nyknickzingis wrote:

anrst wrote:it's so strange, i kind of want melo here just to sabotage phil's stupid triangle

I think this is wishful thinking on Melo's camp. Smith gets his info from Melo. No one in Phil's camp is giving Steven any inside information. So I'd bet that Melo's camp has approached Phil about a buy out.

Makes sense for Melo, he hits the free agent market before July 1st. Or right around free agency. He can get his buyout money and then double dip and get a big thick contract from a contender or his preferred destination.

Knicks get nothing out of it.

I can't see Phil doing this. I can see Phil eventually giving Melo a buy out. Around the fall. Once all trades have been explored and free agency's cooled down.

Unless Melo's team are in negotiations. Wouldn't surprise me, Phil has been very open about his desperation to trade Melo. I doubt Melo would feed Smith bad info, they have a good working relationship as far as I can tell.

GustavBahler wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:

anrst wrote:it's so strange, i kind of want melo here just to sabotage phil's stupid triangle

I think this is wishful thinking on Melo's camp. Smith gets his info from Melo. No one in Phil's camp is giving Steven any inside information. So I'd bet that Melo's camp has approached Phil about a buy out.

Makes sense for Melo, he hits the free agent market before July 1st. Or right around free agency. He can get his buyout money and then double dip and get a big thick contract from a contender or his preferred destination.

Knicks get nothing out of it.

I can't see Phil doing this. I can see Phil eventually giving Melo a buy out. Around the fall. Once all trades have been explored and free agency's cooled down.

Unless Melo's team are in negotiations. Wouldn't surprise me, Phil has been very open about his desperation to trade Melo. I doubt Melo would feed Smith bad info, they have a good working relationship as far as I can tell.

Chandler wrote:How does this work for Knicks cap?

It could simply be the case that there were NO buyers that he would waive to. This isn't surprising because of his contract #. Many teams could benefit from his services but the contract is killer.

We have to stop deluding ourselves in thinking that teams were lining up for Melo. They might after a buyout when they don't have the contract-albatross

perhaps this gives the Knicks more flexibility than taking back another bad contract(s) in trading Melo

Technically the bad contract is still stuck to the Knicks.

fishmike wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:

anrst wrote:it's so strange, i kind of want melo here just to sabotage phil's stupid triangle

I think this is wishful thinking on Melo's camp. Smith gets his info from Melo. No one in Phil's camp is giving Steven any inside information. So I'd bet that Melo's camp has approached Phil about a buy out.

Makes sense for Melo, he hits the free agent market before July 1st. Or right around free agency. He can get his buyout money and then double dip and get a big thick contract from a contender or his preferred destination.

Knicks get nothing out of it.

I can't see Phil doing this. I can see Phil eventually giving Melo a buy out. Around the fall. Once all trades have been explored and free agency's cooled down.

Unless Melo's team are in negotiations. Wouldn't surprise me, Phil has been very open about his desperation to trade Melo. I doubt Melo would feed Smith bad info, they have a good working relationship as far as I can tell.

its not Melo feeding bad info, its Melo's camp playing some checkers. If buyout rumors float the trade market will be exceptionally dry. Melo's camp hopes that he gets a buyout and can go anywhere he wants.

Melo's camp wants negotiations now and before teams use up capspace or make investments into starting roles. Especially playoff teams, Melo wants to double dip. Get his Knicks money and also get a big thick new contract in free agency.

Phil should sit back, smoke a joint and be zen. He has no reason to feed into this. Keep trade talks and communication lines open. Wait and see what happens. If by August there is nothing on the horizon, then close in on a buyout. If Melo then backtracks, so what? he's in a contract year. Melo is going to opt out next summer and go for the money. He will not tank as a Knick. Not heading into free agency.

I'd top Melo's strategy here with a statement soon. "We're open to keeping Melo. However we are also rebuilding. We may have to limit minutes, and look to use Melo off the bench so he can maximize his great scoring potential". Lets see Melo's camp react to that.

Caseloads wrote:If this is true, Phil deserves to be fired.

Why do you think that? A lot of people wanted Phil to let Melo walk in 2014. I wasn't one of them. Part of the reason was i didn't feel we could do a real rebuild without 2014 and 2016 1st round picks, so losing him for nothing was pointless. Now, we have the means to rebuild, with a young core in place and all of our picks moving forward. It's not the best option however.

Vmart wrote:

Chandler wrote:How does this work for Knicks cap?

It could simply be the case that there were NO buyers that he would waive to. This isn't surprising because of his contract #. Many teams could benefit from his services but the contract is killer.

We have to stop deluding ourselves in thinking that teams were lining up for Melo. They might after a buyout when they don't have the contract-albatross

perhaps this gives the Knicks more flexibility than taking back another bad contract(s) in trading Melo

Technically the bad contract is still stuck to the Knicks.

Is there any way out of that? for example, if Clips were willing to pay Melo, hypothetically, 10 mill/year could Knicks and Melo renegotiate their current contract accordingly so Melo comes out with the same money he would have, gets the benefit of going where he would be welcome, and we get some flexibility?

Vmart wrote:

Chandler wrote:How does this work for Knicks cap?

It could simply be the case that there were NO buyers that he would waive to. This isn't surprising because of his contract #. Many teams could benefit from his services but the contract is killer.

We have to stop deluding ourselves in thinking that teams were lining up for Melo. They might after a buyout when they don't have the contract-albatross

perhaps this gives the Knicks more flexibility than taking back another bad contract(s) in trading Melo

Technically the bad contract is still stuck to the Knicks.

This would be the the most dumbest move phil has made to date. You want to handcuff the roster with his contract for the next 2 seasons and can't even replace his production. If he only gave you a few million shy off a max contract, how much of the 56 mill owed is he going to give back..

This has got to be just a dumb rumor.

Chandler wrote:

Vmart wrote:

Chandler wrote:How does this work for Knicks cap?

It could simply be the case that there were NO buyers that he would waive to. This isn't surprising because of his contract #. Many teams could benefit from his services but the contract is killer.

We have to stop deluding ourselves in thinking that teams were lining up for Melo. They might after a buyout when they don't have the contract-albatross

perhaps this gives the Knicks more flexibility than taking back another bad contract(s) in trading Melo

Technically the bad contract is still stuck to the Knicks.

Is there any way out of that? for example, if Clips were willing to pay Melo, hypothetically, 10 mill/year could Knicks and Melo renegotiate their current contract accordingly so Melo comes out with the same money he would have, gets the benefit of going where he would be welcome, and we get some flexibility?

I don't know how that works. I always thought once a contract is on the books it's on the books until it expires. Maybe they have a stretch provision. But I would want any remanants of that contract off the books ASAP. I thought once a player is bought out he can sign for a minimum.

This is probably one of those addition by subtraction cases. This is a good opportunity for the Knicks to buy him out and just let the young players develop.