Overrated or underrated? Is it possible for a top five scorer in the league to be underrated? Though their games differ greatly, ‘Melo splits the fantasy nation into two camps similar to how Dwight Howard does. One camp sees the warts, the other sees the aspects of the game to push an advantage.

After the jump, let us see if this Olympian power forward has the game to help your team out this year win the gold.

As always when I am up to bat to write in this draft, here are the player’s highs and lows over the past three seasons. Use these numbers as a barometer for consistency, upside and risk in taking this player.

Best: 80 GP, 49.2 FG%, 80.8 FT%, 28.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, 0.8 3pg, 1.3 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2.7 topg

Worst: 65 GP, 47.6 FG%, 78.6 FT%, 25.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 0.5 3pg, 1.1 spg, 0.3 bpg, 3.6 topg

Let us examine ‘Melo and his fantasy game category by category.

Field goal percentage

: Did this catch you by surprise just a little bit? Using Yahoo’s position eligibility designations, ‘Melo was the top-rated small forward in this category last season. If you include SF/PF players like Lamar Odom and Shawn Marion, ‘Melo still ranks in the top five. Dirk Nowitzki gets lauded for his percentage categories, but ‘Melo outperformed him here last year.

Free throw percentage

: Not quite as impressive as his FG%, but ‘Melo will not kill your team here. In fact, he ranks as a very useful player because of how often he gets to the line.

Points

: This remains the bread and butter for ‘Melo. He will not win the scoring title with Allen Iverson on the team, but only a handful of players have a chance of averaging 30 ppg for the season every year, and ‘Melo makes the short list.

Rebounds

: Here is where you need to update your dossier on ‘Melo. Sure, when he was scoring a lot, but did no work on the boards or from beyond the arc, he was overrated as a fantasy player. Last year he hauled down more than seven boards a game. And this was while he played alongside the defensive presence known as Marcus Camby. He stands a good chance of setting a new career high in rebounding average.

Assists:

LeBron James and other point forwards continue to outperform ‘Melo here. So instead, compare him to the average; any player not known for distributing the ball who can drop more than 3.5 dimes a game remains very useful in the fantasy game. Yes, you need top flight point guards and some depth at the swing positions in you draft ‘Melo to win assists but the same could be said for the likes of Caron Butler and Rashard Lewis.

Three-pointers

: He has averaged 0.7 moneyballs over his career thus far, definitely below average for a fantasy small forward, but serviceable.

Steals:

Serviceable seems like the best word to describe ‘Melo here again.

Blocks:

  Like many small forwards, he is a non-factor here. Thankfully Tim Duncan was drafted in the second round.

Turnovers

: Like any other star in the league who gets the ball a lot, ‘Melo will rack up his share of miscues. In a head-to-head league, push for a daily transaction league if you use turnovers; this brings in the intrigue of deciding whether or not you should sit players late in the weekend to try to win turnovers.

This team had the misfortune of drafting Gilbert Arenas in the first round. Granted, this was way before news on Arenas broke, but nevertheless scoring is needed in a big way. Progression in FG% and rebounds make ‘Melo a better fantasy player than he has ever been.