[OhCanada-Participant]

 So with this trade to the Thunder Melo will be playing with two players that had extremely high usage ratings last year. George seems like he has the perfect skillset to play on or off the ball and is extremely versatile however Westbrook is as ball dominant a player as the NBA has ever seen. Also the Thunder dont have much depth but what depth they do have is at the forward position with George, Roberson, Patterson, Grant and even possibly Huestis which may limit his minutes however dont rule out Patterson playing small ball center to matchup with the Draymond Green types.

With that being said Melo is one of the most consistant players in NBA history and does demand respect from his peers despite being shunned by the media and fans. How will this season turn out for him?

OVER OR UNDER 32 minutes per game?

-Career low 34.1 minutes per game age 27

OVER OR UNDER 20-ppg?

-Career low 21.0 ppg in his rookie season

-Scored 21.8 2 seasons ago at age 31

-Scored 22.4 last season

OVER OR UNDER 6.0 rebounds per game?

-2nd year averaged 5.7 rebounds

-3rd year averaged 4.9 rebounds

-Last year averaged 5.9 rebounds

-Every other season averaged above 6 rebounds

-Career average 6.6

OVER OR UNDER 45% FG

-Career average 45%

-Last two seasons 43%

-Never played with a true facilitator like Westbrook (Iverson was shoot first)

-Never played with two legit stars (may help efeciency)

OVER OR UNDER 38% 3PT

-Only shot above 38% once in his career

-Career 35% 3PT

-Has improved shooting as career progressed

OVER OR UNDER 3.0 assists per game

-Career 3.1 assists per game

-Very consistant averaging near 3.0 assists per game whole career

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Miko4rm206Participant]

 I think people are putting to much thought into "Westbrook being Ball dominant" He did what he had to do to keep the Thunder respectable after Durant left unexpectedly. The thunders lineup was suppose to Be:

Westbrook, Olidipo, KD, Sabonis and Adams while Kanter as the 6th man. Ibaka was replaced by Adams emergence as a Paintprotector and Sabonis ability to stretch the floor. If Westbrook didn’t play the way that he Did the thunder wouldn’t even have made the Playoffs! Every time he subbed out the thunder looked horrible and Lost.

Judging By today’s confereence. All 3 players Westbrook, Pg13 and Melo have the same goal. And that’s to win a championship. Melo already said he is more than willing to play the 4. Other than Porzingis or Ad I don’t see him being that much as a Liability at the 4 Espcially with Adams backing him up.

Statline predictions

Westbrook 25.5 pts 11.5 ast 8rebs

PG13 24pts 7rebs 4ast

Melo 21 pts 6.5 rebs 4ast 47%fg 38%3pt

Other than Steven Adams maybe Patrick Patterson the thunder won’t have anybody else that will avg double figures. Ferguson, Abrines and Trey Burke will be limited. Its not Grant or Robersons role to score. It will be interesting to see What Dakari Johnson’s role will be now that they will be thin upfront.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jerb2011Participant]

with Isaiah Canaan. The Burke deal fell through and now they added Caanan.

I think Abrines will be an X Facter this year with his shooting and ability to ability to play both sides of the PnR. I think he’ll have a really strong bench role. He added 30lbs this off season. 

If Steven has improved his post game, which should be better with the paint to himself finally, they will be hard to beat! In a Russ, Robes, PG, Melo, Adams starting line up, they have 3 defenders (Adams, PG, and Robes)  and 3 scorers (Russ, PG, and Melo)!

They match up the best against any team, just need to commit to Defense first! That will help create easy offense as they build chemistry. 

Russ       Roberson   George    Carmelo     Adams

Caanan   Abrines      Grant      Patterson    Johnson

Felton     Ferguson   Singler    Collision

If Presti can turn Kyle Singler into a Lavoy Allen or some other PF/C big, then he will have built a sure fire contender over the off season!

 

 

  

 

 

[Miko4rm206Participant]

 That sucks. Was looking forward to see Trey Burke leading that 2nd unit. Never really liked Canaan. 

Couldn’t agree more about Steven Adams. With all the spacing, he will be that much more of a Tough assignment in the post. 1 on 1 offensively and crashing boards. Still. being able to step out and contest guards Defensively.

But what gets me more excited is all the different Lineups and versatility they can toss out from the 2-4. PG13, Melo, Roberson, Abrines, Grant and Patterson. Donovan can stagger the minutes to always either Feature Melo or Pg13. 

 

 

 

 

[cohenbc1Participant]

Exactly 32 mpg.

Under on points.

Under on rebounds.

Over on FG %.

Under on 3-pt. %.

Over on assists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 For Carmelo to be effective with the thunder he is going to have to do it primarily playing off the ball, something he has never really done in his NBA career but has shown he can do in Olympic play in the past. The isolation plays where he hijacks possessions will likely be kept to a minimum. Most of his scoring opportunities will probably come off of open looks out of drive and kicks or transition. He will likely score less than he has in the past but the key will be to do it more efficiently. With the attention that defenses will pay to George and Westbrook, I think he should aim to shoot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3. And he is also going to be a more engaged defender than he has been at any point in his career, particularly since he won’t have to carry as much of the offensive load. If he is going to play the 4 primarily, teams are going to attack him in 1-4 pick and rolls with Westbrook.

[HitsterParticipant]

It will be interesting to see what sort of numbers PG13 puts up. He had his best scoring year last season at 23.7ppg and that was as the Pacers focal point. At OKC he’ll be the 2nd option along with Melo behind Westbrook MVP but whereby at Pacers he was probably double teamed, here he’ll have more freedom as the opposition will have to watch Russ, Melo etc.

So I could see PG13 getting 23-25ppg this season.

Melo I think will be motivated and this is the best partners he has ever had in the NBA. He played alongside AI but that didn’t quite work out. He has been out of the play offs for 4 years and he’ll want to show the Knicks that they were wrong to discard him. He has upped his game with Team USA so I could see him doing it for OKC too.

Melo can play with a bit of freedom, he won’t be the go to guy and this will take pressure off him.

I think that he’ll get 22 to 23ppg but his scoring will be very effective and his shooting percentages may well rise.

Adams as said above will benefit from the big 3 and will get fed some easy baskets by them to keep him ticking over.

[Author]

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