LaMelo Traded to Minnesota

[JMAC3]

It is crazy how fast people are talking themselves into this mediocre lineup.

Coby White and Naz Reid are below average starters.
Moussa is already someone we wanted to upgrade.
Kon and Miller are good, but neither is a top 30 player in the league.

All this and the bench is nothing to write home about- we really dropped the ball.

We already knew we needed to improve this offseason because of teams around us getting better like Wizards, Pacers, Heat but instead we took a step backwards. The issue is since we paid Coby and Naz starter money I don't think there is even an obvious position to improve that makes us better.

[Stun704]

It is crazy how fast people are talking themselves into this mediocre lineup.

Coby White and Naz Reid are below average starters.
Moussa is already someone we wanted to upgrade.
Kon and Miller are good, but neither is a top 30 player in the league.

All this and the bench is nothing to write home about- we really dropped the ball.

We already knew we needed to improve this offseason because of teams around us getting better like Wizards, Pacers, Heat but instead we took a step backwards. The issue is since we paid Coby and Naz starter money I don't think there is even an obvious position to improve that makes us better.

Let’s wait and see. I’m disheartened by the trade but the front office is betting that Kon or Miller will take a leap in absence of Melo similar to how Jalen Johnson did with the hawks after Trae Young was traded

[JDR720]

Scenarios that may have happened next season:

1: Melo stays healthy, the team progresses, and finishes perhaps around 4-5th in the East.
2: Melo stays healthy, but the team does not progress, and finishes perhaps around 7-10th in the East.
3: Melo does not stay healthy, and the rest of the team progresses, and finishes perhaps 7-10th in the East.
4: Melo does not stay healthy, and the rest of the team does not progress, and finishes near the bottom of the East.

I think scenario 1 is the least likely scenario, and the only one in which trading Melo doesn't make sense. The other scenarios result in us being a middling treadmill team or just being bad. Not to mention the cap situation with Brandon's free agency and Melo being extension eligible.

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

This doesn't really help lol

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[Hornet Mania]

The only way the deals work out as fair value or better for Charlotte if Melo is truly damaged goods. That's basically it.

[SWedd523]

The speed at which folks who were some mixture of "anti-tank" and/or "He could've played if we wanted him to" have turned into "I don't trust his health" and/or "this trade was actually good" is, but shouldn't be, baffling to me.


Boots, boots, boots

[JMAC3]

Scenario 1 is also the only one that ends up with us being relevant.

I would rather at least try to do that instead of punt on that and settle to be a middling or bad team- which is the outcome in all three other scenarios- according to you

[JMAC3]

I think where I am settling is if you want to look at this fully black and white- no shades of gray.

Trade him now vs trade him later and get a Ja Morant/Trae package back.

I think I would have been fine risking it. Naz, 1 first, some worthless swaps and a few 2nds isn't that much better than trading Melo for a CJ McCollum type of return for me.

Especially since we already have a plethora of picks. The future picks we got from Minny did very little to change our buying power league wide.

[Trey24]

I think where I am settling is if you want to look at this fully black and white- no shades of gray.

Trade him now vs trade him later and get a Ja Morant/Trae package back.

I think I would have been fine risking it. Naz, 1 first, some worthless swaps and a few 2nds isn't that much better than trading Melo for a CJ McCollum type of return for me.

Especially since we already have a plethora of picks. The future picks we got from Minny did very little to change our buying power league wide.

If we kept him 2 years and got Lamelo for 2 years plus a Trae Young package back that's better value IMO than salary dumping him.

Oh and by the way we could have gotten Gobert to launch us into the playoffs in the east but NOPE, we preferred the bench player over him, so that we won't be good because the FO obviously is upset that they didn't tank last year so they are making up for it this year.

And to all of the people saying there is virtually no drop off between Lamelo and Coby: you not only don't know ball but you actually don't even know how to watch ball.

And yeah is Naz an upgrade over Bridges? Because we will be trading Bridges for pennies soon.

This roster took a pretty decent step back after being right on the fringe of the conversation for 5-10 seed next year and we are trying to make sure we aren't better than a 10 seed now.

[Trey24]

I feel like they bailed on LaMelo too young, right as he was starting to mature - physically and from a basketball standpoint

LaMelo is 24

Odds are at his age he goes to MIN and his ankles strengthen and on a playoff team he shows a newfound maturity and thrives

Most NBA players peak between 25-29

Melo is 24

Fair but do you think Melo has shown he can hold up through a playoff run+RS? Its a big wait and see for me. I love Melo and hate to see him go but Im just not upset at it.

You are going to be waiting and seeing for the next 15 years as we try to find a player with the same impact as Lamelo.

[JDR720]

If we kept him 2 years and got Lamelo for 2 years plus a Trae Young package back that's better value IMO than salary dumping him.

Oh and by the way we could have gotten Gobert to launch us into the playoffs in the east but NOPE, we preferred the bench player over him, so that we won't be good because the FO obviously is upset that they didn't tank last year so they are making up for it this year.

And to all of the people saying there is virtually no drop off between Lamelo and Coby: you not only don't know ball but you actually don't even know how to watch ball.

And yeah is Naz an upgrade over Bridges? Because we will be trading Bridges for pennies soon.

This roster took a pretty decent step back after being right on the fringe of the conversation for 5-10 seed next year and we are trying to make sure we aren't better than a 10 seed now.

That scenario puts us in a worse spot. In 2 years, Brandon will be on his 2nd contract and Kon will be nearing the end of his rookie deal.

The FO/staff clearly believes that Melo was too big an injury risk. Trading him now is better than trading him later, because now we can pivot fully to Kon/Miller as the core.

We have chosen a direction, and now we just have to wait and see if the gamble will pay off.

[JMAC3]

If we kept him 2 years and got Lamelo for 2 years plus a Trae Young package back that's better value IMO than salary dumping him.

Oh and by the way we could have gotten Gobert to launch us into the playoffs in the east but NOPE, we preferred the bench player over him, so that we won't be good because the FO obviously is upset that they didn't tank last year so they are making up for it this year.

And to all of the people saying there is virtually no drop off between Lamelo and Coby: you not only don't know ball but you actually don't even know how to watch ball.

And yeah is Naz an upgrade over Bridges? Because we will be trading Bridges for pennies soon.

This roster took a pretty decent step back after being right on the fringe of the conversation for 5-10 seed next year and we are trying to make sure we aren't better than a 10 seed now.

That scenario puts us in a worse spot. In 2 years, Brandon will be on his 2nd contract and Kon will be nearing the end of his rookie deal.

The FO/staff clearly believes that Melo was too big an injury risk. Trading him now is better than trading him later, because now we can pivot fully to Kon/Miller as the core.

We have chosen a direction, and now we just have to wait and see if the gamble will pay off.

Going from 9 tradeable future firsts to 10 tradeable future firsts doesn't increase our buying power, neither does going from 17 future 2nds to 20 future 2nds. Our direction has been changed, we are a bad to middling team without the upside we had before- but hey at least it will save ownership some money while they sell us on the TPE can be anything- maybe even an offensive engine who could get all-nba votes #TakeTheMysteryBox

[Natural_Bridge]

Kons value is probably higher right now than it will ever be. Gotta sell high right?

[SWedd523]

Kons value is probably higher right now than it will ever be. Gotta sell high right?

Gotta choose a direction.

Until next year when they choose a different one.

And then a different one again.

[Braggins]

Scenario 1 is also the only one that ends up with us being relevant.

I would rather at least try to do that instead of punt on that and settle to be a middling or bad team- which is the outcome in all three other scenarios- according to you

I think trading LaMelo drastically increases the chances of them getting stuck as a middling team. With LaMelo their upside was already higher than that. They gave up LaMelo without getting another #1 option to replace him, which is the hardest piece to acquire, and they are doing immediately after their best path to having a chance to acquire that kind of player has been removed because of the draft lottery reform.

They were basically one good frontcourt player away imo and now they have to find a new star, still need to improve their frontcourt, and have some depth issues.

Theyre basically at the mercy of lottery and trade market luck now. Only good thing at all about the situation is that the new lottery makes being stuck in the middle not as bad as it used to be, but its not like you actually have a that good of a shot at top picks in that situation and its not a place teams should still be willingly putting themselves for no obvious reason.

[Braggins]

Kons value is probably higher right now than it will ever be. Gotta sell high right?

Gotta choose a direction.

Until next year when they choose a different one.

And then a different one again.

They need to trade Miller too while he still has some value. Hes already missed 80 games in 3 seasons, coming off a significant shoulder surgery in the offseason, can't handle physicality on the court, won't be able to hold up in the playoffs, had off court issues predraft, and hes due a huge extension.

Hes basically one injury away from being untradable on his next contract. They need to trade him for Bobby Portis and a 1st round pick in the 2040s now while they still can. They have no choice their hand is forced. I don't make the rules.

[JMAC3]

Right or Wrong, I do think the front office is being a little bit cheap. We are notoriously one of the lowest payrolls in the NBA. They saw Miller was about to get paid and rather than pay both Miller and LaMelo they saw an out to keep the payroll lower for the forseeable future.

You can easily pay both those guys big dollars- Kon doesn't make any type of real money for another 4 years. Miles isn't getting an extension.

Now we will all talk about the TPE as if we are landing some huge contract for the next 6 months when in reality it just is like all the future firsts we have buying time and job security for the front office while we are all promised what it could end up being someday.

[tondi123]

Scenario 1 is also the only one that ends up with us being relevant.

I would rather at least try to do that instead of punt on that and settle to be a middling or bad team- which is the outcome in all three other scenarios- according to you

Exactly. We traded maybe a 25% of having a truly great season for what currently appears to be a 0% chance of a great season. We are now maxed out as a 9 or 10 seed currently so not sure how thats some step forward anyone should be excited about. Obviously something could still happen to change that but until that happens here we are.

[JMAC3]

Scenario 1 is also the only one that ends up with us being relevant.

I would rather at least try to do that instead of punt on that and settle to be a middling or bad team- which is the outcome in all three other scenarios- according to you

Exactly. We traded maybe a 25% of having a truly great season for what currently appears to be a 0% chance of a great season. We are now maxed out as a 9 or 10 seed currently so not sure how thats some step forward anyone should be excited about. Obviously something could still happen to change that but until that happens here we are.

Basically, people would rather watch a team that sucks but plays hard and is healthy over one that might not be healthy and have to wonder what if this team was healthy.

All while selling us on the illusion that we will eventually try to be good, just not anytime soon.

[JMAC3]

I said it before but will lay it out again. If LaMelo value goes to **** and we have to dump him for Trae Young package.

We would still have 9 tradeable firsts and a billion 2nds. It wasn't the end of the world if worst case happened.

VS trading LaMelo now and having 10 tradeable firsts and a billion 2nds+ Naz Reid. Oh and overpaying Coby White to be your tank commander starting point guard.

.... this wasn't the Suns situation where you have no future firsts and you would have had no place to turn if that happened.

Hell even the Grizzlies will be 100% fine getting absolutely nothing for Ja. That isn't changing their team. They still have a billion firsts from Bane and JJJ selling a year ago and getting 1 first back for Ja instead of having to give up 2 2nds means basically nothing.