MSG3 wrote:I think CP3 or Deron William are still going to be in play for us down the line even if we get Melo. What you have to ask yourself is are you willing to take the risk of not acquiring a superstar (yes, Melo is a superstar) when you have a real shot. Waiting for 2012 doesn't change our PG situation right now. Felton is here until then, which is a good thing. So the question is, what's a better duo? STAT/Melo or STAT/Howard? I think either way you're golden, but I don't think you can risk losing Melo if you can get him and deal with the chances a guy like Howard won't want to come here later.

they will be in play even more so with Melo, imo. Because then we are looking at being championship caliber, even with me as backup pg and Marv at the 5. lol.

MSG3 wrote:I think CP3 or Deron William are still going to be in play for us down the line even if we get Melo.

tj23 wrote:Melo has publicly expressed his interest in NY. What other future FA's have? Possibly CP3? There's only so much patience one can have. And only so much you can gamble.

Exactly. I mean if you have a chance to get Melo now it's an irresponsible risk not to. No one knows what Paul wants. No one knows what Deron wants. No one knows what Howard wants. But Felton, Melo, STAT and whoever is left is a top 5 team in this league over night. If this deal happens this is the heirachy of the NBA:

Celtics
Heat
Orlando
Lakers
Knicks
Spurs
Mavs
Bulls
Atlanta
Utah

tj23 wrote:Melo has publicly expressed his interest in NY. What other future FA's have? Possibly CP3? There's only so much patience one can have. And only so much you can gamble.

What's better? A 100% chance of having Amare and Carmelo or a 10% chance of having Amare and Dwight Howard (or CP3/Deron)? If the goal is to put together a serious title contender, I have trouble believing in the first choice. The Amare/Carmelo combo is gonna make is capped out, without much youth or many draft picks, and still not as good a 1-2 combo as the Heat or Lakers (and I'd argue some other teams too). If you don't have as good a 1-2 combo as other teams and don't have as much depth as them, what advantage do you have?

Bonn1997 wrote:

tj23 wrote:Melo has publicly expressed his interest in NY. What other future FA's have? Possibly CP3? There's only so much patience one can have. And only so much you can gamble.

What's better? A 100% chance of having Amare and Carmelo or a 10% chance of having Amare and Dwight Howard (or CP3/Deron)? If the goal is to put together a serious title contender, I have trouble believing in the first choice. The Amare/Carmelo combo is gonna make is capped out, without much youth or many draft picks, and still not as good a 1-2 combo as the Heat or Lakers (and I'd argue some other teams too). If you don't have as good a 1-2 combo as other teams and don't have as much depth as them, what advantage do you have?

Bonn1997 wrote:

tj23 wrote:Melo has publicly expressed his interest in NY. What other future FA's have? Possibly CP3? There's only so much patience one can have. And only so much you can gamble.

What's better? A 100% chance of having Amare and Carmelo or a 10% chance of having Amare and Dwight Howard (or CP3/Deron)? If the goal is to put together a serious title contender, I have trouble believing in the first choice. The Amare/Carmelo combo is gonna make is capped out, without much youth or many draft picks, and still not as good a 1-2 combo as the Heat or Lakers (and I'd argue some other teams too). If you don't have as good a 1-2 combo as other teams and don't have as much depth as them, what advantage do you have?

I disagree because you have to consider how well Amar'e is going to be playing after 2012. Right now it's pretty clear he's going to be playing at this level for another 2 seasons after this one (unless God forbig he gets injured). You have a window of about 2-3 season to make a serious run with him as a focal point of the offense. If you wait for that 10% chance to come through and it actually happens, then you have a much shorter window to exploit Amar'e's full talents.

Also, the only 1-2 punch in the league that could compete with Melo/Amar'e is James/Wade. Name another that is better. Not Kobe/Gasol, Rose/Boozer, Duncan/Parker/Ginobli, Dirk/Kidd/Terry.....Rondo/Pierce/Allen/KG are the only other ones if they stay healthy.