Like you said, Nowitzki is more valuable to his team. I believe that would be the case on most any team. I'd rather build a team around a player of Nowitzki's abilities than Carmelo's.
Carmelo already did- and you can argue that it's tougher in college when you're one and done in the tournament. Then, again, I'm sure Dirk's won some German tournaments. All depends on how you look at it. Carmelo is younger and has been improving steadily- I'd take him based on that.
It's different, at least if you ask me. Because Dirk is probably more valuable to his team than Kobe as well. No one in hell is Dirk better than Kobe. Everybody knows that LeBron is probably the most important player to a team though, that's the obvious one. However, I don't think being more valuable necessarily means better player. Hell, we could argue that Billups is more valuable to the Nuggets than Melo. But as far as pure talent and ability goes it's Melo and it's not even close.
Take away Gasol/Odom/Artest/Bynum and replace then with similar players and you will probably have the same caliber team. Replace Melo with a similar player and the team will likely be just as successful. Replace Billups? We saw what happened then. Billups runs the team. Melo isn't even the best player on his team. Dirk>Melo
There's a difference between, most valuable on the team and best on the team. Billups is no way in hell better than Melo, at least anymore. And there aren't many players similar to Melo, unless you are thinking of Kevin Durant, but he's in his caliber anyways. As much as I respect Dirk, It's Melo's time.
All that matters is which player gives you the best chance of winning. If that's not what "better player" means to you, I'd say there is something wrong with your definition.
Not fair. Melo's had worse teams than Dirk throughout his career. That said, I still think Dirk's above Melo, but the gap is closing. Dirk was a witch in the playoffs last year against us.
Which of these players don't fit? 2009-2010 Top PER Players (min. 1000 minutes) Code: [B]Rk Player PER APM APM_last3years[/B] 1 LeBron James 31.1 +24.42 99% 2 Tim Duncan 27.8 +11.82 99% 3 Dwyane Wade 26.8 +25.73 96% 4 Chris Bosh 26.3 +5.76 94% 5 Chris Paul 26.0 +15.9 97% 6 Carmelo Anthony 25.0 -1.57 72% 7 Kevin Durant 24.4 +13.78 4% 8 Steve Nash 23.8 +10.96 99% 9 Kobe Bryant 23.4 +12.74 99% 10 Dirk Nowitzki 23.3 +16.94 98% [I][SIZE=1]APM - adjusted +/- ratings so far this season (computed by basketballvalue.com) APM_last3years - percentile ranking of adjusted +/- rankings over previous 3 years (computed by hoopnumbers.com)[/SIZE][/I]
Probably Melo. He's just more versatile if you ask me. Dirk is the more versatile scorer, but Melo is the more versatile player and my favorite thing that Melo has over Dirk is getting to the FT line. I'm more afraid of Dirk on fire than Melo though. Chris Bosh.
A 7-footer who can shoot from anywhere, get to the line, post up, grab a defensive rebound and run it down the floor on his own ... I'd say that is versatility. Nowitzki is the better player because his unique skillset, at his position, is a very difficult matchup. Its not just about the points he scores, or that he's incredibly efficient. He creates so many great shots for his teammates indirectly. In terms of impact towards winning, I give Nowitzki a significant edge.
