Um, what? Harden is superior to Melo because Harden is not only clutch like Melo, he can also create plays for others, so even on nights when he isn't hitting it he is still a threat. Also unlike Melo Harden understands the importance of fts and always tries to initiate contact, this makes him superior in every way offensively from Melo. Harden TS%: 0.619 Melo TS%: 0.560 Please note that Melo is playing the PF position so he is usually able to take higher % shots closer to the basket while Harden has to start plays in the perimeter since he has DH occupying the paint. Also note that Melo regularly gets to pump his stats against dead end teams like Philly and the Cavs while Harden is playing in one of the most competitive Western Conferences in the last couple of years. And even then Harden is scoring at a higher % than Melo.
You are not looking at the big picture. You are overemphasizing his "creating" while underrating the effect of Harden's turnovers and Melo's rebounding. Yes Harden's TS% is higher, because that metric caters to his strength, ala getting to the line. When you look at PPP, which accounts for Melo's advantage of taking much better care of the ball and being superior at rebounding his own miss and getting the putback with his size, they are nearly identical. At the core of these two players, they both score about 1.14 points per possession (data a few weeks old - but it was last I looked). You give them each 100 half court possessions in a row they are going to produce roughly the same amount of points, or it will be a slight edge to Melo, since Harden gets a ton of points in transition. To be fair though, at the end of the 100 possessions the other team will have more team fouls with Harden. Free throws are important but that hardly makes Harden superior "in every way". Melo is a better 3 point shooter and can create offense in a variety of ways/positions in the half court, specifically in the low post, whereas Harden is generally limited to 3-4 moves from the top of the key: Pick and roll, three point step back, isolation drive, and step back mid range shot. Any advantage Melo has via the strength of schedule is countered by Harden's advantage with talent on his team. I used to think the same way you did, but looking at things more objectively, they are relative equals at this point in time.
I'm not about to sit here and say Melo would be as efficient as Harden, but the bulk of the difference in their numbers comes down to freethrows and fastbreak. Their synergy numbers are near identical in every other category. Over a quarter of Harden's offense is fast break points. The only team slower than the Knicks is the Grizzlies. You think Harden would be that much more efficient if we walked the ball up the court and let defenses get set every posession?
Melo for me,put him next to a Guy like Dirk,Curry,Love or any other player on That List and it would be pretty clear He is just in a Bad Situation in NY, a team full of scrubs
