for Melo and CJ. Lillard is going to run the show with Nurkic as his primary outlet. CJ and Melo have to play off of the action between Lillard and Nurkic. CJ's and Melo's numbers will be down, but there job is to be options for Lillard's and Nurk's 2-man game. Nobody is going to complain if the chemistry works. CJ and Melo will get the blame if it doesn't work, even if they do their jobs perfectly.