Re: Wojo: In an interview with a guy from the Denver Post published today, Melo openly says who'd he extend with:
It sounds like 'Melo is getting desperate and pissed at his "handlers." He overplayed his hand expecting the Knicks to swoop in with an offer, which didn't happen. And now, he's undercutting his position by flashing his lack of resolve. Anthony wanted to play hardball, which is fine, but you can't switch it up and expect to still be able to work out a deal. The longer these negotiations carry on, the more likely Anthony will resign with Denver and this whole process will have been for naught.
Does it sound like a smart move to pay someone $80M who's made very clear that he doesn't want to play for you? That sounds like the opposite of smart to me.
I think the 80 M should cover the "emotional burden" of playing for a team that isn't your first choice to play for.
Anthony wants his cake. He wants to eat it too. He wants someone else to do the dishes. And he wants it all now. Don't blame him a bit. Just as long as he actually doesn't expect to get everything he wants. Sometimes 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
That's not how it works though. He gets the $80m whether he's happy and grateful or whether he's bitching and moaning. Perhaps more importantly, he'll make that $80m if he's traded somewhere else too. Even though the amounts are much bigger, is this really much different than any of our jobs? If the pay is comparable at your current job and a prospective alternative, but you see your current company is going nowhere and you don't really like being there, are you going to be very happy if they guilt you into staying? Probably not for very long. Your boss telling you shut up and enjoy the money would actually encourage the sort of mercenary thought process you'd be struggling to overcome anyway.
I probably haven't spent as much time thinking about this as you...I know I haven't But... What's wrong with letting him just go if he doesn't want to take the offer? I mean, he signs if he wants the greater amount of money, like Joe Johnson.
Heh, I actually don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, I just apply the same set of principles to new facts I don't think there's anything necessarily "wrong" with letting him walk. They get a 3 month rental of Melo, then nothing. If they value three more months of him more than what they'd get by trading him, that's not terrible. It'll put them under the cap this summer, so they'll go out spend that money to replace him with a FA. The argument against it is simply that 1. 3 more months of Melo isn't that valuable. He's getting booed off his home court because fans know he's a goner. Pissing off your fans is not a good business model. The flip side of this is that fans will also be pissed if you win 2 games over the rest of the season. If you utterly collapse, you better get a good return. 2. Even if they get a crummy return... say an expiring deal and picks, that's still a couple picks to move forward with that they don't have now.
