Is Carmelo Anthony Worth the Hype?

As at least 4 NBA teams hold their breath while the Nuggets make up their minds about a rumored Carmelo Anthony deal, the question has to be asked:

Is he worth all the hype and attention?

In a special to ESPN, Tom Haberstroh (http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=5439653) nails it on the head: While he may be a prolific scorer, his overall lack of efficiency and production in areas other than scoring keep him from being an elite player.

But, in this instance, you have to say that he’s still easily a top-15 player* in today’s NBA, and if a coach could get him to post up more and shoot less 3’s, he’s a great value and asset to a team.

*For the record, I would go, in no particular order: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant (excuse me, have to vomit), Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Tim Duncan and Russell Westbrook. But that’s a debate for another time.

So while he’s a top-tier NBA player, you could easily make the argument for him being at least out of the top 5, if not top 10 of the best in the game today. Here’s a guy who will score a ton for you, but he doesn’t shoot much better than league average (right around 46%), takes a lot of 3’s but hits a low percentage of them (career 31% from the arc), and doesn’t do anything else particularly well. His rebounding numbers are weak (6 per game is average for a small forward) and he has as many turnovers as assists per game (3 of each). Click here for total stats.

So what’s the big deal? He’s still a matchup nightmare on the offensive end, and while he’s an average defender at best, he has the skillset to be solid if someone flips the switch a la Paul Pierce.

Plus, you can’t forget the biggest point: How often does a top-15 NBA player become available or change teams? You know, besides this offseason?

He might not be elite, but Carmelo Anthony is definitely worth the time and energy for almost all the teams in the league today.

~ David

Huge Net Return? Melo to Nets Trade Talk

Rumor du jour for the weekend is that Carmelo Anthony has approved a trade to the New Jersey Nets as part of a 4 team blockbuster. Let’s take a look at the proposed deal, and see who the big winners would be:

(Note: I’m assuming that the Nets only make the deal if Melo agrees to a contract extension)

Nets send: PF Derrick Favors, a 1-7 protected 1^st rounder in 2012, and other draft picks to the Denver Nuggets, PG Devin Harris and SF Jarvis Hayes to the Charlotte Bobcats, and SF Quinton Ross to the Utah Jazz

Denver sends: SF Carmelo Anthony to the Nets

Charlotte sends: SF Boris Diaw to the Jazz, PG DJ Augustin to the Nets

Utah sends: SF Andrei Kirilenko to the Nuggets

Just off first impressions, you have to give a ton of credit to the Nuggets if this deal happens. Multiple draft picks, a young and talented PF with a high ceiling in Favors AND Kirilenko, a good-to-great SF who’s a matchup nightmare at times and a defensive ace… That’s quite a haul for a guy who probably doesn’t re-sign with Denver this offseason.

It’s pretty obvious that Masai Ujiri, the Nuggets’ new GM who was part of the Toronto Raptors’ front office last year, didn’t want to get burned a la Chris Bosh and be stuck with a whole lot of nothing next summer when the Knicks, Nets and who knows who else come knocking for Anthony’s services. And to get this much with limited leverage… it’s a nice start to his GM career in Denver. And while this most likely knocks them out of playoff contention this year, who knows what happens if they can’t make a deal and Anthony walks in the offseason.

For the Nets, it’s as simple as this: You obtain the assets to get good, cheap talent and to turn that good, cheap talent into great talent. And it’s not everyday that a top-10 talent is available. Plus, don’t sleep on Augustin, who would be a great depth pickup and could certainly push Jordan Farmar for the starting spot.

The risk is obvious: If Favors turns into a beast like he’s expected to and Anthony can’t get you to the Finals, the move’s a bust. And with the East being so top-heavy right now, you’d have to slot the Nets in behind Boston, Miami, and Orlando, and put them in the second tier with Chicago, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

The second risk is this: Is Carmelo Anthony worth it? I’ll analyze this later on this weekend, as it deserves an entry to itself.

For the Bobcats, they pick up a serious upgrade at the PG spot, as I firmly believe that Harris has a bounceback year this year, regardless of where he plays. Hayes has to be merely trade filler to make it work under the league’s salary cap rules.

Finally for the Jazz… I’m really not sure what they’re doing in the mix here, unless they’re picking up one of the draft picks involved. Kirilenko comes off the books this year, as does Diaw, and there has to be a better trade option for him down the line than dropping $8 million off the books for this year and getting two players who don’t add up to him. This would be strictly a salary dump to avoid the luxury tax for this season.

(The Jazz might get bumped out of this trade anyway: Denver supposedly favors keeping Diaw for themselves, probably due to the lower salary. Obviously my opinion of the deal for Denver sours slightly if this is the case.)

The biggest losers in this scenario has to be the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks (sorry John!). The Bulls need to quit smoking whatever it is that they’re smoking to think that you can’t give up Joakim Noah to get Anthony. And while the Knicks probably didn’t have the assets to get this move done anyway, it’s gotta sting doubly to know that and then see him shipped to your second-class citizen neighbors, who might soon be your first-class citizen neighbors again.

Like everyone else, we’ll wait and see, but there’s probably too much smoke for this fire to be a false alarm. Stay tuned for my analysis of Carmelo Anthony as a superstar player, and more future trade news.

~ David