Fans forget that one of the reasons Melo landed here was because of the presence of Stats. Loyalty aside, buying him out doesn't make much sense. I get freeing up the cap space but there is not an abundance of dominate big men out there waiting to be signed.
Playing Melo at the PF position was a bad idea.
Sure it worked for a lot of games during the regular season, but Melo is not a post up player. Nether is Chandler. This is where a healthy Amare can be particularly useful. Maybe Amare is finished, but we should allow him one injury free season to see if the experiment works. As long as Melo isn't jacking up 40 shots per game there's no reason that they can't play together since Chandler doesn't need the ball to be effective, as long as he's not paying against a much younger and more athletic center.
I'm beginning to question Woody's judgement.
Good coach, no doubt. He bought the team further than we've been in 13 years. But giving the keys to JR is something that I don't get. Again, like letting Melo run wild at the PF position, it worked and the Knicks made a nice run out of it. But just because you can rob banks and get rich doesn't make it a good idea. One of Melo's gifts is he's an oversized small forward. Putting him up against larger, stronger PFs regularly took its toll.
I love the addition of Martin. Get him, Chandler and Shumpert on the floor at once seems like a great move defensively. JR reminds me of Jamal Crawford. Great shooter that sometimes makes poor decisions. If his time is limited he can be very effective. But you don't give him 34 mins per game and let him go 5 for 17. Woody should have pulled him after his 8th or 10th miss in a row.