Is Carmelo Anthony in the top 10 best players in the NBA?

Answer 1

No. As per KnickerBlogger.Net (See link below):

Here are some of the NBA's best players in first name order.

Amar'e Stoudemire

Chris Paul

Dirk Nowitzki

Dwight Howard

Dwyane Wade

Kevin Durant

Kevin Garnett

LeBron James

Kobe Bryant

Steve Nash

Tim Duncan

I don't see any rational argument showing that Carmelo is currently better than any of these eleven players. He's more likely is in this group:

Al Horford

Blake Griffin

Chris Bosh

Deron Williams

Derrick Rose

Joakim Noah

Kevin Love

Manu Ginobili

Pau Gasol

Paul Pierce

Russell Westbrook

Simply put, Carmelo isn't one of the best players in the league. He's more likely in the top 15, 20, 25 range. Hollinger's PER has him ranked 22nd, and PER typically is favorable to players who score a good amount of points and ignores certain aspects of defense. Since Carmelo fits the mold of what PER values, it's unlikely that Carmelo is underrated by this stat.