Is Melo a Top 10 or 15 Player in the Association?

[Kosta]

For someone who is not the primary ballhandler and main job is to be a scorer a 1:1 ass/turn ration doesn't look bad to me. That's about what you would want.

25 ppg on 49fg% looks GREAT.

7.5 rpg with 2 being OFFENSIVE looks AMAZING for a SF and is better then most PFs

His defense must be average to below average based on rep..

Clearly can be called a top 15 player in the NBA without much argument.

idk how he is going to do in the future at SF position but he seems like the type of player that will be very key in certain matchups against the freak SFs that have PF strength like LeBron,Butler,Odom(I guess now). He also seems to have the body that I don't suspect will be burdened by the extra pressure of being a main scorer.

His stats are damn impressive, I wonder too why he's not really regarded in the same class as guys like Wade and Amare.

I think it definitely has a lot to do with his reputation and poor playoff record. Also the team and pace he plays with in Denver makes everybody on the Nuggets look bad defensively, for the exception of Camby. Also the pace factor can be used against him with the high rebounding average and high field goal percentage.

He gets labeled as being an offense only player who comes with a ton of baggage and won't play defense, true or not.

[NO-KG-AI]

^^that's all true, the pace would help his numbers in theory, but Melo gets a lot of rebounds for a guy who's role is to leak out on the break. The offensive rebounds are really impressive though.

[KyleCleric]

Melo could definitely be a top 15 player. I don't have him in my top 15, but at 16. Again these are all fairly arbitrary and a personal preference. Personally, I'd put McGrady, Dirk, Yao, Paul, Kobe, Gasol, Bosh, Amare, DWilliams, KG, Wade, Pierce, DHoward, Lebron, and Duncan over him.

[MHZ]

When is Yao going to be looked at with a little more critical eye? Never out of the first round, missed 20+ games in three consecutive years... I think being unable to stay on the floor has to be taken into consideration.

[yunggunz]

Once Iverson is gone, everyone is going to be calling Melo a shoe-in top 10 player and possibly top 5, I guarantee it.

[Malinhion]

When is Yao going to be looked at with a little more critical eye? Never out of the first round, missed 20+ games in three consecutive years... I think being unable to stay on the floor has to be taken into consideration.

Seriously. People are taking him over Dwight in the top 15 centers thread. It baffles me. Yao can't even stand on two legs for a season, and he's been hurt/missed half his playoff series. Dwight has never missed a game, and he put up three 20/20s on the way to his first playoff series victory. Yao is not in my top 10 any more. I would have a hard time deciding between him and Melo.

[celticfan42487]

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Well that is a different question, that is who would you rather have long term. In terms of who is the better player between the two of them, Wade can give you as many, if not more, points on better efficiency while being a much better creator for his teamates and having a larger impact on defense.

I consider them one in the same when it comes to labeling the top in the NBA rather then just a player v player.

When it's top in the NBA and I get to do a "fantasy draft" for my franchise seeing the odds of durability for not only next year and the next ten factors into it for me.

If I had to guess next year the odds are Wade will be healthy and have a better overall season, but if I took that chance every year for the next 12 years I'll take my chance on Melo being more consistent enough for me to want him as my cornerstone.

[conleyorbust]

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I consider them one in the same when it comes to labeling the top in the NBA rather then just a player v player.

When it's top in the NBA and I get to do a "fantasy draft" for my franchise seeing the odds of durability for not only next year and the next ten factors into it for me.

If I had to guess next year the odds are Wade will be healthy and have a better overall season, but if I took that chance every year for the next 12 years I'll take my chance on Melo being more consistent enough for me to want him as my cornerstone.

See, in my mind Thad Young would be taken way before Ray Allen in that fantasy draft but Thad wasn't better than Ray this season.

In a vacuum, Melo can't impact the game as much as Wade and therefore isn't as good of a player. I guess injury concerns are a legit reason to rank one guy over another in a straight up "who's better?" poll but how much you value that is your perogative. Value and ability are definitely different though.