Why?
Sure Carmelo is as talented as anyone on the planet at putting the ball in basket, but what does he do for his team beyond that?
His career high for assists in a season is 3.8 and averages just 3.1 for his career. Kobe Bryant even during his notorious ball hog year of 05-06 which included his 81 point game, averaged 4.5 assists a game that season. Whenever you watch his team play, when the ball is in his hands, it just becomes "lets all clear to the other side of the court and watch Carmelo do isos". Even if a double team comes, he routinely forces his shot as opposed to passing out of the double team. There is never any cohesion to a offense led by Carmelo.
Despite consistently being the second biggest player in size to LeBron at the SF/PF hybrid position. He has never been nothing more than an average rebounder, at best. Since joining the Knicks he has taken a complete disinterest in attacking the offensive glass. The only time he comes up with boards on the defensive side is when the ball literally falls in his lap. When have you ever seen Carmelo make a conscience effort to dominant the boards for just one game?
For years people criticized LeBron for shooting too many threes and jumpers, and said that if he would just go to the post, he would dominate. Which he has this season, putting together a season as efficient as the NBA has ever seen. Yet Carmelo continually flies under the radar when it comes to this criticism. His last full season in Denver he shot 2.5 threes a game. Since joining the Knicks his averages have risen 3.2 in the split season, 3.7 last year, and 6.8 this season (which is third most in the league this season). Carmelo is moving further and further away from the basket. He is a career .335 shooter from distance. He has shot .430 and .447 from the field in his two full seasons in New York. Carmelo will never sniff the .500 FG% bench mark of efficient scorers.
Defensively Carmelo has career averages of 0.5 BPG and 1.1 SPG, very minimal for a player of his stature that averages 36.3 MPG. He has never been in the top half of the league defensively, let alone All-Defensive team caliber that is should be expected of a top five player. He gives up 1.0 points per possession in one on one defensive situations, which is in the bottom 15% of the league. Despite having physical tools that rival any player in the league. He just never puts forth the consistent effort required to be a top tier defender.
Now don't get me wrong Carmelo is still a deserving All Star, due to his 28.6 PPG. He is certainly one of five best scorers in the league, but he isn't one of the five best players in the league. He is too one dimensional of a player to deserve that lofty status. Carmelo will never win a NBA title as the best player on his team. He could accomplish being champion as a team's second best player, but not the best. To me top five NBA player status is reserved for players who could lead their team's consistently deep in the playoffs (Carmelo has only ever advanced to the second round of the playoffs once). Top five status should be reserved for dynamic two way players, not one dimensional scorers. No matter how good that scorer is.
Top 25 player? Sure. Top 5? No Way!
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