Melo traded to OKC for Enes and McDermott

[Saint Cy of JFC]

All 3 of them are use to being "the man" so at least one of them is going to have to change their game quite a bit. Players naturally gravitate to being jump shooters as they age. On a per minute basis Melo shot more 3s last year and had less shots within 3 feet than anytime in his career. He also averaged the least amount of FTs of his career last year so his transition as a support player may be well under way.

Carmello played with AI before....

 

[DutchJazzer]

If Melo is in better shape and actually motivated to play hard and be a team player that could be a good team though. A starting lineup of:

Westbrook
George
Melo
Pattterson
Adams

on paper is pretty solid.

but basketball is not played on paper. it is played on the court with 1 ball and requires DEFENSE and offensive chemistry!

 

[DutchJazzer]

Anyway, the bad feelings aren't really about "loyalty" it's about the way Hayward did it, that when the news leaked he denied it in a way that he shouldn't have if it was true, and it was true.

this is what is wrong about the situtation

 

[Keefe]

Carmello played with AI before....

And how did that work out?

 

[framer]

More Presti worship: if this doesn't work and everyone bolts, the Thunder have infinite cap space and no one to score, so they'd be perfectly situated for a total rebuild.

Except they are still in Oklahoma City. That rebuild is going to last a long, long time.

 

[Magic Spray]

Olympics Carmelo is awesome. Maybe that's who he is with a clear alpha in place.

 

[Keefe]

Do the Thunder start small?

Westbrook-Roberson-George-Anthony-Adams

I know Carmelo dislikes playing the 4 but it seems this may be the way to go.

 

[framer]

On the other hand, that Rubio trade looks better and better. That OKC pick has fallen pretty far.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Except they are still in Oklahoma City. That rebuild is going to last a long, long time.

I'm not saying they'll go out and sign anyone, I'm talking about the plan they pioneered: sit and wait for teams desperate to dump salary and take on young players and picks to facilitate while being bad.

Also, Presti is the guy that drafted KD, Westbrook, and Harden in consecutive years.

OKC is going to be fine.

 

[Douchebag K]

I'm not saying they'll go out and sign anyone, I'm talking about the plan they pioneered: sit and wait for teams desperate to dump salary and take on young players and picks to facilitate while being bad.

Also, Presti is the guy that drafted KD, Westbrook, and Harden in consecutive years.

OKC is going to be fine.

when they move back to Seattle ...

 

[fishonjazz]

I remember when Durant left us, many Jazzfan on here called me out.

How does it feel for that to bite you all in your collective asses now?

Welcome to obscurity Jazz. Over here we'll still be competing for a title.

LOL.

Lol

 

[Et tu Brute]

holy ****, braugh. This is honestly some of the best footage I've seen in a while. Thanks for posting!!

What confuses me is at what point did he realize he was traded? He seemed to play it pretty cool.

 

[Kyoto]

So, who else here thinks that the "big 3" on OKC are going to fight over the ball and just argue all the time? It's hard to believe that Melo AND Westbrook can share the ball. I think that when the season is over 2 of the 3 bail from the thunder. That's just my thought

Sent from my SM-N915V using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[Cappy_Smurf]

More Presti worship: if this doesn't work and everyone bolts, the Thunder have infinite cap space and no one to score, so they'd be perfectly situated for a total rebuild.

Infinite cap space for OKC is worthless in regards to free agents. They might be able to take somebody else's bad contracts for picks, otherwise they are screwed.

And you and I definitely have different definitions of perfectly situated for a total rebuild. I'd much rather approach a rebuild the way Boston did than losing valuable pieces for nothing. The worst mistake this franchise has made in my life time was playing for 8th seeds when they should have been proactively rebuilding.

Anyway, if GS wasn't who they are and OKC had a really good chance at a ring, then this gamble would look a whole lot better. If they end up losing everybody for nothing, I'm guessing they'll be filled with a whole lot of regret.

 

[Cappy_Smurf]

I'm not saying they'll go out and sign anyone, I'm talking about the plan they pioneered: sit and wait for teams desperate to dump salary and take on young players and picks to facilitate while being bad.

Also, Presti is the guy that drafted KD, Westbrook, and Harden in consecutive years.

OKC is going to be fine.

Yeah, there was a ton of luck involved there. If they had been drafting first the year they drafted Durant, they most likely come away with Oden. He drafted Harden and also traded him away.

Also, with the instability of the cap, you can't count on taking back bad contracts for picks. This offseason was the first in 3 years where that was possible, and those opportunities dried up pretty quickly. Contracts are shorter than they used to be, and most teams are choosing to wait out bad contracts rather than give away picks to get rid of them.

Anyway, even if you believe he is a drafting genius, starting a rebuild with nothing but your own picks is a long term rebuild, and the odds of striking gold 3 years in a row are not good, no matter who you are.

 

[NAOS]

Infinite cap space for OKC is worthless in regards to free agents. They might be able to take somebody else's bad contracts for picks, otherwise they are screwed.

And you and I definitely have different definitions of perfectly situated for a total rebuild. I'd much rather approach a rebuild the way Boston did than losing valuable pieces for nothing. The worst mistake this franchise has made in my life time was playing for 8th seeds when they should have been proactively rebuilding.

Anyway, if GS wasn't who they are and OKC had a really good chance at a ring, then this gamble would look a whole lot better. If they end up losing everybody for nothing, I'm guessing they'll be filled with a whole lot of regret.

I understand Presti's decision to go ALL IN. And, when I look at the assets he moved in order to go all in, I feel a profound "meh". In other words, I think the decision to go all in was good, and it cost him nothing but treadmill players. Presti doing good work.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Yeah, there was a ton of luck involved there. If they had been drafting first the year they drafted Durant, they most likely come away with Oden. He drafted Harden and also traded him away.

Also, with the instability of the cap, you can't count on taking back bad contracts for picks. This offseason was the first in 3 years where that was possible, and those opportunities dried up pretty quickly. Contracts are shorter than they used to be, and most teams are choosing to wait out bad contracts rather than give away picks to get rid of them.

Anyway, even if you believe he is a drafting genius, starting a rebuild with nothing but your own picks is a long term rebuild, and the odds of striking gold 3 years in a row are not good, no matter who you are.

Pure luck to have the greatest run drafting players in history? Okay.

And you think putting Harden on the market was his call? OKC simply didn't want to pay for a championship team, so they didn't amnesty Kendrick Perkins and they didn't want to pay Harden the max. That's what happened by every single account of the situation.

Presti is working circles around every GM in the league.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I understand Presti's decision to go ALL IN. And, when I look at the assets he moved in order to go all in, I feel a profound "meh". In other words, I think the decision to go all in was good, and it cost him nothing but treadmill players. Presti doing good work.

No question.

He turned two late first rounders acquired in salary dumps* into Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. But he's just lucky, right?

*1 - Serge Ibaka, whose EXPIRING contract yielded the pieces to obtain Paul George, and done right before a very visible decline. Played that chip better than you could fantasize about.
*2 - Reggie Jackson, acquired in a rather-poor draft in the 20's became a nice player that wanted out, got Enes Kanter who improved his play but OKC was forced to match a pretty absurd offer for. Were able to turn a bad contract into a net-positive asset by a lot (if Anthony sucks, they still open up cap space).

 

[gregbroncs]

Kanter and McD are mostly trash (in terms of winning-styles of basketball), so it's hard not to see OKC winning big on this trade.

And Crymello is not trash (in terms of winning-style of basketball)? He's a me first player going to a team of me first players. I can't see this making OKC that much better on the court. They just added 1 more no defense ball stopper that doesn't run a system.

 

[framer]

No question.

He turned two late first rounders acquired in salary dumps* into Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. But he's just lucky, right?

*1 - Serge Ibaka, whose EXPIRING contract yielded the pieces to obtain Paul George, and done right before a very visible decline. Played that chip better than you could fantasize about.
*2 - Reggie Jackson, acquired in a rather-poor draft in the 20's became a nice player that wanted out, got Enes Kanter who improved his play but OKC was forced to match a pretty absurd offer for. Were able to turn a bad contract into a net-positive asset by a lot (if Anthony sucks, they still open up cap space).

Well, yeah. Every draft is not created equal. It doesn't just matter THAT you get high picks, it also matters WHEN you get high picks. The Kanter and Exum drafts were pretty sorry. There wasn't a whole lot of gold to be struck there. Even the Sixers have had some misses due to the quality of players available. There is no guarantee that a flat rebuild will get you anything. It will be interesting to see if OKC can sustain a decade of losing in that market.