What can ‘Melo do for you?

That is the question being posed to teams that are in the hunt for Carmelo Anthony, who is now being officially shopped around by the Denver Nuggets.

First off, it seems to me like Anthony is passing up a good thing in the Mile High City.  Denver is indeed the type of town that cherishes the heroes that bring success to them.  And while Anthony may never have brought the Nuggets the ultimate NBA glory, he is certainly on the path to sit alongside Alex English, John Elway, Patrick Roy and Terrell Davis in Colorado sports history.

Despite this, ‘Melo is following the popular trend and researching his options to move elsewhere. 

Anthony is undoubtedly a supreme talent – particularly on the offensive end.  In fact, there are only four players in the NBA who I would rate with equal or higher offensive ability, and in no particular order they are – Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade.  However, Anthony could outscore any of those players on any given night. 

But although ‘Melo is a beast scoring the rock, teams had better beware the following problems that he could bring:

Offensive Imbalance

Anthony is a complete offensive weapon, who requires many different looks to get his points.  He is that rare player who swishes jumpers, breaks down opponents off the dribble and posts up on the block with equal effectiveness.  It works perfectly for Denver, who have developed their scheme around his versatility.  For other teams, however, this could pose a dilemma.

Lala has been giving us more updates about Anthony's decision-making process than he has.

Teams that contain players with pre-defined roles may find that Carmelo will overstep his bounds within their offense.  It won’t be intentional, but Anthony is used to extreme offensive freedom in the free-flowing scheme that was employed by George Karl.

Defensive Ineptitude

OK, let’s flat out call this what it is – - Anthony doesn’t want to play defense.  ‘Melo is quick enough, strong enough and smart enough to be one of the top defenders in the league, but he doesn’t have the heart for it.  Anthony has always reserved all of his extra effort for the offensive end of the court.  And now that he is a seven-year NBA veteran, that characteristic is not going to change.  Thus, ‘Melo requires his team to acquire a player who will embrace covering the opposition’s best wing player.

Leadership

Anthony is a leader by example on the court – at least when he has the ball in his hands.  But the real question regarding Carmelo is whether he is good enough to be the guy on a team, and lead them to an NBA title.  Facts are facts, and the fact is that Anthony was unable to lead his squad to a first-round series win over a Utah Jazz team that was suffering from injuries to its best players.  Like his good buddy LeBron James, we won’t know whether he could do it or not and, also like King James, he’s not giving us the chance to.  The odds are that ‘Melo will end up being traded to a team that has at least one more quality player.  Anthony is at his best when his decision-making is uncompromised.  Teams that are after him had better notice this and prepare their game plans accordingly.

Carmelo Anthony is without question one of the premiere superstars in today’s NBA.  But his suitors will have to ask themselves:

Just how much is ‘Melo worth??

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