7th place – Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony is easy to critique for many. Plenty of Knicks fans have got fed up with their lack of playoff success with him at the helm. He doesn’t do much to help defensively. And the argument that he holds onto the ball too much have all led to Melo falling further from popularity as of late.
Then, Olympic Melo — the best Melo — showed up this summer in Rio de Janeiro, making enough threes to save the U.S. from some troubling win margins. He gained a bit more praise after doing so and became Team’s USA’s leading scorer in Olympic history, which may have helped his reputation a little heading into next season.
But he helped his reputation in the regular season, too, even if it got overlooked at times. Adopting more of a leadership role to mentor the young and exciting Kristaps Porzingis, averaging a career-high 4.2 assists per game, Melo had a good season. It was a different season, one that saw him score just 21.8 points per game (his lowest mark since 2005) and shoot only 33.9 percent from three, but it was good nonetheless. It was appropriate to the direction of the team, too.
With the criticisms of Melo’s playoff shortcomings, high volume shooting and lack of defense comes an inadvertent dismissal of his stellar scoring ability.
Ask most NBA players who the toughest opponent to guard is, and you’ll likely hear Melo in response. When you combine three-point threat, quick-trigger mid-range shooting (a career-high 45.3 percent from at least 16 feet out last season) and strength in the post, you get Melo.
His shooting stroke matches the chilled name but his game doesn’t, and he combines those attributes to be a dangerous scorer across the floor. He can bully you or shoot over you.
He isn’t what he once was and there are obvious flaws causing him to rank 7th. But Melo’s ability speaks for itself and improved passing instincts is what he needs at this stage of his career. He still deserves to be recognized among the NBA’s top small forwards based on talent alone.
Next: 6th place - The freakiest small forward in the world