early in the season i imagine kris and melo won't be on the floor together that much, but if they do play together with lopez out there, it only makes sense for melo to slide over to the small forward position, especially if kris proves to be the better passer along the post and at the inner elbow than melo. playing in the triangle mitigates some of the potential conflict, but i believe the small forward ends up playing on the weak side a bit more and is also required to make off the ball cuts backdoor and what have you.
since melo's knees and shoulders are starting to wear out, it behooves him-- in this scenario-- to be as light and as quick as he can be, and work on his conditioning.
then again, those roles could be reversed, especially if it is true that phil acquired lopez in order to allow melo to play the power forward position, as some have interpreted that acquisition. in my opinion this makes no sense, since you need someone who is a good passer at the power forward position in the triangle.
i should think that lopez was acquired in the wake of kris being drafted as the ideal defensive partner for kris, since both have length and mobility.
since i believe the developmental arc of this team is not merely this season but actually stretches over two seasons, you want the frontline to be lopez, kris, melo. that will likely mean melo at the small forward, his creating of offensive mismatches notwithstanding.
knicks win 38-43 games in 16-17. rose MUST shoot no more than 14 shots per game, defer to kp6 + melo, and have a usage rate of less than 25%
9/27/2015 9:48 AM