Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Stephen A.: LeBron, Melo could join forces

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ian Begley

Could Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James team up in New York?
LeBron to New York?

Don't rule it out, says ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Listen to Stephen A. Smith's take:

Smith said on his radio show on ESPN New York 98.7 FM's "The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show" that Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James would like to play together and it's a "95 percent possibility" that James and Anthony would end up together if both opted in to their contracts for the 2014-15 season.

"LeBron wants to play with Melo," Smith said. "Melo wants to play with LeBron."

Both Anthony and James have opt out clauses in their contracts that can be exercised this summer.

Smith said that if both James and Anthony opt in this summer, "the New York Knicks would have a shot at getting LeBron James to come to New York."

The Knicks are projected to have enough cap space to land two max free agents in the summer of 2015.

James and Anthony, of course, could also end up in Miami, depending on how things shake out with the other two members of Heat's Big Three over the next two summers.

One thing that Smith is nearly certain about? If both Anthony and James opt in this summer, they will be playing together in 2015-16.

"I'm here to tell you right now it's a 95 percent possibility -- if not more -- that they would join forces whether it be in New York or Miami," he said.

You can follow Ian Begley on Twitter.

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

No, its like a girl saying she would be interested in dating you if both of you weren't already married. There's this thing called the salary cap that has prevented that from happening in the Melo era. Let's see what happens if he resigns and they have cap room. We will see who comes here, or attempts to. That will put that debate to rest once and for all.

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

i think the league has caught up with melo, figured him out.

i mean, folks around here should do a thought experiment and try to imagine where melo would fit on a team that plays like the spurs or the heat in this year's or last year's finals.

see what i mean?

dk7th wrote:

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

i think the league has caught up with melo, figured him out.

i mean, folks around here should do a thought experiment and try to imagine where melo would fit on a team that plays like the spurs or the heat in this year's or last year's finals.

see what i mean?

But the thing is, who cares how he fits? Either team would gladly take him, and figure it out. If the opportunity came about to bring Melo in as a free agent at what the Spurs or Heat determine to be a fair price, they aren't saying no.

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

i think the league has caught up with melo, figured him out.

i mean, folks around here should do a thought experiment and try to imagine where melo would fit on a team that plays like the spurs or the heat in this year's or last year's finals.

see what i mean?

But the thing is, who cares how he fits? Either team would gladly take him, and figure it out. If the opportunity came about to bring Melo in as a free agent at what the Spurs or Heat determine to be a fair price, they aren't saying no.

again i ask: what is a fair price for melo? he has not shown he can be a winner and 12 years on he is not going to change his game.

dk7th wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

i think the league has caught up with melo, figured him out.

i mean, folks around here should do a thought experiment and try to imagine where melo would fit on a team that plays like the spurs or the heat in this year's or last year's finals.

see what i mean?

But the thing is, who cares how he fits? Either team would gladly take him, and figure it out. If the opportunity came about to bring Melo in as a free agent at what the Spurs or Heat determine to be a fair price, they aren't saying no.

again i ask: what is a fair price for melo? he has not shown he can be a winner and 12 years on he is not going to change his game.

We will see what he is offered this offseason. Although he is bound to get max offers from someone, his WARP indicates he was worth over $27M this past season, and in an open market he would demand much more than the max, i would say given the current salary cap restrictions he is worth less than max, but still above $15M where he would be paid in the top 25 or so in the league i'm estimating without looking. But that is not the argument. The argument is would Miami and San Antonio want Melo on their team if they have the money to spend, and the answer would undoubtedly be yes. No team will say "Melo doesn't fit here, we don't want him" if they have the opportunity and don't have their sights set elsewhere.

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

Don't forget the hate.

Uptown wrote:

dk7th wrote:

tkf wrote:

Knixkik wrote:But no one wants to play with Melo, lol. For real though, the opt-in/out-out thing will tell us a lot about the state of these 2 players, as well as a couple of others. I think it is definitely the best option for both players to opt in, whether they are trying to get together or not. But as for them getting together, i am going to reserve judgment until after free agency. The landscape is due to change soon, but i think one more year of the miami group and spurs group after this year is likely. With retirement and free agency, i think many of the top teams look much different starting in 2015.

IT'S like a girl saying she would love to go on a date with you, but never does, instead she goes out with everyone else.. this talk, rumors, is just that... until guys flock here to play with carmelo, I will stick with the " no one wants to play with carmelo" camp.. and I honestly believe that to be the case..

i think the league has caught up with melo, figured him out.

i mean, folks around here should do a thought experiment and try to imagine where melo would fit on a team that plays like the spurs or the heat in this year's or last year's finals.

see what i mean?

27 & 8...Yeah the league caught up to him

please do not throw individual numbers out there when you know it's a team sport, thanks. he should be shouldering responsibility for his own career, right? RIGHT