Vince shot better from 3 last year than Melo has done in all but one of the seasons in his entire career.

His career assist rate is better, his career turnover rate is lower. His career BPM is better, both on offense and defense. His Value Over Replacement Player, while not very good, is still better than Melo's, which is negative over his last 150 games.

Again, there's a reason beyond the "narrative" excuse that Melo isn't on a team right now. You think a team like the Magic or the Hornets couldn't use a min-salary veteran to guide the young guys? You think Bron, if he wanted, couldn't pick up the phone and get Melo on the end of the Laker bench before end of business today?

Bottom line is there are players that are better for a team construct than Melo out there, players who provide obvious bench value, like shooting or defense or rebounding or energy. Guys whose main skill is high-volume scoring don't make it past their mid-30s in the NBA very often. Once Melo's scoring efficiency started to dip, that was that.

There's no shame in that-- he was one of the best in the game at what he did during his era, and he'll be in the HOF. But I have yet to hear why Melo should be on a team other than "he was good three seasons ago." Many stars fade quickly in the NBA, Melo is one of them. And that's okay.