WaltLongmire wrote:Lebron is banking on a serious increase in cap space after the new TV contract in 2016- might be a max salary increase, too. James is confident enough to do this kind of thing, while Anthony opted for a longer, more secure deal. They are basically the same age, although James is in better shape and a better athlete to begin with.Anthony probably had the same info that James was using to make his decision. If Anthony declines as a player, he is covered, we can't opt out of the contract at any point, and he can't be traded without his permission.
Everyone should think about the 5th year opt out carefully. There is almost NO way that he would opt out at 35 in order to get a larger contract, because he could not get one (See Amare, although with him it is injury, not age). What he can do, if the Jackson experiment does not bring us a trip to the finals, is opt out to take less money from another team, one that is pretty much guaranteed to get into a title game (how ironic would that be).
Yeah... call me a hater, but once again we were held hostage by this guy. No other way to see it- he pretty much got everything he wanted, just like he did the first time. I would have had more respect for him if he had taken less from Chicago, but he has to worry about his kids, since the cost of college will be hitting $2M/yr. soon... not including textbooks, and those dollar deals at McDonald's won't last forever.
Not sure anyone but Anthony should be happy about this deal. This is not a deal where Melo "took less to help the team," and I hope that people don't portray it as such. This is a Max contract, in every way but the final total. On average, we pay $1M less/year.
Some more Melo-hate comments:
He should come in at least 15 lbs lighter than he played last year. It will also be interesting to see how he takes to a new offense, one where he won't have as much control over who takes shots, and one where he actually has to move around on the offensive end.
If he does not like his role on the team, and how things are going for him, I don't want to hear Steven A. Smith quoting "sources" saying that Anthony is upset with his role and the way the offense is going, when the team is winning but he is only averaging 20 PPG.
How he takes to being a mere cog in a system offense will determine if any FAs want to play with us. Multi-talented FAs almost worthy of the Max are not going to want to play with a Harden or a Kobe, unless there are other factors involved. If Anthony shows he can be satisfied scoring 20ppg and winning, I'll be happy. If we see the same average and shots/game as last year, we are in serious trouble.
Say what you want about Smith, by the way- he can be annoying, and his schtick sometimes wears thin, but almost immediately he came out with the contract being a 5 year Max deal with a no trade provision. Only thing he did not mention was the 5th year ETO.
Can't wait to see if Anthony wants to renegotiate his contract after the 2016 TV money comes in and the caps and max contracts are raised significantly and this or that player gets $145 M for 5 years.
Hope I am completely wrong about Anthony and he has an epiphany under Phil's guidance. Folks can call me out in the future if he is the perfect citizen. I'll happily reply with a smiley emoticon.
Wait til he forces Dolan to can Phil and Derek then we are doomed. Melo runs the Knicks now
