The super Melo to Portland thread + The Big Blockbuster

I'd still take Melo on this roster. Tight game down the stretch, would get beneficial calls from refs. Another offensive weapon who can create his own shots.

 

If Dame can't get him going he's as dense as Jeremy Piven's character in Entourage.

 

Out for a walk here in NE Portland.......no Melo to be seen.

 

92, what about it? Was it against the rules to respond to post no. 92?

 

I think that the status of Mo Harkless to return would impact the team's thinking on whether to venture into LT by taking on Melo. If Mo is going to be a long term issue, then sure. Why not put Melo on the second unit as a gunner? Hopefully, he'd be able to score enough to offset what he gives up at the other end. OTOH, if Mo is going to be back by Christmas, I'd rather avoid the LT and keep minutes for Layman and Harkless.

 

More likely he'd pick a location where a fellow NBA star would live like Kevin Love who owns a home on the lake. Haven't seen him here yet but I've got my feelers out.

 

Love still owns a home in LO? Wow. Didn't know that. I thought he took the Danny Ainge "Get The Hell Out Of His Home State" Tour.

 

Given that Melo has always been an offensive oriented player, you would think he would love playing for D'Antoni.

 

I believe Portland is already in the tax.

And yeah Melo isn’t a good defender, but he wouldn’t exactly be replacing Ben Wallace in the rotation either. He’d also have Collins and Nurk to cover for him.

 

So, you want us to run the offense through Melo? This means that ET which is finally contributing because he has the ball and runs the 2nd unit once again becomes obsolete?

You want to bring a guy that currently has an AST% of 9.3 and had an AST% of 14.5 the last year that the offense ran through him to replace ET that currently has an AST% of 23? So basically, you want us to go from a free-flowing bench that produces to a bench that runs through a guy that will stop the ball and shoot horrendously?

I am not sure where you get these ideas, it should not matter since AFA is running with the first unit and you envision Melo in the 2nd, but still:
AFA shoots .356 from 3P now, Melo is at .328.
AFA TS% is .553. Last time Melo was better than that was in 2013-2014

I am certainly not calling him that. I just do not think he fits in Portland even in the 2nd unit.

Honestly, if you are afraid the Blazers need another scorer - all you need to do is give Layman the green light. He is currently scoring with a blistering TS% of .668 - I imagine that with volume that will go down - but he has a lot to go down to reach Melo's .513 TS%

 

Yes, Carmelo is a better set shooter than Aminu. Catch and shoot. NBA keeps track of that stat.

Last three years, not including his small sample this season

37.8%
42.3%
38%

Aminu:

37.2%
33.8%
36.3%

And depending on the score, I also envision Melo with the starters late in games. The pelicans strategy would’ve been different had we had Melo instead of Aminu. Aminu went off and the Pelicans still didn’t respect him enough to make an adjustment. Melo has that respect. No one is leaving him open.

 

So you are telling me that AFA is a better scorer than Melo when he puts the ball to the floor (must be if his catch and shoot is lower but his 3P% and TS% is better) - and you want to run the offense through Melo dominating the ball and trying to score - and having a dismal AST%?

I am sorry, this still does not compute.

 

Aminu averages more than half the shots Melo does, I don’t know how you can compare their efficiency with one another. The shots Aminu gets are different. No one is game planning to stop him. Most teams encourage Aminu to beat them. Him having a higher TS% doesn’t mean he’s a better scorer at all.

 

Fun fact: Melo was an All Star last year (2017 All Star game). He’s not too removed from being good.

 

Since when is basketball played at one end of the court? Aminu is far superior to Melo on the defensive end and Aminu only takes on average 6.8 shots this year while Melo averages slightly over 12. Who is he taking those 5 shots from?

 

I don't think he was an All-Star in OKC. So it would have been two seasons ago.

 

Maybe it would be the other way around. Maybe our elite D would be contagious to him and he’d play better on that end of the floor. He hasn’t been a bad defender his entire career. He actually used to cover LeBron pretty well.

 

Yes. Read my post. He was an All Star in 2017. That’s last year (not last season).

 

It means he is a more efficient one. He shoots to score when it makes sense, and does not when it does not.

Honestly, I am going back to fit - Aminu plays in the 1st unit, he is irrelevant to the discussion since we are thinking about Melo in the 2nd unit.

If the idea is to have another scorer on the 2nd team at forward - just play Layman there a bit more and give him the green light. He is athletic, works on defense, can shoot off the dribble and currently plays only 14 minutes per game.

If Melo is going to be in the 2nd unit - who is he taking minutes from? Zach? No - they need defense. Turner? No - they need a distributor, Curry / Saucy - no, both are better shooters than him that you need next to ET. If Moe is out - you will replace Caleb/Meyers minutes - they currently played 14 MPG combined - some of these you really can't use Melo for - especially when there are bigger guys or the team needs rebounding - so solve the problem with giving Layman an extra 7 MPG with the 2nd unit - and allow him to score as needed. "Problem" solved.