Melo’s move signifies trouble in the NBA

[OO44]

"Bet you’d like to be a fan of the San Antonio Spurs right about now. Duncan. Ginobili. Parker. All of them, just grinding it out in tiny little San Antonio, the 37th “largest†media market in America.

These kinds of players are dinosaurs; they are to be appreciated and savored, because they’re going away. They win games and titles like it was going out of style. Like they weren’t old and decrepit. Like they actually enjoy what they’re doing and where they’re doing it.

Parker, the only Spur linked to any recent free agency rumors, appeared more in Us Weekly than on SportsCenter. And his wife actually had a career in show biz. He had a chance to go big in the Big Apple, but there was barely a blip on the radar. Didn’t happen.

What’s right about San Antonio? Better yet, what’s wrong with these guys? Don’t they know they can live, work and earn millions in another city? A better city, where the nightlife is lively, where the girls are plentiful, where the lights and billboards are brighter and bigger than anywhere else. What are they thinking?

Deron Williams knows about this option. Dwight Howard knows about it, too. Both of them have already – not-so-quietly – expressed interest in heading to greener pastures. And won’t that be grand when it all comes together? When the league’s best players all play for three or four teams, it’ll be awesome. You should move, too. To Miami. To New York. To L.A. To Boston."

Mile High Sports

 

[DexterMorgan]

Waaaaaah

The NBA is really in trouble having their best teams n NY, Miami, Chicago, LA, and Boston. Ratings are way up this year as well (so I've heard)

 

[pumpdog20]

This will be a moot point if a hard cap is negotiated.

 

[goiahawks]

I think they need to get rid of 4-6 teams in the NBA to make it more competitive. Before this trade name 3 Knicks besides Amare' and Felton. Too many late round picks taking up starting spots. Just my opinion.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

I think they need to get rid of 4-6 teams in the NBA to make it more competitive. Before this trade name 3 Knicks besides Amare' and Felton. Too many late round picks taking up starting spots. Just my opinion.

Landry Fields, Ronny Turiaf and Timofey Mozgov.

But I would be in favor of contracting a few teams. The Bobcats, Hornets, Grizzlies and Kings would work.

 

[JHHawk]

The new CBA will address this with a franchise tag and a hard cap.
If not, then the league will be in trouble.
I think they all know it cannot continue like this.
A 5 team league is not going to cut it...TV numbers will drop off pretty quickly. Look at the KC Royals local tv package....small.

 

[tm3308]

Agreed, they need to downsize the NBA. Too many teams that aren't competitive in poor markets. The Raptors? They haven't been relevant since Vince Carter was "Vince-anity".

I don't see the big deal here. The NBA's "glory days" (those things we all talk about as being long gone)? The strongest teams were pretty easily the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, and Knicks, plus the Pistons and Rockets.

Basketball was way more entertaining to watch when there were fewer teams.

 

[HAWKEYESTATE4ever]

The Knicks are still the 5th best team in the league. Miami, Boston, Chicago and Orlando are all better.

They gave up WAY too much for Melo.

They now have the two worst "All-Star" defensive forwards. Melo and Amare don't guard anyone.

Here is a interesting story about how good the Knicks Could have been had Melo just waited until summer to sign...

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

Agreed, they need to downsize the NBA. Too many teams that aren't competitive in poor markets. The Raptors? They haven't been relevant since Vince Carter was "Vince-anity".

I don't see the big deal here. The NBA's "glory days" (those things we all talk about as being long gone)? The strongest teams were pretty easily the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, and Knicks, plus the Pistons and Rockets.

Basketball was way more entertaining to watch when there were fewer teams.

The Raptors are doing fine. There are a lot of American teams that are really struggling financially and attendence wise. The Bobcats, Hornets, Kings and Grizzlies should be first to go. The league should have never moved Seattle to OKC, they should have just moved the Hornets there even if it looked bad post-Katrina.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

The Knicks are still the 5th best team in the league. Miami, Boston, Chicago and Orlando are all better.

They gave up WAY too much for Melo.

They now have the two worst "All-Star" defensive forwards. Melo and Amare don't guard anyone.

Here is a interesting story about how good the Knicks Could have been had Melo just waited until summer to sign...

What all did they give up? Gallinari, Mozgov, Chandler and Felton are not exactly a king's ransom for one of the top players in the league. Role players are replacable, this is a star's league. They now have two of the ten All-Star starters on their team, and look a whole lot more appealing to CP3 or Deron Williams next summer.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I think they need to get rid of 4-6 teams in the NBA to make it more competitive. Before this trade name 3 Knicks besides Amare' and Felton. Too many late round picks taking up starting spots. Just my opinion.

Four-eight super teams...say L.A., Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago and maybe a few more would kill the league...at least as it is now. The games between these teams would be better and draw more fans but the rest of the league would become even more irrelevant.

This might be an indirect route to contraction...and a better product.

But, it will be fought tooth and and nail by the player's union. They don't care about the final product as much as keeping as many guys in NBA uniforms (and salaries) as possible. Seems like a familiar formula..even if the union members are millionaires.

 

[goiahawks]

The Knicks are still the 5th best team in the league. Miami, Boston, Chicago and Orlando are all better.

They gave up WAY too much for Melo.

They now have the two worst "All-Star" defensive forwards. Melo and Amare don't guard anyone.

Here is a interesting story about how good the Knicks Could have been had Melo just waited until summer to sign...

Knicks HAD to give up that much to get him. If they hadn't they would still be a middle of the pack team for the next couple of years. The deal makes perfect sense to me.

No way would Denver let Melo out without getting something for him.

 

[jchromes]

The Knicks are still the 5th best team in the league. Miami, Boston, Chicago and Orlando are all better.

They gave up WAY too much for Melo.

They now have the two worst "All-Star" defensive forwards. Melo and Amare don't guard anyone.

Here is a interesting story about how good the Knicks Could have been had Melo just waited until summer to sign...

They have 2 of the 10 NBA All-Star Game starters and cap room once Billups' contract runs out in the next year (to get CP3). They gave up some young guys that, granted are having good years, but are still young and can be replaced in the draft or free agency. The Knicks are currently 1 game above .500; the deal was a no brainer.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

Four-eight super teams...say L.A., Boston, New York, Miami, Chicago and maybe a few more would kill the league...at least as it is now. The games between these teams would be better and draw more fans but the rest of the league would become even more irrelevant.

This might be an indirect route to contraction...and a better product.

But, it will be fought tooth and and nail by the player's union. They don't care about the final product as much as keeping as many guys in NBA uniforms (and salaries) as possible. Seems like a familiar formula..even if the union members are millionaires.

The NBA does better when they have great teams. This isn't the NFL where parity is great for the league. The NBA is all about star players and big name teams. The league is loving this trend of players joining up. A final four in the East of Chi-Miami-Boston-NYK would give David Stern an orgasm just thinking about it. The league's ratings are way up this year, in large part thanks to the Heat. The NBA would love having 4-8 super teams like you suggest.

 

[pin2win]

the nba is a joke and has been for years

 

[hawkdrummer1]

The NBA does better when they have great teams. This isn't the NFL where parity is great for the league. The NBA is all about star players and big name teams. The league is loving this trend of players joining up. A final four in the East of Chi-Miami-Boston-NYK would give David Stern an orgasm just thinking about it. The league's ratings are way up this year, in large part thanks to the Heat. The NBA would love having 4-8 super teams like you suggest.

hell, i might even watch it. I loved the Lakers with Magic, Kareem, Cooper, Worthy...vs DJ, Bird, Parrish, McHale.

Too many teams = a watered-down product.

 

[HAWKEYESTATE4ever]

the nba is a joke and has been for years

Well, I think wrestling sucks. But I don't post that in every one of your wrestling threads.

And to the rest of you guys, why give up all those guys for Melo now when you can get him for free in four months?

Edit: And by free, I mean without giving up five players and four draft picks, or whatever it was.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

Well, I think wrestling sucks. But I don't post that in every one of your wrestling threads.

And to the rest of you guys, why give up all those guys for Melo now when you can get him for free in four months?

Edit: And by free, I mean without giving up five players and four draft picks, or whatever it was.

Because there's no guarantee you can get him in four months. There's a possible lockout this summer, and the cap is almost surely coming down, what's to say Melo won't have second thoughts and sign an extension with Denver or New Jersey?

 

[HAWKEYESTATE4ever]

Silly me... I never posted the "interesting" link from my original post...

Addition of selfish 'Melo makes Knicks good, not special | NBA.com

 

[Xerxes]

I actually think this is the best thing possible for the NBA. I wouldn't be surprised if David Stern is on top of the world right now.

The NBA is a star driven league. Put the stars together in LA, (Lakers & Clippers), & Dallas in west. Miami, Boston, Chicago, & NY in the east. Basically have 5-7 great teams battling it out every year.

Nobody cares about the NBA regular season unless you are a diehard. Get 5-7 great playoff teams and the NBA will be better than ever in the playoffs. Very rarely does the NBA have more than a few legit contenders in a given year.

Keep in mind, since 1980 only 8 different franchises have won titles. Between the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Pistons & Bulls, its 27 titles over that span.

Now, if I was a fan of the Timberwolves or Bucks, I wouldn't like this but for the NBA as a league, its actually very good and will drive playoff ratings up which is really the only thing that matters.