Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 8:00 am  |  200 responses

Top 50: Carmelo Anthony, no. 6

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Myles Brown / @mdotbrown

Let me ask you something. Had Carmelo Anthony decided to take his talents to South Beach this summer rather than LeBron James, would there have been a similar outcry?

Probably not. Right?

Granted, the circumstances are different, Melo wasn’t playing for his hometown and certainly doesn’t have the cache to commandeer an entire network, but both of those are reflections of a larger issue.

Expectations.Carmelo Anthony

Plainly put, most folks don’t believe Melo is capable of the same things as LeBron or Dwyane Wade. ‘Capable of what?’ you might ask. ‘He’s arguably the most complete scorer in the league, one of its most clutch players and as recently as two years ago was two games away from a Finals appearance.’ All of which is true, but considering their athleticism, playmaking abilities, productivity and overall success, ultimately you’d concede that James and Wade are the better players.

Melo would probably be fine with that. As he should be. There’s 300+ other guys keeping him company in that category. What he does take issue with, however, is the increasing volume and frequency of folks questioning whether he’s even a franchise player.

By definition every team in the NBA has a ‘best’ player, a talent that distinguishes himself from his peers and whether by merit or sheer necessity becomes the units focal point and de facto leader. But a franchise player is one who not only distinguishes himself from his peers, he separates himself from practically every other teams best player by exhibiting the talent, aptitude and character needed to lead his mates on a championship run. Not every team has a franchise player.

Has Carmelo Anthony displayed the skill and will to be held in such regard? The Denver Nuggets think so. Problem is, Carmelo Anthony doesn’t want to be a Denver Nugget, presumably because he doesn’t like their chances of winning.

Now this could be attributed to instability in the Rocky Mountain state and the recent happenings in South Beach, but at what point does Melo have to assume responsibility? Sure, he can put the ball in the basket, but can he do so more efficiently? Furthermore, what about the opposite end of the court, you know where the other guy gets to shoot? Does he take defense as seriously as scoring? Yeah, his rebounding has improved, but couldn’t it be better? And yes, it’s questionable if the characters currently under contract in Denver can even be led, but ask yourself this too: Has Melo done enough to lead them?

Regardless, Melo doesn’t necessarily owe Denver any more than what he’s already given and this final year of his contract. However, the more important question is whether this newfound desire to ply his trade elsewhere is a matter of competitive spirit or mere convenience. In other words, does he want a team where he can improve or one that will mask his deficiencies? If not Denver, where can a volume scorer, poor defender, underwhelming boardsman and passive leader succeed?

I honestly don’t mean to harp on the mans shortcomings, but when discussing the leagues top ten players it’s no longer a matter of what one can do as much as what one can’t.

In this profession greatness is solely defined through continually meeting and raising expectations. Another trip to the Conference Finals isn’t guaranteed and Syracuse seems like decades ago. We’ve begun to lower our expectations of Carmelo Anthony. Of course this doesn’t matter nearly as much as what he expects of himself, which we’ll find out soon enough. Only then will any other answers become clear.

Now if you’re asking me anyway, I’d have to say no. Melo isn’t a franchise player. Then again, only five guys are. What he is, however, is the sixth best player in the NBA.

That’s still pretty great.

SLAMonline TOP 50 PLAYERS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
Player Team Position 2010 2009 2010 2009
Ray Allen Celtics SG 50 36 10 9
Gilbert Arenas Wizards SG 49 34 9 8
Lamar Odom Lakers PF 48 33 14 10
John Wall Wizards PG 47 NR 13 NR
OJ Mayo Grizzlies SG 46 46 8 12
Al Horford Hawks C 45 NR 6 NR
Jason Kidd Mavs PG 44 45 12 10
Joakim Noah Bulls C 43 NR 5 NR
LaMarcus Aldridge Blazers PF 42 39 13 12
David West Hornets PF 41 31 12 8
Monta Ellis Warriors SG 40 NR 7 NR
Andrew Bogut Bucks C 39 NR 4 NR
Yao Ming Rockets C 38 NR 3 NR
Brandon Jennings Bucks PG 37 NR 11 NR
Zach Randolph Grizzlies PF 36 NR 11 NR
Stephen Curry Warriors PG 35 NR 10 NR
David Lee Warriors PF 34 NR 10 NR
Brook Lopez Nets C 33 NR 2 NR
Gerald Wallace Bobcats SF 32 NR 7 NR
Manu Ginobili Spurs SG 31 29 6 7
Tony Parker Spurs PG 30 15 9 3
Kevin Garnett Celtics PF 29 13 9 3
Rudy Gay Grizzlies SF 28 44 6 9
Josh Smith Hawks PF 27 40 8 13
Andre Iguodala 76ers SG 26 26 5 6
Al Jefferson Jazz PF 25 23 7 7
Russell Westbrook Thunder PG 24 NR 8 NR
Chauncey Billups Nuggets PG 23 19 7 5
Tyreke Evans Kings PG 22 NR 6 NR
Danny Granger Pacers SF 21 21 5 5
Carlos Boozer Bulls PF 20 32 6 9
Paul Pierce Celtics SF 19 17 4 4
Joe Johnson Hawks SG 18 20 4 4
Rajon Rondo Celtics PG 17 27 5 8
Amar’e Stoudemire Knicks PF 16 16 5 6
Steve Nash Suns PG 15 22 4 6
Tim Duncan Spurs PF 14 6 4 1
Chris Bosh Heat PF 13 13 3 4
Derrick Rose Bulls PG 12 18 3 4
Brandon Roy Blazers SG 11 10 3 3
Pau Gasol Lakers PF 10 14 2 5
Dirk Nowiztki Mavs PF 9 9 1 2
Deron Williams Jazz PG 8 11 2 2
Chris Paul Hornets PG 7 4 1 1
Carmelo Anthony Nuggets SF 6 7 3 2

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’10-11 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Jeremy Bauman, Maurice Bobb, Erildas Budraitis, Sean Ceglinsky, Ben Collins, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Manny Maduakolam, Eddie Maisonet, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Charles Peach, Branden Peters, Quinn Peterson, David Schnur, Todd Spehr, Kyle Stack, Adam Sweeney, Dennis Tarwood, Tracy Weissenberg, Lang Whitaker, Eric Woodyard, and Nima Zarrabi.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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  • PlanetAsia14

    5. Dwight Howard
    4. LeBron James
    3. Dwyane Wade
    2. Kevin Durant
    1. KOBE BRYANT

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    M cho, and what has kobes attitude and body language been when his team struggled?

  • ezra

    wow dwight howard and carmelo are not better than chris paul!! neither of them could carry a franchise the way paul does, look at the help each of them get and they still have never won

  • BRAVO

    5 DWIGHT HOWARD
    4 DWAYNE WADE
    3 KEVIN DURANT
    2 LEBRON JAMES
    1 KING KOBE BRYANT!

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    This spots good. Melo is 27 turning 28 if I’m not mistaken so likely we will not see much improvement from him as a player. He might fight for the scoring title but he isn’t even a double double threat, and won’t push a team to conference championship contender on his own. The rest of the guys on this list are. Wade Howard Bryant James Durant (who is far more efficient and a better defender).

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

    Bulls missed their chance with this one. Have fun with your Noah, though. I hear she’s pretty great.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @Anton: Meh…

  • Harrell

    @nbk Melo is 26 also KD is about the same type of guy, high volume scorer I have yet to see any true surges of anythng else.

  • http://www.stonesthrow.com Michael NZ

    Screwed up ranking. Should be 9th or 10th. SLAM bias, hey now!

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Carmelo Anthony’s player efficiency rating LAST SEASON was 60th. Kevin Durant was 3rd. Durant shoots a better % from EVEYWHERE. Rebounds better, and was actually 5th in defensive win shares. There is not one metric that says carmelo anthony is a better player. Whether you believe in advanced statistics or statistics in general, it has to say something when a guy (carmelo) is worse in every category important to a small forward. (Melo is only better in terms of assists)

  • Michael Whyte

    It is utterly absurd to put Kevin Durant at number 1 people. The guy scored really well last year. Failed in the playoffs, cannot defend, cannot effectively get his team mates involved, and fails to improve guys around him. He could be something special, but i rank 3-4 others before him. A breakout scoring year. The guy is getting too much kudos for being a nice guy. Other than that he isn’t there yet, even he admits (check his twitter). For arguements sake my list is
    1. Kobe (the guy below is coming for you mamba)
    2. Lebron (any lower and you are kidding yourselves)
    3. D.Wade
    4. Chris Paul (a healthy CP is legit)
    5. Dwight (i’m not the biggest fan of his game but his defense puts him so high on this list)
    6. Durant/Dirk/Melo (who knows)

    This list will be fun in a few years. Watch for Blake G and John W this year yewwwwww

  • http://slamonline.com SpaceJam

    Melo and KD are about the same. This spot is not justified. He should be above Howard but below CP3. He is arguably the scorer in the league and a good rebounder @ the 3. He is not as bad a defender as people make him out to be, killer in the clutch, and a good passer. Unlike LeBron, he doesn’t need to get 9 assist per game b/c he has Billups. How many pg actually get over 3 assist per game. His job is to score and help win games, he does that almost better than anybody.

  • http://slamonline.com SpaceJam

    ^^ Got it right. I probably put durant over dwight though. Can’t go wrong with either.

  • Byebye

    Durant is a good player but he not in the top 5 players in the league jus cuz he won the world championship in turkey the foreign teams didn’t have there top players so to anoint him the best ever is premature at this stage in his Career don’t get me wrong he is silky smooth but that don’t make a hall of famer he fraile he cud end his playing days today

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

    I got nothin, B. Slow news day.

  • Michael Whyte

    cosign byebye!

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Durant and Westbrook did take the back to back champs to 6 games, in his first playoff series. He is 5 years younger then Carmelo, and his future is not in question, leaving only production and winning to worry about. Melo has a lot on his plate this season, like mainly where his address will be in 8 months, so its pretty understandable to think he will not be as effective as a guy who was more effective then him last season. smh

  • Ryan.T.

    Dwight Howard better then MELO?!?! Fuhhh That!!

  • http://solefoodu.com Shai E.

    Easy 1-5

    5. Kobe – Team doesnt need him as much as before.
    4. Dwight Howard – Anchor of the Orlando Magic
    3. Wade – Partner in Crime to LBJ
    2. Lebron James – Batman or Robin doesnt matter Triple Double Everynight is possible.
    1. Kevin Durant – TOP SCORER, KING ZEUS

  • Michael Whyte

    @Shai E. without kobe lakers dont win championship. kobe is by no means my favourite player, but damn ranking him 5 is STUPID

  • The Fresh Prince of Nsam

    I actually liked the write-up, don’t care much about Melo though…

  • http://Www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    You talk about melo doesn’t have leadership lebron doesn’t either he ran over there with wade to ask him for help. And if you really watch melo instead of looking at stats or listening to what other people say you would see that he does get double teamed everyone he touches the ball. He doesn’t use screens to get a big man or a weaker defender on him. He goes at whoever thinks they can guard him. And you talk about melo defense lebron doesn’t play good d. Yea he might get a few chase down blocks but as far as guarding his man he doesn’t do a job

  • JTaylor21

    Myles PLEASE stop. Your non-basketball knowledge is just stinking up the world wide web. Bron doesn’t play good D??????????? He only gets chase down blocks??????????? Are you sure you write for a basketball mag, that has to be the WORST comment ever by far from any of slam writers. Congrats that comment would be added onto the Slam Wall of Shame along side others like JamestheBroad and eboyhater.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Myles what in the world that comment is crazy. Are you mad about something? There is no way in the world you could say LeBron is comparable to Melo on defense. LeBron just absolutely locked paul pierce in a coffin not more then 5 months ago, and everyone knows Carmelo is a below-par defender. And how a player goes about scoring does not make him better then anyone else, the fact that melo just goes at everyone can be seen as a negative as much as it can be a positive. It can also be attributed to why he is so inefficient, and prone to getting into scoring contests, rather then championship races.

  • BBaller

    Once again , for next year please SLAM, can you do a list by position. Chris Paul is a better PG than DHoward and Melo, DHoward is a better Center than CP3 or Melo and you guessed it Melo is a better forward than either of those two. Saying CP# is better than Howard is a waste of time.If Howard is the best Center in the NBA then of course he belongs in a top 5 conversation.Whats happened to the league if a center is not.Melo is the 2nd or 3rd best small forward in the league, the only worthy comparison to make!

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    1. The comment above is not me. Theres something wrong with the comments where occasionally someone elses name will appear above your post. Youve been around here long enough to know that.

    2. Theres no such thing as “non-knowledge” you idiot.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    JTaylor you seriously need to focus on the basketball side of everything rather then trying to talk isht to people. your obnoxious and it is annoying

  • bashmo

    To those people wondering if, in fact carmelo is a franchise player, he is most definitely so. He has been there number 1 scoring option since draft day 03..and had led them to the WCF in 2009. He is a complete scorer, and while may lack defensive ability, is definitely better than durant offensively.

    Man, Melo should be easily in the top 5..Dwight Howard in the top 5? Ask yourself, is Dwight better than CP3, Deron Williams, or even Pau Gasol? I am a magic fan, their my favourite team in fact, but Howards offensive abilty is beyond sub-par, and his defensive ability does not make up for his lack of post moves and footwork. My Top 5:

    Kobe
    Lebron
    Wade
    Melo
    Dirk

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    gotcha myles my bad. i thought you lost your marbles

  • BBaller

    What i mean by a top 5 conversation, when you are talking with someone new about current BBall, and who arethe first five names you talk about, Howard, Lebron, Kobe,Wade should all come up.If not, those people don’t regard Defense as important.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Chauncee Billups led that Nuggets team to the WCF. That’s all everyone talked about from december to the end of the season, how he changed the culture in denver, and was leading the team in a way Iverson and Melo couldn’t

  • JTaylor21

    I said non-basketball as in you must have being talking about something other than basketball. Now who’s the IDIOT???

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    That still doesnt make any sense. So, yes, youre still the idiot.

  • BBaller

    @Myles, i know you are not me.Or did i just happen to precede your comment?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    He’s here to argue – about anything and everything. Where you got Melo finishing the year Myles?

  • http://www.michaelcho.com M Cho

    @Tarzan Cooper: I wouldn’t know — I rarely watch Lakers games unless they’re playing a team I support. I’m about as big a Kobe hater as they come, dude.

  • JTaylor21

    Speaking of idiots uhmmm remember apostrophes are your friends and NO I’m not talking about Peter, James or John.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    No clue, dude. Just happens every so often. As for Melo, if youre asking for a ranking, Id say 8 or so. Its hard to say what hell do considering he might get traded at any minute. And if he goes to New Jersey or somewhere similar, his stats may go up but that doesnt necessarily mean he got any better.

  • JTaylor21

    Speaking of morons, remember apostrophes are your friends and NO I’m not talking about Matthew, Peter, James or John.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    my fault myles, what team you have him finishing the year on?

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    Oh. No clue about that either. He has very little control in the situation and theres no telling what Denver will do. Id like to see him in a better situation like Chicago, but I understand their reluctance to part with Noah. The Knicks are just a pipe dream, in my opinion and Jersey doesnt have much to give either. Honestly the best roster available for Melo is also the worst team to play for. The Clippers. As long as they keep Griffin and Kaman, theyd be good.

  • Hype

    There is no way that Dwight Howard is better than Carmelo Anthony..and frankly, Durant isnt better than Melo, or CP3 either. This Durant Hype is getting out of hand. This guy has ONE great season, and a playoff exit, and we are christening him as the player carrying the NBA torch for the next 10yrs, when Lebron and Melo are only 4yrs older than him.

    If you look at melo’s career. He avgd 29ppg 6rb 4apg and shot almost 48% from the field and had a first round exit when he was like 22. Same exact thing durant did and he gets thrown in the realm of being a top 3 player. Durant is not better than Melo or cp3. People love to talk about how melo doesnt avg like 7ast per game..and thats because he doesnt need to do that. Hes a prototypical small forward. If u watch a nuggets game, u will see how well melo passes, and he often gets hockey assist, which dont show up in the stat column. A correct ranking of the top 10 players should go as follows:

    1. Kobe
    2. Lebron
    3. Dwade
    4. Melo
    5. Chris Paul
    6. Dirk
    7. Durant
    8. Dwill
    9. Dwight
    10.Nash

  • http://www.michaelcho.com M Cho

    JTaylor: I think you’re mistaking “apostrophe” and “apostle”. I’m correcting you gently because I’m still cracking up over it.

  • http://www.stonesthrow.com Michael NZ

    JTaylor: single handedly bringing down the SLAM comments section IQ since, I dunno, a few months ago.

  • http://Slamonline.com Caboose

    JTaylor is the Glenn Beck of Slamonline. If you make any well reasoned point against him, he’ll simply attack you personally. Oh, Kevin Durant had a higher PER than Melo? Uhh, well, you’re stupid and wrong and gay! Get this dude off the site.

  • http://Slamonline.com Caboose

    And Myles, I still think that Orlando is the best fit for Melo if the Magic keep Jameer and Dwight.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    @ Myles. I’ve been suggesting that he could be best at Clippers too. But, they’ve got to give Kaman. Here’s my idea of that. Clippers get Melo + filler (possibly Afflalo or birdman). Nuggets get Kaman and Gordon. Nuggets stay competing for a West spot and Clips got a better chance in getting a spot too. Melo have solid partners in B.diddy and Griffin(he’s legit) and Nuggets have a all-star durable big in Kaman and a future star in Gordon (he’s better than JR.). Not to mention Melo is goin to a big market city. The only hole is if Melo is interested in extension. Maybe the Clips give too much? What’s your take on this?

  • Furious

    I’d almost be willing to trade out JTaylor for the Greek guy. That’s how bad it’s become.

  • http://Slamonline.com Caboose

    Cosign Furious

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    @ Caboose. Idk ’bout orlando. If they have to keep Dwight and Jameer which they will, they have to unload at least Rashard which the Nuggets don’t want any part of. VC? the same. That means they are left to trade role guys (Reddick, Pietrus, Q-Rich, etc.) which doesnt equal to the talent level combined. Orlando basically killed flexibility through trades by getting VC and ‘Shard.. Magic’s best trade assets for a Melo type deal? Yes, Dwight.

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