Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Carmelo ranked 11th in player rankings

It remains to be seen how Carmelo Anthony fits into the triangle.

With a first-time head coach in Derek Fisher, a new system and perhaps even a new way of thinking to learn, Anthony enters the season with some uncertainty ahead of him.

In ESPN’s latest NBA player rankings, Anthony comes in at No. 11 on the list of the NBA's 500 players.

The rankings are decided by the ESPN Forecast panel, which rates each player on a 0-to-10 scale in terms of “the overall level of play for each player for the upcoming NBA season.”

Anthony received a score of 8.58. Last year, Melo was ranked 15th overall.

This season, Anthony is being asked to not only adapt to a new system but perhaps alter some old habits that have gotten him this far in his career, as Phil Jackson and Fisher preach team first and ball movement.

Anthony will be asked to think somewhat differently this season. He is going to have to learn how to be more patient than ever in not just learning a new system but also a new ideology to a certain extent.

Jackson wants Anthony to be the latest prolific scorer he transforms into championship winner like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Like Jordan and Bryant, Jackson wants Anthony to alter his scoring mentality a bit and incorporate more team thinking.

Last season, Anthony was second in scoring at 27.4 points per game. He led all players with 6.6 isolation points per game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The triangle will certainly still give Anthony plenty of one-on-one opportunities to score. And they could come in better situations than last season, when he often had to take shots late in the shot clock.

We’ll see how Anthony performs this season with the triangle.

What do you guys think of Anthony’s No. 11 ranking? Let us know where you rank Melo.

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