Why can't Melli be the other half of our PF tandem

[omahen]

What would he make in Europe?

Interesting question. Salaries in Europe are usually quoted in net values. So when it is said someone makes three millions, this is what he gets in his pocket. Besides, teams in Europe usually pay their players accomodation, provide a car and other small stuff. Salaries in Europe are usually not publicly disclosed and I wouldn't be surprised if some reach owner pays something on the side to their top players, especially in countries like Russia or Turkey, when successful. On the other hand, players have limited protection if things go wrong. Many cases when teams were not able to pay the wages and owe millions to their players. My estimation would be, he would be paid somewhere around 1,5 mil net in Europe. Perhaps 2 mil. This would be equal to some 4 mil gross in US. But of course NBA is NBA and Euroleague is a tier below. Like Dallas needs to pay more to get same players than LA. Some players prefer to be king of the hill, though...

Still, I stay with my claim. If Mavs are to be a contender, salaries will have to go to their top players. Guys so low in the rotation are vet min imho. Either Melli or someone else.

[soog]

Well done sir.  

I really wish we had more data on the whole Trey Lyle thing.  Was Lyle the first choice of the Mav's?  If so, that doesn't speak highly of their opinion of Melli.  Or, did they want Melli all along and for some reason N.O. wasn't willing to do that version of the deal until the deal was falling apart.  Given Melli's poor play in NO, that doesn't seem likely unless there were other aspects to an earlier proposal that got scrapped at the last second.

Looking forward, I have a hard time seeing Dallas giving him a $4.8mm QO unless they KNOW they are operating over the cap. If he proves to be desirable, the BAE might not be enough.  His original contract averaged $4.0mm and the BAE is only $3.7mm.  So, what is the path to keeping him?

That’s a great question.  I would trust others more than myself on a question of salary, but I’m optimistic he will pan out to be a good role player and that the Mavs will be able to retain him at or below his current salary.

For this we need to get into the things we don’t want to talk about... his NEGATIVES!!!

1) He hasn’t shown the ability to create his own shot.  While he’s skilled as a ball handler and shooter, I haven’t seen evidence of a quick first step, or the ability to hit clutch shots with a hand in his face.  His drives come only as the defense gives him opportunity and his shots are mostly in the rhythm of the game.  We’ve mentioned how he sort of disappears during the game, I think he needs to be on a team where the ball moves a lot to tap into his full value as a scorer and a facilitator.  I think that’s why he has had so much brief success next to Luka.  Heck I could see him struggling with our second group who don’t do nearly as good of a job moving the ball on offense. 
2) He’s not exceptionally athletic.  He’s not jumping over people, out running people, or juking them out of their shoes.  He’s a big body who can move well but primarily is in the right place at the right time.  and I would argue he does a lot with what God has given him (on defense on Tatum).
3) He is already 30.  There’s not a lot of upside on his development.  He is what he is at this point.
4) He has a track record of poor performance with NO that any GM has to take more seriously than a few games of success in Dallas.

As great as I think Nico is and as excited as I am about him, I think he is a “low ceiling” “role player” who needs the right system for him to thrive.  I just happen to think this is the sort of system he needs and we are in desperate need of that sort of player. But because of the shortcomings above, I don’t expect him to be hard to retain.  These shortcomings make him a “not great” or “bad” fit for many organizations like he was for NO.

Put my vote in the $10M/3 yrs column

[F Gump]

Put my vote in the $10M/3 yrs column

Like his game in general, he looks like he would be worth keeping, but he's very much a support player rather than a high-impact guy. Doesn't create, isn't a great defender, but he's more of a glue guy.

So I think this number is his UPPER limit, and probably too high. He'd be perfect as a RFA where you can wait and see what offers he gets, but that seems impractical since there's no way you want to offer the required $4.8M.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

1) I think he needs to be on a team where the ball moves a lot to tap into his full value as a scorer and a facilitator.  I think that’s why he has had so much brief success next to Luka.  Heck I could see him struggling with our second group who don’t do nearly as good of a job moving the ball on offense. 
2) He’s a big body who can move well but primarily is in the right place at the right time.  and I would argue he does a lot with what God has given him (on defense on Tatum).
3) He is already 30.  There’s not a lot of upside on his development.  He is what he is at this point.
4) He has a track record of poor performance with NO that any GM has to take more seriously than a few games of success in Dallas.

1. Melli gets to spots where he can get open, it's why Luka is finding him. And what's good about Melli is he does not hesitate to shoot, but from what we can see, his natural instinct is to move the ball and pass to a team mate who is on a better position to score. I am not expecting Melli to be score a lot, but he produces scoring opportunities for the team.
2. Melli from what I can see, is a very willing defender. Keeping in front of Tatum was impressive. The Randle and-one could have been a charge. From what I can see from all 3 games, Melli isn't a liability on defense.
3. Melli is what he is, that I would agree with. But IMHO, he isn't what he is right now. Melli might still be in the adjustment period, afterall, it's just his second year in the league. If and when he gets comfortable with Luka and the team, his productions will increase.
4. I like what I've seen from Melli. I haven't see many NO games, but Melli would thrive in Dallas more than NO.

[embellisher]

Melli for Dirkie?

[soog]

Another solid performance from Nico.

Stats against the Wizards

10 pts/8 rebs/3 asts/0 turnovers

100% on FGs and FTs
Only 4 shots taken
2nd on the team in rebounds
2nd on the team in assists
Led the team in +/- at +22
0 turnovers!!!

Continuing to build his case for best for.... I don’t even know what to call him.  Best unimpressive role player?  Sneaky “how’d he do all of that” player?  “He scored how much”player?

[embellisher]

I was texting a good friend of mine during the game about Melli. 

He said "Well we're only 5-15 on 3's through half and Luka is 1-5 on 3's but at least we're winning. Melli looks like a steal in the trade we made, I know JJ is supposed to be the big piece we picked up but Melli is ballin"

I told him Melli makes that trade lopsided in our favor, and he agreed. 

I also told him If Redick never plays one game or makes one three in a playoff game, still a good trade if Melli is for real. And If JJ comes back healthy and makes some threes that help us get in the playoffs or win a playoff game or two, it's a grand slam!

[soog]

I was texting a good friend of mine during the game about Melli. 

He said "Well we're only 5-15 on 3's through half and Luka is 1-5 on 3's but at least we're winning. Melli looks like a steal in the trade we made, I know JJ is supposed to be the big piece we picked up but Melli is ballin"

I told him Melli makes that trade lopsided in our favor, and he agreed. 

I also told him If Redick never plays one game or makes one three in a playoff game, still a good trade if Melli is for real. And If JJ comes back healthy and makes some threes that help us get in the playoffs or win a playoff game or two, it's a grand slam!

Not sure we can call it lopsided.  NO is probably saying the same thing right now.

J Johnson’s avg over the last two games:
16.5 pts/3.5 rebs/4 asts/1.5 stls/1 block

That’s shooting over 50% from FG and over 60% from deep.  I’d say with fairly high certainty He doesn’t keep that up, but I bet their fan base is saying the same thing about Nico.

I’d love for it to be a win-win, more for Johnson’s sake than NO.- I really liked Johnson while he was here.

[StepBackJay]

Melli is such a good fit its exciting bc he is the role that we didn't have which is a Maxi-backup. He does sort of Maxi things and could be brought back at a low cost.

Man I can only imagine if Rick have Melli instead of Justin Jackson last year when we were low on bigs. Having Justin Jackson out there playing PF for large stretches was so brutal, I was tearing my hair out.

Melli is a guy that is the type of stretch big, versatile guy that can be somewhere on your bench.

James Johnson has an interesting skillset, particularly his ability to handle the ball but it just wasn't working in this system. He was sort of a chaos agent that was sometimes good, sometimes terrible. I like Melli as a much better fit and can see him sticking around.

[F Gump]

James Johnson has an interesting skillset, particularly his ability to handle the ball but it just wasn't working in this system. He was sort of a chaos agent that was sometimes good, sometimes terrible. I like Melli as a much better fit and can see him sticking around.

"Chaos agent" ....I like that description for Johnson. 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out for the Pels once NO is playing its top talent again.

[Kammrath]

In five games:

DRating WITH Melli: 86.0 

DRating WITHOUT Melli: 112.6 

Net DRating: +26.6

I think I have seen enough to say that Melli is easily one of the Mavs best three defenders and would lean to saying he is the best. If I needed a stop I might ask him to be the guy to get it. I have been so impressed with his feet and tenacity on D.

[Kammrath]

[StepBackJay]

Melli is awesome. Mavs who switching scheme works well with him out there. Bojan got the best of him a few times but that's just Bojan being a great offensive basketball player.

I worry that Melli's shooting confidence is just toast. He really needs a 3 to go in. His form looks fine but the balls aren't going in. I hope he keeps shooting because you see what happens if one doesn't go in the other team eventually just leaves you wide open and Rick has to take you off the floor.

It might not be until next season his shot comes back around but that's fine. This dude is going to be on the Mavs next year.

[cow]

In five games:

DRating WITH Melli: 86.0 

DRating WITHOUT Melli: 112.6 

Net DRating: +26.6

I think I have seen enough to say that Melli is easily one of the Mavs best three defenders and would lean to saying he is the best. If I needed a stop I might ask him to be the guy to get it. I have been so impressed with his feet and tenacity on D.

I love how aggressive he is rebounding.  Please teach the rest of the team your ways.

[F Gump]

Melli is awesome. Mavs who switching scheme works well with him out there. Bojan got the best of him a few times but that's just Bojan being a great offensive basketball player.

I worry that Melli's shooting confidence is just toast. He really needs a 3 to go in. His form looks fine but the balls aren't going in. I hope he keeps shooting because you see what happens if one doesn't go in the other team eventually just leaves you wide open and Rick has to take you off the floor.

It might not be until next season his shot comes back around but that's fine. This dude is going to be on the Mavs next year.

Different position, but a good comp as to potential type of role and value for the Mavs: Deshawn Stevenson.

[StepBackJay]

Different position, but a good comp as to potential type of role and value for the Mavs: Deshawn Stevenson.

Ya I just think Melli is a glue guy and you need those guys. It's easy to overlook players that just glue the rotations together but you find the right guy and they make a big difference.

[cow]

Ya I just think Melli is a glue guy and you need those guys. It's easy to overlook players that just glue the rotations together but you find the right guy and they make a big difference.

He's just a smart basketball player, but if he doesn't start hitting shots it will be difficult to give him burn in the playoffs.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/NikMelli/status/1379263926613983238

[MFFL]

I think Melli read this thread. He got out of control on offense in the 4th and Carlisle had to bench him

[Hypermav]