awe1028 wrote:Excellent point. The Knicks wasted all those prime Melo years. Melo was an absolute offensive weapon; one of the best in NBA history. Yes he had flaws but instead of putting players around him to mitigate those weakness thereby capitalizing on his strengths they burdened him with responsibilities best left to other players blunting his impact. People lamented the things Melo couldn't do. They said he couldn't pass or play defense. Instead of focusing on the things he could not do the Knicks should have brought in players to handle those roles and let him do what he did best - score the ball.
I've seen this type of reasoning/argument used before and IMHO, it never adds up from a "resource management perspective" because
1) The Salary Cap ( even if it is technically a "soft cap")
AND
2) The general scarcity of talent acquisition and turnover in the NBA ( 2 round draft, limited choices in free agency, limited talent pool in general because of height/athleticism requirements for NBA game speed)
To win in the NBA, you need to play DEFENSE. You need, at MINIMUM, a center who can DEFEND/PROTECT THE RIM. And hopefully not be a total offensive liability and not be a dud at the free throw line and not be injured all the time. You also need, at MINIMUM, two wings who can defend on the perimeter and space the floor with an effective three point shot.
You can get this, the BARE MINIMUM, in two ways
A) You can draft and hope to get them all or nearly all on their rookie contracts, in a cost controlled cycle where you can spend your cap elsewhere.
or
B) You can pay "market" salary rates in free agency (if you can find a FA who can do this to sign in the first place) or reup your own rookies into their 2nd or 3rd contracts at about market rate for their production or hopeful production.
It's IMPOSSIBLE to have a power forward AT MELOS CAP HIT who doesn't play defense because he doesn't give a damn and refuses to play actual team basketball and find the other elements you need to win and win consistently.
Theoretically its possible. But in theory, the sun won't come up tomorrow morning.
Functionally and practically, it's impossible in an actual cap environment.
People talk about Olympic Melo. You mean on a team constrained by no salary cap, full of future HOF players, with injury replacements from the All NBA/All Star caliber, going against non NBA competition, using handpicked coaches, and having the resource base of the most powerful nation state in all of human history?
If Melo wanted to win, then lose the extra weight, get in elite condition, play team ball, commit to defense and be that elite WING that the team needs. Then you need another wing and pivot to help build a core. That's far more manageable than a guy making 28-30 million who creates more questions than answers.
People, some, focused on the things Melo REFUSED TO DO BECAUSE HE JUST DID NOT GIVE A SH*T. If you are Chris Mullin and you can't stay in front of an NBA wing, it's because the dude was slow as f**k. That's one thing. When you literally CANNOT DO SOMETHING because you physically are incapable of doing it. Melo didn't do it because he simply DID NOT CARE TO PUT IN THE MAX EFFORT.
Any player, ANY LAST ONE OF THEM, who refuses to play the game the right way, put winning first and put in max effort, but puts on that beloved Knicks jersey can literally go f**k themselves. Because not doing so is really saying f**k you to each and every fan here. To the franchise, to the coaches ,to the game itself.
There is a difference between Blame and Accountability. A huge difference. Lots of people say some are too harsh on Melo because they want to BLAME HIM. Instead, I see peope who HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE for not playing in a manner, that he could, but simply didn't give a ****, to actually honor what it means to be a Knick. What it means to be a true NYer.
Anyone who believes a team could be built around Melos self inflicted apathy, has likely a poor understanding of how the market based resource management aspect of the game works. That two teams even existed where Melo might have had this opportunity is mind boggling ( The Bulls in the Rose/Noah/Deng/Gibson era and the Pistons when they drafted Darko instead of Melo) Those were his chances, rare chances and he picked the money instead when he had a choice.
