Melo to say Hello to Free Agency?

It is yet unclear as to where Carmelo Anthony will be playing next year.

He came to New York with the hope that he could win his first NBA championship, but Carmelo Anthony's contract is expiring this summer, and he hasn't got anywhere near a ring.

In fact during his 4 seasons at the Knicks, they haven't got past the first round of the play-offs. So it's no surprise that Melo has been rumoured to be weighing up his options in the free agency this summer, with plenty of potential suitors queuing up to sign him. Carmelo is likely to undertake a similar process to the one Dwight Howard took last year and test the free-market by meeting with different teams throughout the off-season.

Two teams are already allegedly on the list, his current club the New York Knicks (more on them later) and the Chicago Bulls. Joining the Bulls is an enticing offer for both sides, on paper at least. Melo isn't renowned for playing great defence and the Bulls aren't the most attacking side in the world. Tom Thibodeau (head coach of the Chicago Bulls) could help work on Carmelo's defence, and in return Anthony could easily drop 25 points a night, a figure that would propel the Bulls' record through the roof. The thought of a Rose-Butler-Anthony-Gibson-Noah starting 5 with players like Nikola Mirotic, whom the Bulls' are likely to buy the rights to, and D.J Augustin coming off the bench would send any Bulls fan into a frenzy, and with Tom Thibodeau at the helm, the team look like they could be genuine title contenders.

There are also whispers that a return to Denver could be on the cards for Carmelo. This could prove to be an exciting decision, with the Nuggets having plenty of young talent on their roster, such as big men JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried. Adding Carmelo Anthony to that set-up could give them that bit of consistency that the Nuggets sometimes lacked this year. But unfortunately, it is a move that is very unlikely to happen. The Nuggets have absolutely no cap space, and are not likely to trade young players away in the hope that Melo will rejoin them, for a few more years before retirement.

The Lakers are another team who have been rumoured to be interested in acquiring Carmelo's services. This may not come as a surprise as they seem to be linked to every free agent on the market, but this deal looks like it is more likely to materialise. Kobe Bryant and Anthony are rumoured to be close friends, after playing together in the past 2 Olympics games (winning gold medals in both events). Kobe recently offered advice to Anthony (on the assumption that Carmelo would stay in New York), saying that although Madison Square Garden is the "Mecca of basketball" he should let the Knicks know that he won't tolerate being in a team that isn't contending for an NBA championship. If Melo did move to L.A., it would be interesting to see how the Bryant-Anthony partnership would work. Both players are known for their, sometimes "selfish", shooting form, and it is yet to be seen how well they could work together. An alternative view point is that Melo could be seen as a replacement for Kobe, who is now in twilight years of his career. Despite the Lakers being a prestigious franchise to play for, it's unlikely that Melo will end up there.

A more believable option would be for Melo to move to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have had a good campaign, claiming their best record for 6 seasons. And with superstars James Harden and Dwight Howard already at the team, the parts are all there for a title-contending team. The trade proposed by most sources will send Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to the Knicks. This deal works well with both teams. The Knicks regain Lin, which will help their struggling backcourt, and get Asik, who is desperate to get out of Houston. This trade seems almost too perfect, and is seen as a brilliant move by NBA legend Oscar Robertson. He said "If he (Anthony) goes to Houston, they're gonna win everything." Indeed, it could turn the Rockets into a dynasty, especially with young guys like Terrence Jones and Patrick Beverley developing, providing much hope for the future.

Of course, there's always the option of staying in the Big Apple, a choice looking more likely with the latest additions to the backroom staff. They've hired a new President, with Phil Jackson joining the club. Jackson is a known winner, winning 13 rings as a player and a coach and could be a pivotal factor in getting the best out of under-performing players, which the Knicks have plenty of at the minute (Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith, the list goes on). However, there are still uncertainties as to who will take the coaching role, with Jackson's first choice, Steve Kerr, being snapped up by the Golden State Warriors earlier in the month. The Knicks will be able to spend more freely in the next post-season, when players such as Kevin Love, Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge are available, but the question is whether 'Melo will want to wait until then?

Whether he stays or goes, Melo will always be remembered for his incredible scoring form. Sources close to him say that he's going to take his time to think about moving, but will have to persuade his family, who are very much settled in New York. As a player, he will want to win rings, and at the moment, it doesn't look like that's achievable with the Knicks. 

What's Wrong with Roy Hibbert?

During the regular season, Roy Hibbert was one of the most dominating players at his position. He contended for the Defensive Player of the Year award all year (eventually finishing 2nd) and he helped the Pacers to the best record in the East.

But recently he hasn't looked like his usual self. The skills that make him one of the most formidable centers in the league seem to have evaporated. This slide started to take its toll on him earlier in the season, but now, in the play-offs, it has taken a turn for the worse.

Hibbert looks like a changed man in the play-offs... And the change isn't a good one

A quick look at his stats summarises the problem quite neatly. His minutes may have decreased by about 6 minutes per game compared to the regular season, but the rest of his stats have spiralled downwards by a greater extent. He's only grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game, a number that is beaten by Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (to name one of many). This fact is only made worse by the height difference between the guys, which currently stands at 9 inches (Stephenson standing at 6'5", Hibbert at 7'2"). He's also only scoring 4.8 points per game on 31% shooting. Hibbert was never a fantastic attribute to any team on the offensive end of the court, but these numbers are poor for any starter in the NBA. It was also announced recently that Hibbert has the worst Player Effiency Rating (PER) of any player to play in the All-Star game in the same season. The previous record stood at 5.3, set by Larry Costello in the 1965 playoffs. Hibbert reduced that number... To 0.8.

One statistic that Hibbert could always pride himself on was the amount blocks he made. He was 4th in the league this season, averaging 2.5 blocks every game. In the post-season, this number has dwindled to 0.6. The more worrying number that can be taken from the box score is that Roy Hibbert gets blocked 1.6 times a game (including one big block by Kyle Korver in Game 1). Opposing players seem to have lost the fear factor that was once held against him. When he swatting shots left, right and centre, players were afraid to come in the paint, in fear of being rejected. But now, due to his poor form, players are starting to attack the basket, and converting easy lay-ups and bank shots. As well as losing some of his presence, some of his leadership qualities seem to have vanished. Part of the job description for being a center is you have to be loud and direct your players. As the team's form went downhill, so did Hibbert's dominance, an effect that is only amplified by a squad as fractured as Indiana's (more on that later).

Roy Hibbert beat Larry Costello's (above) record for lowest post-season PER for an All-Star. The record stood for nearly 50 years.

Some sympathy has to be offered to Frank Vogel, head coach of the Indiana Pacers. He can't exactly go to his back-up plan, as that happens to be Andrew Bynum, who isn't exactly known as the personification of reliability. Bynum is currently out with knee soreness, and is unlikely to return before the end of the season. Vogel also has Ian Mahinmi at his disposal, but the Frenchman has failed to impress in his 6 seasons in the NBA, so is likely to stay on the bench. Two more options available to Vogel come in the form of Luis Scola and David West. Either West could slide down to the 5 position, or he could keep his preferred power forward position and play Scola at center. This, however, would leave the Pacers with a distinct lack of height, as both West and Scola stand at 6'9". All of these tactics are risky at any time of the season, never mind when you are trailing in game 6 of the play-offs, but this won't put Vogel off. When asked if he was going to consider changing his starting 5 ahead of the game, he replied "I'd consider everything at this point".

It's not exactly like Hibbert's facing up against the best players in the league (no disrespect to the Hawks' roster). The Hawks are the 8th seed for a reason. Their starting center is Pero Antic, a man who is only averaging 7 points per game and 4 boards himself. Drop down to the Hawks' bench and you'll find players such as Elton Brand and Mike Muscala. Brand is in the twilight years of his career, so his effect is limited to coming off the bench for 15-17 minutes a game. Muscala has only played in one post-season game this year, and even then, he only made a fleeting 5 minute appearance.

Frank Vogel has had a tough job on his hands considering the expectations placed upon the fairly inexperienced coach.

All in all, Roy Hibbert seems to be the epitome of the Pacers' problems this season. They haven't had the dominant season that everybody thought they were going to have. They coasted the last half of the season, knowing that a top two play-off berth in the East was guaranteed (barring a miracle run from one of the lower teams in the conference, such as the Bulls or Nets). Towards the tail end of this season, their campaign seemed to go off the rails a bit. There have been reports of training fights, the most recent one being between Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner. Frank Vogel, a coach in only his 4th season in the NBA must be finding it hard to control all those egos, whilst being expected to at least win the Eastern conference finals. All of these problems have mounted up, and with Roy Hibbert under-performing the most, he is the perfect scape goat to pin all the blame on.