Carmelo says Lin's contract is "ridiculous"

[Xiao Yao You]

If Melo didn't earn a "Max extension" then tell me who else did?

I wouldn't want him on a max contract that's for sure. He's a high scoring small forward not someone that is going to lead you to the promised land.

[PejaNowitzki]

More Melo on Lin from Rod Boones Twitter. He is a beat writer for NY paper

More Melo on Lin: "I'd love to see him back, but I think he has to do what's best for him right now

Translation="Hopefully that's the last I'll see of that slant-eyed mother****er who tried to steal MY team!"

[AK47DR91]

At least he has never missed the playoffs.

Is a guy who can only gets you to the playoffs and lose REALLY worth max contract, $20+ per season?

[Rowe]

Not really. Don't think we've ever seen a contract that back loaded before. I know people are killing Morey ethically, but the guy could also be considered a genius because it looks as though they're going to get their man.

Because the Knicks made the terrible mistake of letting Houston know they'd match "anything under a billion". So all Houston did was revise a contract they hadn't even worked out with Lin and dropped the poison pill in the contract to screw us.

Dolan isn't a cheap guy, but he believes entirely in ethics. While he is known to overpay guys left and right, he is also known to be the guy cutting checks to send players out of town who he thinks aren't appreciative of the situation.

[ripthekik]

this past season.. isn't Lin without Melo's record better than Melo without Lin or when Melo returned?

[AK47DR91]

I wouldn't want him on a max contract that's for sure. He's a high scoring small forward not someone that is going to lead you to the promised land.

IMO, Melo is worth is worth about $15-$18 million a year.

[Rowe]

I wouldn't want him on a max contract that's for sure. He's a high scoring small forward not someone that is going to lead you to the promised land.

Thats such a vague statement.

The point is we're taking Dallas' approach of surrounding Dirk with every bit as much talent as they could financially put together. That is how they finally broke through and won a ring after 10-12 years, and thats our only chance of doing it as well.

The solution should be for Melo not to have to shoulder the load every single game by having to score 25-35 points because nobody on the offense can contribute. We are trying to have a good enough team around him to which he can simply be the guy who puts us over the edge like Dirk does in Dallas.

[Rowe]

IMO, Melo is worth is worth about $15-$18 million a year.

Which is about as much as LeBron & Wade makes.

The only difference is Melo has never become a Free Agent, so he took an extension for 3 years at a higher salary. He would've been paid that much had be come a Free Agent but his deal would've been at 5 years or so. When his contract is up in 2 more years he'll have an opportunity to sign a similar kind of deal, although I've got my doubts it would still be in NY.

This is one of the worst & dumbest fanbases in professional sports who make Philadelphia Eagles fans look "reasonable" with such bipolar opinions. In a matter of 3 weeks it went from the screams of "Trade Melo for Gerald Wallace, Jamal Crawford, & picks" to "Melo da Gawd for MVP".

I know I'm ranting but I dont care.

[ElPigto]

Unless the Rockets are able to execute some sort of Dwight Howard deal, I find it highly unlikely that Morey will look like a genius a few years down the line.


Jeremy Lin probably won't be worth all this money. I'm not even convinced that he'll be an above-average starter.

The risk is worth it though.

Multiple scenarios can play out for the Rockets and every single one of them would be a win/win situation for me.

Scenario 1

Rockets get both Lin/Asik at about 8.3M a piece. They still have the cap space to make an offer for Dwight and take back two bad contracts. This is granted they waive all their partially guaranteed/unguaranteed players (which they would, or they could trade them to the Magic if the Magic see some potential in them). In this scenario they end up making the trade with the Magic, we get a year to convince Howard this is the place to be. Whether Howard wants to be here or not does not matter to me because at the end of the day all Howard has shown me is that he is all about the money and I truly don't believe he will walk away from 25M extra. At the end of the day, we have a decent team around Howard, we don't give up a lot of assets to get him and we actually end up being a good team plus Howard re-signs at the end of season.

Result: WIN

Scenario 2

We get both Lin/Asik. We still get Howard. He ends up bolting at the end of season and we are stuck with two shitty contracts. At the end of day of the day, we will still suck enough to get a good draft pick and our young players will get playing time as well.

Result: WIN

Scenario 3

We get neither Lin/Asik, we get Howard and crappy contracts, we still have plenty of cap space at the end of the season and we try to entice Chris Paul to come over with Howard. If Chris doesn't come, Howard finds someone he rather be with, he bolts, we've lost some young talent but not all, yet we still suck enough to get a good lottery pick.

Result: WIN

I could go on with other scenarios, but my whole point is, we can get Howard whether or not we sign Lin/Asik. We can also absorb bad contracts. It has been stated by Rockets reporter Feigen that we will not be giving up the world for Howard, but rather some young pieces/Martin/Toronto guaranteed lottery pick/Dallas pick. We will also not take all their shitty contracts, just one. At this point, the Magic have hardly any leverage since Howard put them in a corner. Whether we get Howard or not, it's whatever, we either end up being good or we end up sucking a lot and actually rebuild through the draft. If we get Lin/Asik, they might end up being good and this speeds up our rebuilding process or they might end up being just decent role players and their contracts kill us for a couple of years, but they are nothing like a poison pill. Proper planning has been done for this scenario, therefore we still don't lose, at worst we still suck enough and keep rebuilding through the draft.

Bottomline, we are in a win/win situation with an uncertain, but good future. I'm not doubting our strategy and I actually like it. At least we aren't signing other players that would simply be band aids but rather we are signing players with break out potential.

[NumberSix]

[Xiao Yao You]

Thats such a vague statement.

The point is we're taking Dallas' approach of surrounding Dirk with every bit as much talent as they could financially put together. That is how they finally broke through and won a ring after 10-12 years, and thats our only chance of doing it as well.

The solution should be for Melo not to have to shoulder the load every single game by having to score 25-35 points because nobody on the offense can contribute. We are trying to have a good enough team around him to which he can simply be the guy who puts us over the edge like Dirk does in Dallas.

The difference is Dirk is a once in a lifetime talent while Carmelo is just the latest in a long line of high scoring small forwards. He's always been billed as much more but that just isn't the reality. Cuban is also a much better owner. Dallas has been one of the top teams for a long time. It was just a matter of getting the right chemistry and everything falling into place at the right time. NY is a playoff contender. My hats off!

[Rowe]

this past season.. isn't Lin without Melo's record better than Melo without Lin or when Melo returned?

Jeremy Lin had a good 12 games this season.

Thats all that needs to be said.

Im pretty sure Dan Gadzuric had a better record than all of them since he joined us in time for the Playoff run.

[AK47DR91]

Which is about as much as LeBron & Wade makes.

The only difference is Melo has never become a Free Agent, so he took an extension for 3 years at a higher salary. He would've been paid that much had be come a Free Agent but his deal would've been at 5 years or so. When his contract is up in 2 more years he'll have an opportunity to sign a similar kind of deal, although I've got my doubts it would still be in NY.

This is one of the worst & dumbest fanbases in professional sports who make Philadelphia Eagles fans look "reasonable" with such bipolar opinions. In a matter of 3 weeks it went from the screams of "Trade Melo for Gerald Wallace, Jamal Crawford, & picks" to "Melo da Gawd for MVP".

I know I'm ranting but I dont care.

LeBron is severely underpaid.

Lebron should be making the $24M per season contract, not Melo. Wade and Melo in the $15-18M range is reasonable.

[dak121]

Hopefully the Bulls wisen up and deal Deng for him next February after the NY media/fans blame him for all that is wrong with the Knicks, NBA, life, economy and everything else.

He'll be chased out of that town eventually. Might as well happen next season.

[MeLO MvP 15]

This is what ESPN and this current sports media has come to...

Seriously listen to every player/coach/GM interview of the season and you find maybe 5 interesting pieces of information because all these guys do is just give the robot, politically correct answer. One guy speaks the truth and gets killed for it.

Listen, I love Lin... but what Melo said is 100% true. That contract is ridiculous. We will still match it (as we should), but it'll be massive in the 3rd year.

I'd take a candid, albeit controversial honest interview over those bullshit politically correct quotes.