Prime: Carmelo Anthony vs Chris Bosh

[rand]

Who would you take for average prime season in 2023, Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh?

[tsherkin]

I voted Bosh, and then paused to wonder. Both of them were ploddingly-slow iso players who weren't particularly impressive passers. Bosh was a better defender than Melo even pre-Miami, and then proved that when he was not in the primary scorer's role, he could be a very valuable defender. He's also a more translatable impact defender type given his length and mobility. Miami's scheme really showcased that aspect of his game.

The thing which gives me pause is the 2013 Knicks and Melo as a small 4. Space and pace with a good point guard, give him more of a green light from the perimeter and a shorter possession clock and he could be extremely effective on O in today's game. He isn't your classic helio guy, and he wasn't That Guy on offense really at any point in his career, but he was a very solid tier 2 scorer in his prime. He had a couple of seasons in New York where some of his impact stats were very good. So that makes me waffle just a little against my instinctive pushback against Anthony.

[parsnips33]

I have a hard time pegging Bosh's defensive value on those Heat teams

[SHAQ32]

He isn't your classic helio guy, and he wasn't That Guy on offense really at any point in his career, but he was a very solid tier 2 scorer in his prime.

How many combo forwards, or even just pure 3s, all-time, would you say were better offensively than Melo?

[TheGOATRises007]

Going with Bosh.

Neither are good enough to be the main guy on a title team and I think Bosh is more adaptive/with a lesser ego to fit better on title teams.

[tsherkin]

How many combo forwards, or even just pure 3s, all-time, would you say were better offensively than Melo?

Don't know? Somewhat depends on how you categorize them. Pierce, Lebron, Kawhi, Mullin, Erving, Luka (again, depending on whether you call him a PG or a helio 3), Bernard King, Durant, Larry Bird (again, depending on whether you call him a 3 or a 4), Grant Hill, Clyde Drexler (again, depending on if you call him a 2 or a 3).

It's a substantial list. Melo scored a lot, but outside of a couple years in his career, he wasn't efficient, wasn't particularly adept at ball movement (aka, was actually a ball stopper), etc. He was notably inferior to a lot of different guys at his position from an offensive POV, and that's before we start getting into big 2-guards and such.

[Colbinii]

He isn't your classic helio guy, and he wasn't That Guy on offense really at any point in his career, but he was a very solid tier 2 scorer in his prime.

How many combo forwards, or even just pure 3s, all-time, would you say were better offensively than Melo?

Probably 10-15 at a minimum.

Tatum
LeBron
KD
Hill
Erving
Bird
Havlicek
Barry
Kawhi
Pierce
Dantley
Dominique
King
Mullin
English
McGinnis
Schrempf
George
Butler
Rice
Roger Brown
David Thompson

Then you have guys like Drexler and McGrady who could be labeled as SF.

I get all these guys aren't clearly better than Melo and you probably don't need to sell me hard on Melo being better than Thompson, Brown, McGinnis, Dominique and Rice.

[trex_8063]

He isn't your classic helio guy, and he wasn't That Guy on offense really at any point in his career, but he was a very solid tier 2 scorer in his prime.

How many combo forwards, or even just pure 3s, all-time, would you say were better offensively than Melo?

Gosh, quite a few, really.....

Definitely better offensively:
LeBron
Bird
Durant
Kawhi
Barry
McGrady (though admittedly his prime is shorter)

Probably better:
Erving
Baylor
Jimmy Butler

Maybe?? (at least dark-horse case as) better:
Havlicek
Paul Pierce
Dominique Wilkins
Alex English
EDIT: Adrian Dantley
EDIT2: Bernard King (albeit in a VERY short prime)
Grant Hill
Chet Walker
Paul George
Connie Hawkins
Marques Johnson
Paul Arizin (only putting him this low due to era skepticism; relative to era played in, he was definitely better, imo)
James Worthy (or Scottie Pippen??)????


Even if we say only 2/3 of the "probably"'s and only 1/3 of the "maybe??"'s, that's like a dozen SF's better on offense.

Then if I were to ask how many of the names I listed were worse defensively than Melo.......very few (arguably none).