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Melo solution
Posted April 30, 2008
OK, we're going to start stepping away from Buff stuff occasionally. The world of sports has way, waaayy to much to ignore.
First on the list: how to handle Carmelo Anthony.
If I'm Stan Kroenke, I call Anthony in and give him an ultimatum. He plays hard -- all the time -- or he spends his time on the bench. Stan has enough money to afford a couple of losing seasons. Stan has enough money to send a message.
Don't trade Anthony. Don't give him an out. Do the one thing you can do that will make an NBA star with a big contract listen: bench his butt. Tell him that every time he dogs it on defense, every time he refuses to rebound, he gets to sit for most of the next game. Doesn't matter how good he is on the offensive end, and it doesn't matter how bad the team is.
Play hard or find a seat. Oh, and if he starts acting like a complete idiot -- a neighborhood Anthony is moving closer to every day -- you'll find a way to suspend him. Without pay. For a long, long time. If Anthony thinks this is a fun way to spend a season, he can give Ron Artest a call.
Make the threat stick throughout the length of his contract.
Then see if he's really interested in playing up to his abilities. If he is, his market value will increase. If he wants to continue being a half-player, see how many folks will be interested in him when he spends most of the next couple of years on the bench.
Just a thought.
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Posted by choderlos1741 on April 30, 2008 at 12:52 p.m.
Carmelo has six years left on his contract; I'm thinking that we would have a hard time benching our best player for 6 seasons. If Melo were being insubordinate, that would be one thing, but if the team with the first pick in next year's draft wanted Melo it would be stupid to pass up a chance at Derrick Rose just to prove a point. Not that we are going to be able to trade Melo for that pick, I'm just making the point.
Instead of trying to reform the players we have, we need to think about rebuilding. With the current crop of players, the nuggets have peaked. They can win games at home in the regular season, but they can't win in the playoffs becuase they play no defense and they can't pass. That isn't going to change as the team is built around Allen Iverson, Carmelo, and Kenyon Martin.