Are Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire the Best Offensive Duo in the League?
When Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks midway through last season, many expected his pairing with Amare Stoudemire to form the most deadly offensive duo in the league. Does that statement hold any validity? Well I'm here to tell you if it does or does not.
I'll be comparing Anthony/Stoudemire to the top offensive duos in the league, which will include the following: LeBron James/Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant/Pau Gasol and Blake Griffin/Eric Gordon.
Now, I'm not talking about which duo is the highest scoring. That would be simple—we could just look at the points average of the duo combined. That isn't what I'm looking for. Rather, I'm looking for the best offensive duo, as in the most potent combination of offensive talent.
First I'll just give a rundown of their points averages.
| Combined Averages of Past Season | |
| Carmelo Anthony/Amar'e Stoudemire | 50.9 pts |
| Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook | 49.6 pts |
| LeBron James/Dwyane Wade | 52.2 pts |
| Kobe Bryant/Pau Gasol | 44.1 pts |
| Blake Griffin/Eric Gordon | 44.8 pts |
Right away you can see that James and Wade are the highest-scoring duo in the NBA. And for good reason, they both were respectively the second- and fourth-highest scorers in the NBA. But does that mean they are the best offensive duo?
When comparing LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, there really isn't much debate on who the better player is—it's James. However, when comparing the 6'8" forwards on who is the more deadly offensively, more often than not, Anthony is the choice here.
He may leave a lot to be desired on the defensive end, but offensively, there's no question that Anthony is an elite scorer. He's got one of the best mid-range games in the league, as well as the ability to post up on the block and score willingly. He can hit the three-point shot just as efficiently as any other forward. Honestly, there isn't much 'Melo can't do on the offensive end.
Kevin Durant also poses a difficult matchup for James in terms of his scoring abilities. Many believe Durant is far and away the best scorer in the game. Durant is said to possess a better jump shot from three, mid-range and close range than James. However, having Wade on his side puts James at the advantage since Wade is light years better than Durant's Robin, who is Westbrook.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol may have been the best offensive duo a couple seasons ago but they don't stand a chance now. Similarly, Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin are just entering their primes and haven't even sniffed their peaks.
Next I'll look at each players' field-goal percentage from all over the basketball court to see if what is claimed about their abilities is actually valid.
| At Rim | 3-9 Feet | 10-15 Feet | 16-23 Feet | Threes | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 60.9% | 29.2% | 37.5% | 41.5% | 38.0% |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 63.6% | 45.3% | 38.3% | 44.0% | 43.5% |
| LeBron James | 72.1% | 44.4% | 44.7% | 45.0% | 33.0% |
| Dwyane Wade | 66.6% | 50.2% | 38.5% | 37.0% | 30.6% |
| Kevin Durant | 77.2% | 42.6% | 46.9% | 40.0% | 35.0% |
| Russell Westbrook | 60.4% | 26.6% | 35.8% | 36.0% | 33.0% |
| Kobe Bryant | 65.3% | 48.0% | 51.5% | 38.0% | 32.3% |
| Pau Gasol | 69.5% | 42.9% | 43.3% | 49.0% | 33.3% |
| Blake Griffin | 67.7% | 42.5% | 32.5% | 33.0% | 29.2% |
| Eric Gordon | 64.8% | 33.1% | 38.6% | 38.0% | 36.4% |
Side note: Stoudemire's three-point percentage is insanely high because of few attempts.
| Combined % | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 41.4% |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 46.9% |
| LeBron James | 47.8% |
| Dwyane Wade | 44.6% |
| Kevin Durant | 48.3% |
| Russell Westbrook | 38.36% |
| Kobe Bryant | 47.02% |
| Pau Gasol | 47.6% |
| Blake Griffin | 40.9% |
| Eric Gordon | 42.2% |
| Duo | Combined PTS AVG + Combined % |
| Anthony/Stoudemire | 139.2 |
| Wade/James | 144.6 |
| Durant/Westbrook | 136.5 |
| Bryant/Gasol | 138.7 |
| Griffin/Gordon | 127.9 |
So after crunching all those numbers, it seems as if Wade and James are the top dogs in the NBA, and not even the offensive fire power of the Knicks could match that. James and Wade are indeed both the highest-scoring and most efficient duo in the league with and Stoudemire and Anthony coming in at a close second. Durant could have made some noise, but Russell Westbrook brings down the duo's percentages a lot.
So there you have it—the best offensive duo in the league is Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.
