If you're going to penalize Melo and Amar'e for being bad on defense, then why in the world are Durant and Griffin up there? Durant is terrible on defense, and Griffin is not only terrible on defense but a God-awful free throw shooter. How do they deserve to be that many spots above Melo and Amar'e? Amar'e and Griffin are both awful on defense, but Amar'e is a better FT shooter and Griffin a better rebounder, so they're about even. Melo is a more versatile scorer than Durant, other than that they're both similar in the sense that they're high volume scorers who aren't great defenders, the difference that Melo can actually play defense when he tries whereas Durant is a weak shit.
1. Because Durant is much better than Melo on defense. Really, every metric has Melo being awful on defense, while Durant is at least somewhat neutral on D if not above average at times. The Knicks were better on defense before Melo joined the team. And Durant is slightly more efficient based on eFG% and TS%, so coupling those together makes him ranked higher. Melo let his opposing SF shoot 53% eFG% against him, Durant's was at 48%. Melo really is a lazy defender, who CAN be a good one if he puts in the work. But that's an IF right now. I found their Synergy stats from 2 seasons ago, and Durant basically kills him in everything:
Kevin Durant
100% Overall: 0.82 PPP (44th)
21.2% Isolation: 0.73 PPP (51st)
12.7% P/R Ball: 0.58 PPP (4th)
6.5% Post-Up: 0.79 PPP (71st)
1.7% P/R Roll: 0.67 PPP (N/A)
36.0% Spot-Up: 0.95 PPP (155th)
8.8% Off-Screen: 0.89 PPP (65th)
5.1% Hand-Off: 0.57 PPP (9th)
Carmelo Anthony
100% Overall: 0.95 PPP (318th)
20.5% Isolation: 1.03 PPP (305th)
8.1% P/R Ball: 0.70 PPP (23rd)
11.2% Post-Up: 0.98 PPP (235th)
1.5% P/R Roll: 0.82 PPP (N/A)
40.2% Spot-Up: 1.01 PPP (231st)
10.0% Off-Screen: 0.89 PPP (99th)
4.0% Hand-Off: 0.87 PPP (47th)
I'm trying to find last season's, but I'm having trouble right now.
But basically Durant is more efficient scoring, and a better defender. And he's still only 22 so he has some potential to add to his game.
2. Griffin seems to be given a pass somewhat because he was a rookie and was "still learning" NBA defense and I would put Amare over him right now. However Blake has already shown to be a much much better rebounder and passer than Amare while scoring at a similar efficiency from the floor. And he turns it over less often than Amare. So I feel like he put him higher because Griffin will likely be a better player in 2+ years.