Carmelo Anthony: I can play at a high level for 4 or 5 more years

Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks didn’t play his best basketball in 40 games during 2014-15, but he still says he can play at “a high level” for the next four or five years.

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Carmelo Anthony is one of the most unstoppable players in the NBA, but only when his shot is falling. Besides getting up a ton of attempts and making them at a fairly average rate, though, there isn’t too much more that Melo has to offer the New York Knicks. He can shoot the lights out at times, but if you’re expecting great defense or a pass, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

His 2014-15 season was pedestrian by his standards, and he was only able to play 40 games due to a knee injury. His 24.2 points per game, 44.4 percent shooting, 34.1 percent three point shooting and 6.6 rebounds per game are all the worst numbers he’s recorded in those categories in the last three years. With extremely limited talent around him, the Knicks struggled towards the second worst record in the league last season.

However, fear not, Knicks fans; Melo still thinks he can play at a high level for the next four or five years.

We’ll have to wait and see what that actually entails, but he’s confirmed it, as has been reported by Ian Begley of ESPN:

"In fact, the 31-year-old Knicks star is confident that he can play at a high level for the next “four or five years.”“Without a doubt. Without a doubt,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ final training camp practice on Saturday…“I wasn’t a guy who would run straight to surgery for anything. But I think now, [taking] care of this [a patella injury in his left knee] really put me in position to perform at a high level for the next four or five years,” he said."

As Anthony described himself, he’s not a player who requires athleticism to be successful. Similarly to Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki, who have both relied on skill rather than physical tools to succeed in their late thirties, Melo has the potential to produce for a while yet as well.

He can post-up with his turnaround jumper, and while he didn’t appear as prolific last season as he has in the past, he still made an impressive 44.5 percent of his shots from 16 feet out. That shooting stroke can survive for a few more years yet at least, and Melo made his belief in that kind of ability clear.

"“If I was a guy who kind of played above the rim and played at a fast pace and just running and jumping — that was my game, very athletic — then I’d probably be sitting here singing a different tune,” Anthony said. “But the way that I play, the way that I know how to pace myself, the way I know how to pick my spots out on the basketball court, I’m not a guy who’s playing above the rim every play so it works in my favor.”"

All those things may be correct when discussing Anthony at his best, but with the Knicks coming off such a poor season and adding new players such as Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez and rookie Kristaps Porzingis, the prospects for their 2015-16 season are entirely unclear.

Plus, Melo wasn’t even in top form when on the floor last season. Does his idea of “high level” mean shooting 20+ times a night and making more than $20 million each year? If so, Melo can play at a “high level” until he’s 40.

However, his elite scoring talent hasn’t disappeared. He just needs to find his 28.7 points per game form from his 2012-13 scoring champ season first. If he does that, then Carmelo Anthony can at least play at a high level while his Knicks continue to search for relevance.

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