No way in hell do you max Melo out. He had his best year last year, but the past 2 seasons have had shoulder concerns and no real ring potential. Kobe, MJ, and now LBJ can demand max contracts, they have the hardware to back it up. Melo does not. He needs to mirror LBJ, sacrifice to win, then he can make demands.
This I want to boost my ego tour is sad. Without the tour he knows several top teams want him, so this is all about feeling like LBJ and his big ego. The Knicks aren't asking him to do anything the other contenders aren't asking. They all want him to take a discount to win. Melo was the first one to talk discount. Melo has enough money. He can be a punk and join the Heat. He can give NY the biggest slap in the face ever and leave for nothing, when he demanded we pay up for him to the Nuggets. But, at least LBJ wouldn't be the most hated player in the NBA and NY anymore.
The Spurs don't have a superstar, they have a team with several stars. Ask yourself, which Spurs player would you start a new franchise with today moving forward? How many superstars are there in the league anyway? LBJ, KD, Griffin, Paul, Curry, & Kobe, then you hit the maybe superstars for some but probably just stars, Westbrook, Harden, Melo, Howard, Aldridge, George, Dirk, Duncan, Randolph, Davis, and Love off the top of my mind. With just that list, that is 17 Superstars to stars in the whole 30 team league, some on the same team.
Sure you can win with Superstars, but you can also win with a great deep team, the right coach, and a franchise philosophy of winning/teamwork/sacrifice.