You go from a 23 win team and then add youth and potential and get to 40 wins and playoffs.....

Then you can start to refine what your team can be and use either cap flex (which we have) and some nice young talent that is tradable instead of what was here 2 years ago.

And we have AMARE who came at the expense of our cap.

I doubt we'd be celebrating any rings with KG on the team we have had. So in my book Amare>KG at this juncture.

Amare with 3 young good players with nice upside. Say one is a flop, one stays average and one elevates to 2nd tier allstar level.

Or consider them for trade but you don't want to do it too soon before they have value.

Carmelo is a proven Glen Rice-Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson both whom were nice players but once broken cost big money.

Few object to Melo from what I have read but the price to pay to get him is debateable. First thing I ask which nobody can answer is "does it put us over the top?"

Denver does not have leverage unless Carmelo wants the guarantee of big money. Thats a huge factore. If he wants the knicks, he can get here and have a very nice team to come to next year.

Denver holds a big juice card. Money. Carmelo gets injured its catastrophic financially for him. He should want a trade and extension.

Ok, but he is not a franchise player in my book. Damn good player, 2nd tier all star talent at what he does but Im not giving away picks and youth because we are not going over the top with a thin roster behind him and Amare.

In my book you get 8 more pts per game than Gallo with less Rebounds and a few intangables. One is Gallo is 5-6 years younger and still has big upside. Kid can play 2 positions and rebound.

Carmelo is a fine player, but if we are not championship quality with him and we gave up trading chips, picks and used our cap space then I don't see the upside from there without assets to upgrade.

You'll sell tickets.

Big name roster but doubt you'll make it to finals is a profitable mix.

Sell seats and make big profits and finish 3-4-5 in east conference with possible trip to conf finals is starphuching. Its good starphuching but any honest effort to build a championship team is a compromise for profits. Bring in stars to fill hope and fill seats. Thats "starphuching".

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5495214

"Former Phoenix Suns assistant general manager David Griffin turned down the Denver Nuggets' offer to be their next general manager, according to sources, and the team is expected to pursue Masai Ujiri, director of global scouting for the Toronto Raptors.

Ujiri spent four years as the Nuggets' director of international scouting before joining the Raptors.

Griffin turned down the offer, a league source said, in part because it was nowhere near $1 million a year, the median salary for recently hired GMs such as the Cleveland Cavaliers' Chris Grant, the New Orleans Hornets' Dell Demps and the Portland Trail Blazers' Rich Cho.

The authority of the position is also uncertain. Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan Kroenke, and Stan's adviser, Bret Bearup, are expected to be heavily involved. Despite not having a GM in place, the source said the Nuggets have been exploring what they might be able to get for All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who has not signed the team's three-year, $65 million extension offer and could become a free agent next summer.

Another league source said Anthony, "in his heart," would like to stay in Denver but has lost faith in the team's direction."

GustavBahler wrote:More incentive for Melo to leave...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5495214

"Former Phoenix Suns assistant general manager David Griffin turned down the Denver Nuggets' offer to be their next general manager, according to sources, and the team is expected to pursue Masai Ujiri, director of global scouting for the Toronto Raptors.

Ujiri spent four years as the Nuggets' director of international scouting before joining the Raptors.

Griffin turned down the offer, a league source said, in part because it was nowhere near $1 million a year, the median salary for recently hired GMs such as the Cleveland Cavaliers' Chris Grant, the New Orleans Hornets' Dell Demps and the Portland Trail Blazers' Rich Cho.

The authority of the position is also uncertain. Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan Kroenke, and Stan's adviser, Bret Bearup, are expected to be heavily involved. Despite not having a GM in place, the source said the Nuggets have been exploring what they might be able to get for All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who has not signed the team's three-year, $65 million extension offer and could become a free agent next summer.

Another league source said Anthony, "in his heart," would like to stay in Denver but has lost faith in the team's direction."

Yeah that doesn't bode well for Denver in any way shape or form. Besides not landing the guy, it's coming out that they were low-balling him. It's amazing considering whomever gets and TAKES job knows that their first order of business to try and convince Anthony to stay, not doing that would be their first failure. Next is maximizing the return on trading him, which is likely to be a bit of crap shoot. Talk about job pressure, who wants that? Obviously not Griffin, especially at less than the median salary for a GM position in the NBA.

Paladin55 wrote:He's a whipping boy because someone thinks he does not measure up to Wade?

Wade is a much more complete player than Anthony, and if Wade was the same age and in the same situation as Anthony is at this moment, I would expect that folks would have a different attitude about trading for him than they do for Anthony.

No, he is a whipping boy because the guy keeps getting billed as just a scorer. If the guy just put up points his team wouldnt be in the playoffs in the WEST every year. Obviosuly he can improve on other areas of his game but the guy is an Elite scorer with great handle and an above average passer.

Vmart wrote:Tax free > NY. Teams from Florida and Texas work at an advantage. I would like a separate cap that reflect a curve to equalize the playing field.

NBA teams are allowed to pay guys extra to compensate for the tax difference according to Larry Coon's fact.

grillco wrote:

Yeah that doesn't bode well for Denver in any way shape or form. Besides not landing the guy, it's coming out that they were low-balling him. It's amazing considering whomever gets and TAKES job knows that their first order of business to try and convince Anthony to stay, not doing that would be their first failure. Next is maximizing the return on trading him, which is likely to be a bit of crap shoot. Talk about job pressure, who wants that? Obviously not Griffin, especially at less than the median salary for a GM position in the NBA.

Also throw in George Karl's health, he may not be up to the stress of being an NBA coach. The more I read the more it looks like Melo is going to bail. Walsh knows Denver is in a bind and it looks like he is waiting for them to make a deal that won't leave the Knicks a shell with two big names . Might be why as some have suggested that the Houston story was floated, to try and convince Walsh to up the ante.

Vmart wrote:Tax free > NY. Teams from Florida and Texas work at an advantage. I would like a separate cap that reflect a curve to equalize the playing field.

This is a great idea. Can't see any reason why Stern would have a problem with it. A cap modifier to balance out differences in income tax rates would be fair.

AnubisADL wrote:

Vmart wrote:Tax free > NY. Teams from Florida and Texas work at an advantage. I would like a separate cap that reflect a curve to equalize the playing field.

NBA teams are allowed to pay guys extra to compensate for the tax difference according to Larry Coon's fact.

From the larry coon FAQ:

61. Are teams really competing on a level playing field? Since the tax rate is different in the different states and Canada, don't the teams in a more "tax friendly" state have an advantage over the other teams?

Yes they do. For example, when Shaquille O'Neal became a free agent in 1996, the Magic and Lakers competed for his services. Since Florida has no state income tax, Orlando's offer, which was lower, was actually higher in terms of net income. LA overcame this disadvantage by offering an accelerated payment schedule for the salary in the first three seasons of his contract (lump sum in seasons one & three, 50/50 in season two).

The new CBA closed the loophole that LA used to sign Shaq. Now, at least 30% of a player's salary must be paid bi-weekly throughout the season. They also added an extra regulation to help neutralize the tax disadvantage of Canadian teams. All teams are permitted to offer a bonus of up to 25% (see the previous question). The key point is that for U.S. residents in Canada, this bonus is taxed at just 15%. Using this bonus, Canadian teams can nearly achieve tax neutrality.

So the benefit for state taxes was a loophole that was closed... the remaining bonus is meant for canadian teams.... so yes there is still a big difference in what a player gets for salary depending on state taxes.