Miami had wade ,
1) They were all free agents. Technically Miami "had" nobody. AND now Wade's the albatross that's killing the team. Too old, bad value, declining production. He may be the reason Miami loses LeBron and Bosh.
Good example. Thank you.
Boston had pierce
But pierce didn't attract KG... KG came on a TRADE FOR ASSETS. If you don't have assets... you can't trade for KG, Boston never wins a ring.
and the lakers is completely different they have a historic franchise .
Just like the Knicks? A great city, just like the Knicks? A huge platform and market, just like the Knicks? Access to incredible sponsorships and lifestyle... just like the Knicks?
Your whole premise is wrong your saying melo is aging and declining when the stats don't even back that up he's improved the last 2 years .
But you don't sign a person for the last two years, you sign him for the next 4-5. He's chronically dinged, he shoots a lot of long jumpers, he's a bad defensive player, and he's lost his first step. He's still very very good. Nobody is doubting that.
What I doubt is: That you can build a championship team around him if he's making 25-30 million per year. You know why I doubt it? Because he never had a shot at a championship when he was making rookie money, and he never had a shot at regular max money... You want to talk about the last two years? Do it. Melo had one of the best years of his career last year, and they couldn't make the playoffs.
Your whole premise actually is horrible when we just won 54 games with melo and role players
Actually... we just LOST 45 games. Denver has our 11th pick. If that was us, we'd be looking at maybe Aaron Gordon next season. Maybe Payton? Good players. McDermott, Stauskas, Nurkic, Gary Harris... good players.
how can you say melo isn't that kind of star ? Mans been in the playoffs every year until the one year he had a horrible roster ,
But wait a second... I thought he "just won" 54 games? With that same roster... I see you trying to change your hand and yell "go fish" at the same time.
not to mention the east is still weak .
And we didn't make the playoffs.
Your not even interested in competing for a title anytime soon if your going to let him improve another team in the conference .
We're not competing for the playoffs now.
Melo is a top 10 player at the least to most nba prognosticators
"most prognosticators" - Don't use big words, you'll get a hernia. At best, the basketball world is SPLIT on whether Carmelo should get the max. He'll be 35 making 30 million. That's a bad investment.
but you want to try and restart with the draft ?
Nope. I want to start by clearing the cap, and starting over. That' show we GOT MELO in the first place. Why do you suddenly think we couldn't get other great players?
Did you forget - again - how we got melo? Through the draft, drafted young talent... traded them for Melo.
I don't get how you saying. Melo isn't worth the money when you look at the max players in the nba . You have nothing to back up melo being worse at a later age since his game isn't based around athleticism
Don't over-extend yourself here.
The idea that I have "nothing" to back up Melo getting worse over the next five years is the kind of argument somebody makes before their brain fully develops.
You remain focused on his LAST few years, I'm focusing on his NEXT five. There is an OCEAN of evidence that NBA players do not improve from 30-35. And while this may surprise you.... Every NBA player's game is predicated on their athleticism, even those that use a more diverse and polished skillset. If we suddenly gave Melo YOUR athleticism, he'd be out of the league the All Star Break. Two things in life are undefeated: One of them is Time. (The other you're unfamiliar with, so don't worry) Nobody beats time, it comes for everyone. He's less explosive than he's ever been, and his statistics have been good... but he's also been used at the 4 in a lot of small lineups, which forces teams into defensive mismatches. He's not improving as a defender, he's not getting more range or better instincts... he'll be a worse defender in three years, and you're trying to pay him 28 million. That's a bad investment.
Don't do this to yourself. You seem like a nice kid. I'm not looking for a problem from the teenage knickstape brigade. I already lived through these decisions. A decade of awful before we cleared the decks, and then the only success you've ever seen. Problem was, we made some bad investments. Amar'e got hurt, Tyson fell apart in the playoffs...But we got a 2 seed out of it, had an exciting season and a half... that's good.
Next time around, you try to make better decisions. The MISTAKE you're trying to REPEAT is why we were a laughing stock through the aughts. I know it because I watched it happen with Ewing, with Allan Houston... it took a decade to get out of the tunnel. Now we're out, so you focus on what got you there: Smartly Managing the cap... and using your picks to draft talent.