Just read an interesting piece from ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh explaining why Carmelo Anthony is not a max player, despite his superstar scoring numbers.  Here is a small clip of that article.

“It’s tough to argue with his 28.2 points-per-game average in ’09-10, but in the game of basketball, how a shooter gets his points is more meaningful than the raw number itself. To see that, we need to peel back the layers.

Let’s first talk about Anthony’s shot volume. It’s not exactly a secret that ‘Melo likes to shoot the rock, but his propensity to launch shots may raise some eyebrows. This past season, no player in the NBA took more shots per minute than Anthony — not Kobe, not LeBron, not even scoring champ Kevin Durant.

It may seem obvious that a player worthy of 20 shots per game would have a healthy conversion rate. But in Anthony’s case, that’s far from the truth. Anthony, in reality, had a below-average field goal percentage (.458) this past season — and his career percentage (.459) is no different. (The league average is .463.)

If anything, it’s time we moved on from per-game statistics to evaluate our players. Millions of dollars are wasted every year basing player value on the archaic statistics that teams used half a century ago. And someone will surely overpay Anthony and offer him a max contract — just look at the deals Joe Johnson and Rudy Gay got.

If the New York Knicks, rumored to be the favorites to land Melo if he decides to leave Denver, are expecting salvation from Anthony next summer, they’re going to be very disappointed with their investment. It would be a much a wiser move to throw that cash toward the pursuit of Chris Paul, a real max player.”

I think I am going to have to disagree.  Despite mediocre shooting percentages and his high shot volume, Carmelo Anthony is one hell of a player.  He is a game changer and a franchise changer.  As Denver has, Melo is the type of player that good teams can build around.  He has a commanding presence on the floor and is only gaining more and more respect each season.  Sure Melo’s 46% shooting percentage and 31% three point shooting percentages are not spectacular, but take a look at Allen Iverson’s career numbers.  How were his shooting percentages?

Melo is not Kobe Bryant and as much as it pains me to bring him up, he is not LeBron James.  Those two players are on a level of their own when it comes to on-court production.  But make no mistake, Melo is a top 10 player in this league.  Along with Amare Stoudemire, Melo can help bring this franchise back to an elite level.

If there is a deal to be made for Melo, the Knicks have to be all in on him.  After watching LeBron shun this team this summer, the Knicks should take no chances and trade whatever it takes to get Carmelo here.