The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

He would actually get minutes if he signs with Philly.

Here? Not so much.

 

Here is the thing about Melo... he's still a threat to go off for 30. How many guys on our team can say that? 2? One of the reasons why New Orleans was able to beat us was because the rest of the team couldn't score. Now, obviously we have made some major strides with the addition of Curry and Sauce, but we still lack that third guy that you know can score 15-20 if you feed him the ball. If he's off, then he's off, but if he has it going then you feed him. It's no different than CJ.

 

Who do we waive to pick him up? Right now I will be surprised if Olshey is even interested right now.

 

Oh Snap

 

Probably Baldwin. We have so many guards and Turner is basically our backup point guard. Personally, I'd wave Biggie.

 

He'd take Jake/Leonard minutes.

 

So do you start him at the four?

Dame
CJ
Aminu
Melo
Nurk

It's really tough to bench Layman when he's shooting over 56% from the field and 46% from three. Meyers is playing better, but his shooting percentages aren't as noticeable as Layman's.

 

I bet OKC is praying we pick up Melo!

 

I'd start him at the 3/4 and play him with Dame/CJ sparingly and then off the bench as an iso scorer and release guy primarily. HOU and OKC tried to make him into something he's not as a spot up guy. It's just not his game. For 15 mpg, I think he'd be perfect as a guy who can cook dudes in the mid post area similar to what ET has done this year. If/when Hark gets back, he can resume starting duties and Melo would go to the bench permanently. Our 10 man rotation would be set in stone if everyone was healthy.

 

Waiving Biggie doesn't make sense because of his option being picked up for next year and the lack of depth for the bigs. I don't like waiving Baldwin either. This is why unless there is a trade to open up a roster spot I think it will be unlikely that Melo is brought in.

 

I really think Melo might work out here.

Dame is an amazing leader. The culture of this team is strong. So far he has been with Oklahoma City Westbrooks and the Rockets, two notoriously bullshit teams built around selfish guards. Chris Paul is a difficult teammate to work with. How often does someone come to Portland and play worse than their previous team? Turner would be the first that comes to mind, but now that the team is built with shooters, he is thriving.

 

I do too. I want as many weapons to help Dame/CJ when they're trapped in the playoffs. Stats be damned, but in a playoff game with the game on the line, would you really trust Aminu/Leonard/Moe to make a wide open shot more than Melo? The spacing in the 4 games vs NO was horrendous last year and it was largely because NO did not keep a guy within ten feet of Aminu/Zach. They damn sure wouldn't do that to Melo.

 

Biggie is sooooooooooo bad though.

 

Because this is a NAME league and Carmelo has consistently been a big NAME for a lot of years. Unfortunately, every player reaches a point where their game is no longer on a par with their reputation. Carmelo reached that point a few years ago, but a lot of people- him included - aren’t ready to believe that.

 

The guy can still play. Maybe not consistently like he once did, but he can still score.

He dropped 28 on Brooklyn on 9-12 shooting and 6-9 from three.
He scored 24 against LAC on 8-18 shooting and 6-10 from three.
He put up 22 against Utah on 9-17 shooting and 3-8 from three.

He can still score. Can he do it every night? No. Would we need him to do it every night? No.

 

I’d play Melo with the second unit, where he can be more of a focal point. He can play with the starters late in games instead of Aminu when we need to score.

Curry
Stauskas
Turner
Melo
Collins

 

We're a game out of the 1 seed and Curry is injured. No one else in the west is that definitive #2. The time to go for it is now. If we aren't gonna make a trade, picking up Melo off the scrap heap and dusting him off for 25 mpg will do us no harm. I don't see any downside. Do we really care if we lose Wade Baldwin?

 

exactly.

 

No, no Melo! Let me make this clear NO MELO!

 

Yup. We need people who can score. It's a scorer's league. This team has relied heavily on Dame and CJ the past few years, and if both of them are struggling, we lose.