The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

Instead of Linsanity they will have Meyersdrama

 

How would either Gordon/Lee work with Crabbe still on team?

 

Checked back with the East coast. Morey doing almost whatever it takes to make cap space for 'Melo. Anderson fits with what Portland would give up but Blazers don't seem to want him. Olshey prefers his old buddy Gordon if a deal is made but there are players from the Blazers other teams don't want and the Knicks want Harkless.

 

Lee coming back only makes sense if Crabbe is outgoing. Lee is essentially an older, slightly less overpaid version of Crabbe. And since the Knicks just signed Hardaway Jr. they don't need/want Crabbe.

Back to square 1...

BNM

 

It would be worth trading for Gordon just for the awkwardness with Neil about how he traded him last time when he said he wouldn't.

 

Do you know something? I like Harkless a lot, but that would really help with the bench.

 

Thanks. I'm dealing with a summer cold, and also trying to quit smoking at the same time. The snark has to come out somewhere.

 

Neil would have a perfectly glib take on it. Don't know what Gordon would have to say. Maybe not appear in the same news conference?

 

I wonder if Neil has reached out to Eric Gordon to try to mend the fences in case he ends up in Portland.

Not sure why Neil wants Gordon. Sure, his contract is much better than Anderson's, but do we really need to corner the market on 6'3" combo guards that don't play defense?

BNM

 

How? How can they get close to Melo's # without giving Capela/Anderson/Ariza?

 

Neil Olshey on line one Mr. Marks...

BNM

 

If we're dumping contracts with Harkless, I would hope that we could get out of Turners.

If Lee/KOQ comes back, then that would set up a trade for Crabbe to be moved.... although I'm not sure where to.

 

No kidding?

 

The math doesnt add up. Theres no way for rockets to get Melo without trading Anderson/Ariza/Capela

 

Gordon is injury prone as well.

 

He'll fit right in.

 

The original frame work of the trade seems to be this:

NYK trades Melo for Hark/Leonard

Houston trades 1st/Anderson for Melo

Portland trades Hark/Leonard for Anderson

If I had to guess, the hold up is whether Portland or New York gets that 1st round pick. For New York, getting two pieces back (1st/Hark) for Melo is pretty good, even if they have to swallow Leonard's contract. For Portland, turning Harkless and Leonard into Anderson isn't really worth it if there's nothing else in the deal. So the question becomes, how can you sweeten the deal for either New York or Portland so that the team who doesn't receive the 1st round pick is satisfied. Houston probably doesn't want to give up two 1st round picks. One possibility is replacing Leonard with Turner. That gives the Blazers ~7 million in cap saves = ~21 million in luxury tax savings. However, New York probably doesn't want to take Turner and his 3/55 contract especially with Hardaway now making the same amount of money and Harkless presumably starting at the SF spot. You can also question whether dumping 7 million is enough for Portland to pull the trigger. Another option is to throw in a Davis/K0Q swap. I doubt New York would say no to that, Davis is expiring and the Knicks are rebuilding anyways. Portland's front court is awfully crowded though, and it would be difficult finding minutes for everyone. It is an option though.

Without knowing the motivations of each team, the other bit of news is that they are exploring 4 team deals. In that situation, I would expect them to be looking for one of the following:

• A team that can actually take Anderson's contract, so that Portland can save money.
• A team that is willing to give up some value for Turner/Leonard, to make the deal more palatable for Portland.

My thought is though, if either of those two conditions could have been filled by a team, a deal would have come into place long before the Melo talks even began. I'm struggling to see the value proposition for a team that wants Anderson/Turner/Leonard. The only way I see this going down is if there is a possibility of a creative swap of players from these 4 teams that certain teams value more than others. Like if we could swap Aminu for Crowder, for example (not saying Boston would do this, just an example of the type of move that needs to be present.)

Frankly the issue with the deal is that Houston really isn't giving up enough on it's side. Really, a 1st to dump Anderson is a completely fair trade, but the fact that they get a near star forward in return is stupid. However, with Melo's stupid no-trade clause, it actually gives Houston some leverage because there are only two teams that can actually deal for him.

 

Can Gordon play the 1 at all?

 

Nope

 

We always bitch about a lack of bench scoring, so I would welcome Eric Gordon to Portland. He wasn't the 6th Man of the Year for nothin...