Hoops

Melo loaned out for the year?

I did not think Melo had a no trade clause, it was more along the lines of he won't sign an extension so could walk after the end of the season to the team he is traded to?

I doubt Denver's ownership would survive if they traded Melo for Bynum's gimpy knees and what would be a disinterested, disruptive Artest.

The Jersey trade would definitely be a better move for Denver, but yeah I doubt Melo would agree to go there.

If Denver can't get some good young talent or high picks in a trade, they are better off letting Melo walk. No point taking on older players with big contracts. They need high draft picks and, to a lesser extent, cap space.

I wouldn't want the Lakers to trade Artest for Melo. I think that at the moment, they are perfectly balanced. Artest can defend Lebron better than anyone else in the league, therefore trading him away could be potentially devastating if there was an LAL-MIA final series.

Melo doesn't wanna go to NJ. He has a no-trade clause in his deal, which means that he has to sign off on any trade. He's gonna go to a contender.

As for the perspective from the Lakers side of things, does anyone think that they would just trade Vujacic for Joe Smith by choice? They freed up some cap room and now have some sort of trade exemption thingy which gives em an extra 5 million to include in the salary cap for trades. They're very nicely putting themselves in a position to pounce for Melo.

Kobe and Melo are good friends and it would not surprise me one bit to see this trade go down. A starting lineup of Fish, Kobe, Melo, Odom and Gasol would have to be regarded as the best in the league. They would also have depth on the bench in Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Shannon Brown. Certainly lose a bit of height, so I would expect Smith, Ratliff and Caracter to be playing extended minutes to keep the starting bigs fresh. Matt Barnes can play the 4 at times too, as can Walton if he doesn't get traded.

would love it if he is traded to the Spurs we would be happy to part with Richard Jefferson but down side of things they would have to part with either or both George Hill or Dejuan Blair to get him and i dont think the spurs would trade Blair

would love it if he is traded to the Spurs we would be happy to part with Richard Jefferson but down side of things they would have to part with either or both George Hill or Dejuan Blair to get him and i dont think the spurs would trade Blair

I'm currently in California and the vibe I'm hearing from people who have "connections" is that the Lakers are very close to acquiring Melo. Kupchak apparently has been wheeling and dealing for a little while now trying to get this deal done, but the Lakers are trying to keep it quiet like they did with the Gasol trade a few years back. Apparently it will be along the lines of Drew and Walton/Artest.

Melo has to sign off on any trade and it's in Denver's best interests to trade him because he's as good as gone at the end of the season. Don't be surprised if Melo's in purple and gold sometime in the new year.

Although, digging around just now, found this from Mark Cuban:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/22/2722615/mark-cuban-no-truth-to-carmelo.html

Well, apparently the Mavs are willing.

No way would this happening, terrible trade for the Nuggets and why would Dallas do this when they're playing superb basketball right now. It probably makes their team worse as Butler is a top notch defender and Haywood a good value backup centre for them.

I understand they don't have to, but they could lose him for nothing then.

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The winner we recive the voucher at half time.