JETSET

Horford >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Noah individually and especially when paired with Splitter.

What do you call the 08-09 season then? Melo has an above average point guard for the first time in his life (Billups) and he attempts the lowest amount of shots per game since his second year in the league. He allows Billups to run the offense and they make it to the WCFs behind Melo's 27 points per game. Like every one else, I'm not fond of his comments against the Hawks or his history of chasing the money; however, his talent is undeniable and he could get us over the hump. Does it come without risk? Of course not but most rewards come with inherent risks.

We know that he relies on ISO when he is surrounded by inept offensive players. He played great team ball while being surrounded by offensive talent on Team USA. I don't see how any one can claim to know how he would play in our system while being surrounded by our offensive talent. Question: What would Melo's intentions likely be if he waived his no-trade clause to accept a trade to Atlanta?

The salaries would have to match. Teague is only making 8 mil while Melo is making 23 mil. You are going to need to send another 10ish+ mil to New York along with Teague to receive Melo in return.

I can't wait to see these boys in action! I just hope Splitter can play 70-75 regular season games and be healthy throughout the playoffs.

Melo has done well against Lebron in head to head matchups throughout their careers.

How does an elite spot up shooter not fit in our offense? Melo can score from every spot on the floor and J.R. Smith has been the 2nd best offensive player on his teams for the majority of his career. He shined while playing team ball with Team USA. Him and Kobe carried the team in 2012. It would also be nice to not be 100% reliant on Teague or Dennis creating off the dribble when our movement breaks down like it did so often in the playoffs. I do agree with his injury history being a big problem. That would be a factor in me rejecting the deal long before his play on the court ever would be. edit: Due to his no trade clause, I would have to assume that Melo has decided that he wants to play within Bud's system if he OKs the trade to Atlanta. Him OKing a trade to Atlanta would be purely for a chance to win. He's not coming to Atlanta for marketing purposes. If he's looking to score and market, he will use his no trade clause and force his way to a team like the Lakers.

I would take a chance with this deal as long as Melo looked good and healthy in November and December. It's popular to hate on Melo but he is still one of the most well-rounded offensive players in the league. Durant and Curry are the only "superstar" players that can shoot better than him. His style of play should allow him to be an elite offensive player for years to come as long as he stays healthy. His contract averages out to 25.4 mil per year for the next 4 years and that will be seen as an OK deal once other tenured superstars begin to sign max deals under the new cap. There would be risks involved and the deal could blow up in our faces but I think the possible reward is well worth the risk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LnoFKSl2rs#t=11 Here's the vid of the Blake arrest.

So Dennis went off for 29 points today on good shooting. He still had 6 turnovers on only 7 assists though. Germany has a must win game vs Spain tomorrow at 11:35 Est. and you can watch it on WatchESPN online.

http://www4.ballstreams.com/ You get 12 months for $90. You can suspend your membership at the beginning of the playoffs until the beginning of the following regular season. This allows you to get 2 seasons for $90. You also get access to every game and don't have to worry about any blackouts.

MKG's defensive metrics from last season are far from average and they are on par with Allen. He also has 3 inches and 20 lbs on Allen while being younger. The purpose of my comparison should have been quite obvious to any one who read it. I was showing the bias between offensive players and defensive players. Vucevic is just as average as MKG and you won't hear a word about his contract while the thread for MKG's has reached 3 pages.

How is MKG a poor man's Tony Allen? Even the best defenders are going to get ripped to shreds by an elite offensive player if that player is in the zone that night. His overall defensive metrics and stats like on/off show that he was a difference maker for the Hornets last season. You can stand by your 2 bad games from his sophomore season and I will stand by his year's performance in his junior season. After all, there's not much you can do when Lebron is making 8 out of 10 threes in a game. If MKG is a poor man's Allen, Vucevic is a poor man's Al Jefferson and Jefferson has never won a thing in this league.

Walker and Jefferson are both iso chuckers who play almost zero defense or team ball. They are the biggest problems in Charlotte. Talk about a bad deal, Walker's deal is the definition of horrid. This once again goes back to my previous point about Vucevic vs MKG. People see a highlight of Kemba making a couple of tough shots and miss out on the 15 misses that came before and after. They see Jefferson post 24 points on pretty good FG% but don't notice how the offense completely stalls once he touches the ball or how terrible of a defender he is. The truth is the Hornets become a far better team when MKG steps on the court while Walker and Jefferson barely move the needle. I could maybe agree with you on Shumpert if he was closer to 40% on 3's instead of 34%. I would rather have the younger player who is also a better defender if neither one is very reliable beyond the arc. MKG will be Shumpert's current age at the end of the deal he just signed. The kid still has a ton of room to grow and it sounds like he's a hard worker so he should improve some.

Guys have always been paid on potential, that's nothing new. Also, it's not like his whole game is based on potential. He is already a top 5 wing defender and a top 5 rebounder at his position. He averaged 9.5 rebs and 2.5 orebs per 36 last season at the SF position. He made a clear impact in his teams win percentage. I would much rather give $13 million to that type of player than some overrated offensive player who provides nothing on defense like Nikola Vucevic who just received 48 mil over 4 years. MKG's on/off differential was +12.2 while Vucevic's was -.7. Last season, the Magic were 4-4 without Vucevic, which included a 1 pt loss to GSW, a 2 pt loss to Wash and a 6 pt loss to ATL, and 21-53 with him. The Hornets were 26-25 with MKG and 6-17 without him. These figures show who is the clear difference maker for their team yet people will question MKG's deal and consider Vucevic's deal fine simply because he can score. MKG's proneness to injury should be more of a concern than his offense. He has already proven that he can be a difference maker with his current offensive output.

The high-priced NBA already started this off-season. I will happily take MKG at 4/52 vs Demarre at 4/60, post-achilles Matthews at 4/70 or Shumpert at 4/40.

The difference is Marvin was never elite at anything. MKG is already an elite defender and one of the best rebounding SF's in the league. It's not like he's completely useless on offense either. The Hornets Ortg was 99.1 with him off court and 102.7 when he was on the court. Their Drtg plummets from 107.4 to 98.8 when he steps on to the court. I also think being on Charlotte hurts his value some. Put him on ATL, San An or GSW and he would be seen as an all-star caliber player. His lack of outside scoring is magnified on Charlotte since their whole team struggles to shoot the 3. Put him in a movement oriented offense loaded with shooters and he would get a ton of baskets off of hard cuts and putbacks. He already averaged 11 points per game in 29 minutes last season.

I agree. I think it was very smart of the Hornets to lock him up at only $13 mil per year over the next 4 in this new high-paid NBA. MKG was the clear difference maker for that Hornet team last year. He is their best player and he is still very young. He shot a decent percentage from midrange last season and this contract will end up being a steal if he can develop his midrange a little further and add the corner 3. Hornets were 26-25 last season when MKG played a full game Hornets were 6-17 last season when MKG did not play or left a game with injury and did not return. Similar win-loss swing past two years when he was healthy vs injured.

You only think Antić, Bazemore and Korver were worse because you are a blatant homer of Dennis. The on/off figures don't lie and they strongly disagree with your assessment. Here's the on/off for the 3 players you mentioned and Dennis in the playoffs. Korver's on/off: +14.7 Bazemore: -10.5 Antić: +1.2 Dennis: -21.3 Our offensive rating was 108.3 with Dennis on the bench and 96.1 with him on the court. Mack outplayed Dennis in the playoffs. We win a game or two that we lost vs Brooklyn and Washington if Mack was in that backup PG role throughout the playoffs. Dennis was DREADFUL in that Brooklyn series. I'm talking historically bad. Korver's shot may have been off but he was drawing an insane amount of attention from the defense which opened things up for DMC and others. DMC carried us through the Brooklyn series when Al and Millsap were dealing with injuries. He started to fall back in place once those two, especially Al, regained their form.

Teague >>>>> DMC and there's really no argument to it. Im still amazed at how eager people are to hand the reigns over to dennis after how badly he failed in the playoffs. Dennis was the worst player on our team in the playoffs. THE WORST.

I think the pelicans are a lock for one of those as long as Davis stays healthy. I say the kings get the 8th spot.

Its a first round pick if it's conveyed in those first 3 years (so the t-wolves need to make the playoffs in one of those years). If they fail to do so, the pick becomes a second round pick

Its lottery protected for 3 years before it becomes a second round pick. As long as they are healthy, the t-wolves should have no problem making the playoffs one year out of the 3. They should land another high pick this year and they will have a great young core with Wiggins, towns and their next pick. Add in nice rotation guys like Rubio, dieng, shabazz, lavine and you have a playoff caliber team if they fulfill their potential.

J.r. is known to be a friend killa too

I'm more than willing to eat my words. I had no idea he shot that well from 3. I thought he was in the low 30's and could only hit the corner 3 at a decent rate. Assuming Scott is still active, which players do we sit each night? We don't have any more Jenkins or Dayes and Muscala has earned a spot in the rotation. Only 13 players can dress each night.