All true. Yet still better than anything else they could possibly add to the other three above average players they have.
If he waves his no trade clause does that mean we can trade him later in the season? Cavs might want a Love for Melo trade later if they start out slow in the east.
Where is the option "I would do it just to piss off Houston fans" ? It's really the most appealing part of the deal
It's a great test for Lillard. Lillard will never be a top 5 player but I firmly believe he's a top 5 leader. I'd love to see what Lillard can get out of Melo.
Carmelo isn't waving anything. He's not in charge of the ocean, nor is he saying goodbye to thousands of people at once.
As much as I has hated on melo on the past, he honestly would help out more than Crabbe or Turner can just saying
Firmly yes if that deal includes any of Leonard, Turner or Crabbe, as it'd also help us cut our salaries in 1 or 2 year view, and the deal would have to include at least one of them for salaries to match (unless we trade Harkless, Davis and Aminu). We are not winning championship anyway so we may as well try to entertain. A team with Lillard, McCollum and Anthony would be ridiculously fun to watch, even if defensively fragile.
If it means we trade Collins or Swanigan (or both) as part of the deal, I probably have to say no. I'd even be hesitant to include Harkless. Lillard and CJ are great, but you have to keep three things in mind: Golden State is going to kill everybody pretty much throughout Dame/CJ's peak years. It sucks, but that's where we are. Nurkic is only 22, and although he's been in the league 4 years he really doesn't have much mileage on him. He could still be really, really good at 32. (The Gasols have been relevant forever, as just one example.) As long as CJ, Nurk and Dame are on this team, we just won't get a lot more chances at lottery-level young talent. And we never do well with free agency. The cupboard could get really bare in a few years if we liquidate key young pieces now. I'm not anywhere near living in the post-Dame/CJ era yet, but I also don't want to give up on young, valuable assets who fit a longer window just to make the current window a little more fun. It's a little like that 2000-2001 window we had where we had one of the best teams in the league, and then paid for it with a 6-7 year span of hopelessness. Except that 2000 team had championship aspirations, so you can kind of look back and say, "Eh, it was kind of worth it." A Carmelo team is, best-case scenario, winning 1 or 2 games in the WCF. (Worst case scenario the chemistry and defense isn't there and we don't make it out of the first round.) I'm willing to trade young assets who may be pretty damned good (like we did with Jermaine O'Neal) if we legit think it'll bring the final piece to a contender. But Carmelo isn't that piece.
