2018 Free Agent thread

[Koopa Troopa]

The ring argument is most prevalent in basketball. I think it has a lot to do with how the NBA markets its star players. There is no other sports league with this many stars. It leads fans to believe these guys are actual superheroes that should do everything on their own. How many championships did "X" win is a question you hear a lot.

Jordan won 6 championships is a common line. The Bulls won 6 championships is not. Nobody ever says man those 97 Bulls were great, meanwhile you hear stuff like that in other sports all the time. The '85 Bears! Nobody ever says, the '97 Bulls!

Just looking at the sports at a glance basketball is the only major sport where your star player is always able to make a difference at any point in the game. In football you have completely different lineups depending on offense/defense/special teams. In baseball you only go up to bat every so often, and when you're fielding you can only cover your area. In BBall every possession the star player is a threat on offense and they could potentially make a play on every defensive possession as well.

The ring argument really blows in BBall though since Im sure if we were to look at the last 30 years a great majority of the teams havent even had a chance to win a championship, and they all fielded some of the greatest players of all time. I hate seeing great players forgotten in time because they didnt win a ring.

[shakespeare]

LeBron’s career has made me reconsider how I initially viewed championships. Although he’s 3-6 in the Finals [or 3-4 if you take two of those appearances into consideration], the losing record doesn’t take away from my belief that he’s the greatest overall basketball player my eyes have seen.

At the same time, and as you stated, there are other great basketball players that never reached the Finals or might’ve gone once...yet, it doesn’t take away from their NBA careers neither, in my humble opinion.

Note: I was being in saying I want to see Carmelo Anthony win a ring in Golden State, cause Golden State is winning the ‘19 championship, regardless.

[NewlyKnicked]

Just looking at the sports at a glance basketball is the only major sport where your star player is always able to make a difference at any point in the game. In football you have completely different lineups depending on offense/defense/special teams. In baseball you only go up to bat every so often, and when you're fielding you can only cover your area. In BBall every possession the star player is a threat on offense and they could potentially make a play on every defensive possession as well.

I'm not a big fan of either sports, but I would say that both football and baseball are also a "one man can save the day" type of sports. If you have the best quarterback or pitcher of the entire league, you're not guaranteed a title, but you're still pretty well on the way, no? Those two positions are just so different from the rest of their teammates and they handle like 75% of the responsibilities. They feel like the heroes and the rest of the team's job is basically to make them shine.

I mean besides Lebron who defies logic and time, winning a NBA title requires a complete roster with a few complementary stars.

[StevoStarks]

This makes me sick to my stomach to write, but Tom Brady is that guy.

[Koopa Troopa]

NFL just seems to have an agenda to make Brady their ultimate hero. Funny enough the team that won the superbowl this year was using their back up QB due to injury.

A pitcher in baseball indeed does control a ton, but if his offense cant score a run it means nothing.

A basketball fan could envision LeBron scoring 50, getting all the steals, rebounds blocks and assists and whatever other stat. Basketball media though is beginning to influence the other sports...but again i feel its because basketball is starting to become the most popular sport in the nation.

[shakespeare]

NFL just seems to have an agenda to make Brady their ultimate hero.

Agreed.

[shakespeare]

This makes me sick to my stomach to write, but Tom Brady is that guy.

Agreed.

[shakespeare]

Carmelo expected to sign with Rockets for 1 year, veteran minimum salary $2.4 million https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday ... /820674002

After D’Antoni was fired in New York, who could’ve imagined he’d be coaching Carmelo down the line?

[NewlyKnicked]

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

[dcapodic]

After D’Antoni was fired in New York, who could’ve imagined he’d be coaching Carmelo down the line?

To me, it is really not that surprising. Remember, people blamed MD for all kinds of stuff that had little merit but was just what people "thought" was going on behind the scenes. I especially liked the way that he was blamed for not "liking" this one or that one or "preferring" this one or that one. A coach will play the devil if it is gonna get him wins.

The Rockets are not a "ball flow" team, just the opposite. So, thinking about it....adding Melo just gives them another scoring option when things get to crunch time. He can ISO and do it all himself and they desperately need that to take some pressure off of Harden in those spots. Not sure Melo has much left but it is worth a shot.

Still chuckle at the hatred for MD and sure as i am typing this, it will come out again

[Koopa Troopa]

Melo probably is better than what people are making him out to be. I dont think OKC used him well. They would like to have George in at the end of quarters running isos when in reality Melo would probably be better suited for that role. Sub him out early and bring him back late in the quarter to torch the subs. He was practically always playing with both George and Russ and they wouldnt look for him at all.

[StevoStarks]

Melo probably is better than what people are making him out to be. I dont think OKC used him well. They would like to have George in at the end of quarters running isos when in reality Melo would probably be better suited for that role. Sub him out early and bring him back late in the quarter to torch the subs. He was practically always playing with both George and Russ and they wouldnt look for him at all.

I agree with this. But I have the same concerns with Harden's affect on Melo as I did with George's. The good news is CP3 is the PG and not Westy, as you alluded to, so that's a much better start for Melo.

[shakespeare]

Anthony, via Jemele Hill of ESPN:

“At the end of the day, it wasn’t a good fit,” he said. “I think last year — and I haven’t talked about this before — everything was just so rushed, going to the team for media day and the day before training camp. Them guys already had something in place, and then I come along in the 25th hour like, oh s—, Melo just come on and join us. Like, you can figure it out since you’ve been around the game for a long time. That’s why it was so inconsistent. At times, I had to figure it out on my own rather than somebody over there or people over there helping me.”

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2018/07/26/ca ... h-thunder/

Carmelo’s statement reinforces both Koop and Steve’s beliefs. I don’t necessarily believe it, but there’s definitely a difference between Harden/Paul playmaking into D’Antoni’s schemes vs ball-dominated Westbrook. I’m hearing Rockets won’t be as good of a team minus Ariza and the other wing player that signed with his former Clippers team. It wasn’t a knock on Melo’s lack of defense, but more of a praise of the perimeter defense exiting the building.

We’ll see, though.

[shakespeare]

A coach will play the devil if it is gonna get him wins.

Hilarious.