Countdown to the trade deadline - YOUR view on a MELO2BOS trade
It seems you CelticsLife readers are as into Carmelo Anthony on the Boston Celtics's roster as you were into last night's final score against Melo's New York Knicks.
In case that's not abundantly clear, that means you REALLY don't like the idea. In one of the more lopsided outcomes of this series of articles on reader perspectives of trade rumors and proposals, nearly half of all responding said "NO!" to a Melo2BOS deal, no matter the details. Of course, it's also worth mentioning nearly a third of you were open to such a move if the deal were right.
This was reflected in the next question's results, which saw nearly two-thirds say that any such deal should have salary match only, and the bulk of the rest of you content to bid as much as salary match and a non-lottery pick (five percent thought a lottery pick was OK, but I'm going to assume that was a random couple of Knicks fans stumbling across the poll from hashtags). Many of you were into the idea of Boston acting as facilitator in a three-team deal:
This is actually a viable option if things get worse in New York, because the Knicks have little in the way of assets to include to get back the kind of haul they'd like for moving Melo (aside from Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quin, who should be kept), and none of the teams Melo would reportedly waive his no-trade clause for have the assets, cap space - or both - to make a deal go down. The Cleveland Cavaliers would be gutted, the Los Angeles Lakers have only one first-round draft pick until 2020 and no players they'd part with, and the Clippers also have only one pick (2018) before 2020 that likely won't be very good, and even if it were, are in a nearly impossible position regarding matching salary.
Boston, however, could make a rumored (but improbable) Blake Griffin trade plausible with the Knicks receiving a package of Amir Johnson, Tyler Zeller, and Jonas Jerebko that would give them a trio of rotation players on expiring deals, allowing for flexibility should they decide free agency is their best option, but also allowing them a feel for whether any are worth hanging onto. New York will want a pick or two, and Boston has so many at this point relative to open roster spots next season that including something like the 2019 Memphis first and the 2017 Cleveland second going to New York, and the Clippers own 2019 first round pick being returned to them along with the 2017 Minnesota second rounder in exchange for Blake and a Paul Pierce reunion, mostly for sentimentality and salary matching purposes.
All that is just pie-in-the-sky speculation, though, albeit less homer-ific than the Marc Berman thinkpiece that sparked this week's edition of CTTTD, whose (ridiculous) proposal of Jae Crowder, a Nets pick and filler got the sort of response it deserved from you - ranging from incredulity to outright disgust. So, with that, let's take a look at what YOU had to say about this deal:
And some of you bid low:
Some (OK - MOST) of you want nothing to do with him:
And some of you have other ideas:
Some of you had jokes:
For more stories about the trade deadline on CelticsLife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.
Photo via clutchpoints.com
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn
Should the @Celtics make an offer for #CarmeloAnthony before the #TradeDeadline? @CelticsLife #Celtics #NBA #knicks #newyork @nyknicks— justin quinn (@justinquinnn) January 18, 2017
In case that's not abundantly clear, that means you REALLY don't like the idea. In one of the more lopsided outcomes of this series of articles on reader perspectives of trade rumors and proposals, nearly half of all responding said "NO!" to a Melo2BOS deal, no matter the details. Of course, it's also worth mentioning nearly a third of you were open to such a move if the deal were right.
If the @celtics DID make an offer for #CarmeloAnthony , what would you want it to be? Tell @CelticsLife w/ a comment. #Celtics #NBA— justin quinn (@justinquinnn) January 18, 2017
This was reflected in the next question's results, which saw nearly two-thirds say that any such deal should have salary match only, and the bulk of the rest of you content to bid as much as salary match and a non-lottery pick (five percent thought a lottery pick was OK, but I'm going to assume that was a random couple of Knicks fans stumbling across the poll from hashtags). Many of you were into the idea of Boston acting as facilitator in a three-team deal:
@justinquinnn @celtics @CelticsLife @nyknicks I would do the trade using Melo as a facilitator in a NY SECOND! Absolutely take PP34 & Blake!— Jeff Bartlett (@computatuta) January 18, 2017
This is actually a viable option if things get worse in New York, because the Knicks have little in the way of assets to include to get back the kind of haul they'd like for moving Melo (aside from Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quin, who should be kept), and none of the teams Melo would reportedly waive his no-trade clause for have the assets, cap space - or both - to make a deal go down. The Cleveland Cavaliers would be gutted, the Los Angeles Lakers have only one first-round draft pick until 2020 and no players they'd part with, and the Clippers also have only one pick (2018) before 2020 that likely won't be very good, and even if it were, are in a nearly impossible position regarding matching salary.
Boston, however, could make a rumored (but improbable) Blake Griffin trade plausible with the Knicks receiving a package of Amir Johnson, Tyler Zeller, and Jonas Jerebko that would give them a trio of rotation players on expiring deals, allowing for flexibility should they decide free agency is their best option, but also allowing them a feel for whether any are worth hanging onto. New York will want a pick or two, and Boston has so many at this point relative to open roster spots next season that including something like the 2019 Memphis first and the 2017 Cleveland second going to New York, and the Clippers own 2019 first round pick being returned to them along with the 2017 Minnesota second rounder in exchange for Blake and a Paul Pierce reunion, mostly for sentimentality and salary matching purposes.
All that is just pie-in-the-sky speculation, though, albeit less homer-ific than the Marc Berman thinkpiece that sparked this week's edition of CTTTD, whose (ridiculous) proposal of Jae Crowder, a Nets pick and filler got the sort of response it deserved from you - ranging from incredulity to outright disgust. So, with that, let's take a look at what YOU had to say about this deal:
Some of you bid high:@justinquinnn @celtics @CelticsLife @nyknicks He's an elite scorer, but defense matters, and I'm not convinced it matters to him.— f#ck cancer. (@veganshaun) January 18, 2017
@CelticsLife @spencerpierce3 definitely worth the remaining Brooklyn picks, crowded, and an expiring contract. Didn't seem that F and B.— TJ Josef Senior (@The_Real_TJG) January 19, 2017
And some of you bid low:
Some (OK - MOST) of you want nothing to do with him:
@justinquinnn @celtics @CelticsLife @nyknicks I wouldn't take Carmelo Anthony if he played for free. Terrible fit.— Zach Davis (@zrdavis9) January 18, 2017
@justinquinnn @celtics @CelticsLife @nyknicks Carmelo only brings scoring. Celtics rank in top 10 in PPG. Crowder, AB, IT, & Horford all have a higher FG% than Carmelo. He adds nothing.— Woods (@dave_dubbs) January 18, 2017
@CelticsLife I've been a Celtics fan for over 30 years and if they trade for Melo, I'll quickly stop.— Correct Calonji (@Correct1OO) January 18, 2017
And some of you have other ideas:
@justinquinnn @celtics @CelticsLife @nyknicks as much as I would like to see this trade happen, I doubt Melo would waive his NTC— Luca Ferraz (@LucaCFerraz) January 18, 2017
Some of you had jokes:
— Bert Ferkins (@bertferkins) January 18, 2017
— jeff bannister (@jbann7998) January 18, 2017And some of you just want it to be March already:
@CelticsLife get this shit outta here— Tyler (@tgagen2) January 18, 2017
For more stories about the trade deadline on CelticsLife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.
Photo via clutchpoints.com
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn