Carmello Anthony is The Bomb......right?

Carmello Anthony apparently wants out of Denver.  ESPN's Chris Sheridan says that he wants to go to the Knicks to play alongside Danilo Gallinari and, what's his name again?  Oh, that's right STAT himself Mr. Amare Stoudemire.  Chris Broussard says that the Nets are willing to part with their entire team including entertaining Head Coach Avery Johnson to get Melo.  There has been heavy talk of a Chicago swap of Noah and Deng from that smooth operator Melo.  From TrueHoop's First Cup Thursday:

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: "There's a growing debate throughout the NBA these days concerning the Bulls: Is management wise or crazy for its apparent unwillingness to include center Joakim Noah in a trade with the Denver Nuggets for perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony? That it's even a topic of discussion is a testament to how much Noah's reputation has changed in the last two years. Granted, no one believes he's the equal of Anthony, who is considered one of the top five players in the league. It's just that Noah is a hard-to-find center, and his game meshes perfectly with point guard Derrick Rose and new power forward Carlos Boozer. Basically, the question Bulls management has to ask is this: Is the team better off with Anthony (career average of 24.7 points in seven seasons), or with Noah and small forward Luol Deng (who undoubtedly would have to be included to make a deal for Anthony work under the salary-cap rules)? Noah hopes the latter option is more attractive."

On the surface, Carmelo is a great player.  You watch his game, his ability to score the ball and just cream in your jeans (maybe that's just Bilbo).  He's one of the few players in the Association that I constantly rewind my DVR for to see just how the heck he made a certain move (which totally pisses my wife off).

But he sucks a defense.  And he's a volume shooter.  And doesn't pass.  And his rebounding numbers were down last year.  Maybe Melo isn't as good as we think?  That's the question that Denver Nuggets Blog Roundball Mining Company asks in their must read for any Carmelo Anthony analysis (keep in mind that this was written on May 18th, 2010 well before the end of the playoffs).  They don't bash Melo, but they do bring up some fantastic questions.