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Was Carmelo Anthony’s Prime in Denver or New York

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Carmelo Anthony started his NBA career in Denver after being drafted third overall in the 2003 NBA draft after LeBron James and Darko Milicic. In Carmelo’s rookie season you could already see how talented he was as he averaged 21.0 PPG, made the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and was the NBA Rookie Challenge MVP. In Carmelo’s 8 seasons with the Denver Nuggets he was a great player, but the Denver Nuggets decided to trade him to the New York Knicks in exchange for several pieces.

              Denver Nuggets traded                                                          New York Knicks traded

                Carmelo Anthony                                                                       Wilson Chandler

                Chauncey Billups                                                                        Raymond Felton

                Shelden Williams                                                                        Danilo Gallinari

                Anthony Carter                                                                            Timofey Mozgov

                Renaldo Balkman                                                                        Draft picks and cash

After Carmelo Anthony was traded he became the face of one of the biggest markets in the NBA, the New York Knicks. But did Carmelo’s change of scenery make him a better player or a worse player?

                 Anthony’s averages with Nuggets                              Anthony’s averages with Knicks

                                  24.9 PPG                                                                            25.2 PPG

                                   6.4 RPG                                                                               7.1 RPG

                                   3.1 APG                                                                               3.3 APG

                                   45.7 FG%                                                                            44.5 FG%

                                  30.9 3FG%                                                                         37.0 3FG%

Looking at Carmelo Anthony’s per game averages for the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks there is no arguing that Carmelo played better as a New York Knick. He averaged more points, rebounds, assists, and a much higher 3-point field goal percentage. But numbers do not show the whole truth, as they can be deceiving. Something else to look at is Anthony’s awards and achievements accomplished for each team.

                    Anthony’s accomplishments as a Nugget             Anthony’s accomplishments as a Knick

                                      4x NBA All-Star                                                           5x NBA All-Star

                          All-NBA Second Team member                              All-NBA Second Team member

                        3x All-NBA Third Team member                               All-NBA Third Team member

                    NBA All-Rookie First Team member                               NBA Scoring Champion                                                               7 NBA Playoff appearances                                     3 NBA Playoff appearances

                            NBA Rookie Challenge MVP

Besides the amount of times Carmelo has represented his teams in the All-Star game it is obvious that he found more success with the Denver Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony was and has been great for the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks but it is hard to see which team he was better with. He was a better statistical player with the New York Knicks but he had more success with the Denver Nuggets. This argument is a Wilt Chamberlin versus Bill Russell argument. Which is more important to you, statistics or success?

About Emanuel Godina

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