Finestrg wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:

Nalod wrote:I stopped the podcast when it was discussed if Melo could play team ball like "warriors, SAS and ATL"......Then I thought, if he can do that, he can stay in NYC and do it for knicks!!!!
So why would knicks do that?
Millsaps plus picks? other players? Maybe. But that was not presented.

Carmello would never agree to play for Atlanta in the first place.

I dunno. The Hawks won 60 games last year. I don't love their team but they are more advanced than we are right now, better put together to win. Melo in for Millsap makes them better, Melo could reunite with THJ who he apparently had a good relationship with, they added Tiago Splitter...If by the deadline we're still going nowhere, the Hawks are winning and Melo becomes impatient, I could see him lifting his no-trade to go there.

This has zero to do with the Atlanta Hawks. Melo wanted to play for either NY, Chicago or LA and that's it. He had every opportunity to play with Chicago or Houston, which were more promising teams but he elected to take the money. Why in the bloody hell would he approve of moving to Atlanta after all that went down last Summer, especially if his wife is also on the same page. 0.00% chance this happens.

Allanfan20 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:

Nalod wrote:I stopped the podcast when it was discussed if Melo could play team ball like "warriors, SAS and ATL"......Then I thought, if he can do that, he can stay in NYC and do it for knicks!!!!
So why would knicks do that?
Millsaps plus picks? other players? Maybe. But that was not presented.

Carmello would never agree to play for Atlanta in the first place.

I dunno. The Hawks won 60 games last year. I don't love their team but they are more advanced than we are right now, better put together to win. Melo in for Millsap makes them better, Melo could reunite with THJ who he apparently had a good relationship with, they added Tiago Splitter...If by the deadline we're still going nowhere, the Hawks are winning and Melo becomes impatient, I could see him lifting his no-trade to go there.

This has zero to do with the Atlanta Hawks. Melo wanted to play for either NY, Chicago or LA and that's it. He had every opportunity to play with Chicago or Houston, which were more promising teams but he elected to take the money. Why in the bloody hell would he approve of moving to Atlanta after all that went down last Summer, especially if his wife is also on the same page. 0.00% chance this happens.

How many times has the man said recently that all he cares about is winning at this point in his career? He even unzipped his fly after we drafted Porzingis -- deep down, he wasn't happy with this off-season at all. We all know that. As for Chicago, LA, Houston, Dallas and whoever else may have courted him during his FA tour--A TRADE needed to be worked out if he ever was gonna realistically end out in any of those cities. I'll give ya the two big reasons: (A) he wanted top dollar and the only way to get that extra year would've been through a S&T and (B) a secondary reason--I know Shaq did it to Orlando years ago but I don't think Melo wanted to leave the Knicks high and dry after all they gave up to get him. I guess there was no trade to be worked out with any of those clubs--I don't remember any serious trade discussion with any of those teams at the time. I was waiting patiently to hear something but nothing ever came of it. Those teams all wanted Melo at the reduced max and apparently weren't willing to give up anything to get him and/or go the extra yr on the contract.

Now that he's got his max, now that the team didn't land a top 1-3 pick and now that the team didn't land any of the top players in FA, is it that farfetched to think his thought process may change if by the deadline we're still developing and finding out about things and it becomes clear he may not win here for awhile if ever? And regarding his wife -- seriously, I don't wanna here anything about LaLa again. What's good for LaLa, what LaLa wants for her career (what career? Has she done anything significant since being in NY beside embarrass Melo on social media recently??). If Melo ever came to the realization that he can pursue his dream of winning a championship with a team like ATL, she should be on board with that 110%. Shit, I'd want my wife to feel like that if I were a top NBA player who's window was closing by the day. Most normal people in this country sacrifice far more than moving to Atlanta for a few years. How many times do you hear people had to move because they needed to take a job out of state, etc.? I think princess LaLa could survive living in a palace in some suburb outside Atlanta GA for a few years if need be.

End of the day--you wanna tell me this has a low chance of happening--OK, I'll buy that. ZERO chance? No, I disagree. Things change man -- the man got his money, the only thing missing for him now is a chance to play for a chip. Believe me, that means a lot to him...I just watched a Kobe Bryant special on Showtime this morning where he talked about his whole life, his career -- the most important thing to him besides his family and discussing the mistakes he's made, was winning a championship...and not 1...MULTIPLE. The dude talked about how important it was to him to earn the right to be able to sit down at the same table with guys like Michael, Magic -- winners of multiple championships. Those are the extremely lucky ones. Most guys would settle for just one and be happy...I mean look at how much money David West just sacrificed in order to get a chance to play for a chip in SA. The allure of winning a championship is a powerful thing. It really drives most of these players -- it's what they play for.

nixluva wrote:Melo still has a chance to win a title here in NY. It can't be said that it is impossible. For the remainder of his career here in NY that will be the goal and if he reaches it, then he would have gotten everything he wanted. It's a chance he took but the door is not closed on a title as some would like to think. Melo doesn't need to go to ATL in order to be in line for a Title. What he needs is for KP to develop into a great player. If we can develop our own Tim Duncan so to speak, then it's indeed possible to build a championship team. There is no other path at this point. Not even adding KD would be enough. Our draft picks have to become top players in order to give this team a realistic shot at a title run. We're not going to Free Agent our way to a title.

Finestrg wrote:

ESOMKnicks wrote:Melo said a year ago that no one would want to go to the Hawks because of the racism in that organization. Doubt he'd do such a radical aboutface now. And i dont see what Millsap would do for the Knicks as currently constituted.

Bad idea through and through, unless we get our pick back plus other picks.

That's the allure for me. I don't even care about Millsap too much to be honest. He'd help keep us as competitive as possible for the time being I guess but like Melo, he's no long-term component here. It'd be all about the additional assets we could pick up -- a Dennis Schroder, a Mike Muscala, a Walter Tavares, their 2016 1st rounder, a 2nd round pick(s), would they agree to take Calderon off our hands, etc.. Pieces/positives we can continue to rebuild with...There will come a point where we'll clearly know if we'll be able to challenge for it all with Carmelo Anthony or not, possibly even by this upcoming season's trade deadline. Melo will be in the same boat -- if after awhile it becomes clear to him that he won't be able to win here (and win with him as a primary component, not as some hanger-on later in his career somewhere), I could see him lifting that no-trade clause, even for the Atlanta Hawks. We have some time between now and then -- let's see where it all goes.

I'm mostly with you. While I think Milsap is a legit player and he's a player I like to watch play more than Melo -- given his age/skill set he's not enough alone.
I do think adding a Schroder and 2016 pick would be plenty for me to part with Melo.

Things I like....

- Milsap has 1 less year on his deal
- his yearly salary is a bit lower than Melo's --- not sure on actual #s
- he is 1 year younger than Melo
- Milsap has been healthier than Melo -- I think in last 9 years Milsap has missed an avg of 5.5 games and Melo about 16 per year.
- Milsap hasn't had major knee surgery that I'm aware of
- I consider Milsap the inferior scorer but a superior player in most other areas
- I LOVE Schroder's ability to get to the rim -- he's only 22
- 2016 pick ---- always like picks ---- makes the draft fun and you never know how you might use a pick either in draft or via trade.