Carmelo Anthony was one of the most coveted free agents in the off-season. With such a high demand, he was bound to be overpaid. Facing the shame of a season without any marquee name on Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks were all too willing.

Sadly, their superstar player will not bring in superstar results, even though Melo will produce superstar numbers. This is the reason why teams covet him. According to Forbes:

"Advanced metrics show that in the NBA, scoring is overvalued."

Carmelo Anthony has been mentioned as one of the best natural scorers along with Kevin Durant, the NBA MVP. Forbes reiterates that the similarity is a long shot:

"Except, Anthony isn't (Kevin) Durant. Despite making about $2.7 million more this season, he isn't even close. Durant gets his points taking four fewer shots per game than Anthony does (18 vs. 22). He shoots 50.5% from the floor to Anthony's 44%. Durant averages 4.4 assists per game compared to Anthony's 2.6, and 7.9 rebounds to Anthony's 6.4."

While Carmelo did take a pay cut, it's hardly significant (just about less than a million per year). But it's not his fault that the NBA teams look at scorers and fans come to watch them.

Knicks fans on the whole were glad he came back simply because their team would not be able to pursue someone else. It's simple: Carmelo got the Knicks right where he wanted them.

The scathing reviews on his contract:

From ESPN: "There are mixed reviews on this contract. Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight thinks it doomed the Knicks to mediocrity.  Bill Simmons at Grantland called Melo one of the game's most underappreciated players and asserted the Knicks are a solid supporting cast away from a title. However, at this money, RPM(real plus-minus) disagrees: According to the metrics, Anthony will be one of the most overpaid players in the game."

They cite two different ratings, but the main point is that Carmelo is not even an average defensive player, yet he will be paid more than the past three Defensive Player awardees. He's even paid higher than LeBron James.

ESPN concluides: "Like most, RPM sees Anthony as a below-average player on the defensive end. As such, he needs to be otherworldly on offense to warrant a $125 million commitment. Anthony's a great scorer, but he rated as only the 18th-best offensive player in the league last season. That's probably a bit unkind, but Melo's age and defensive struggles make this contract a dubious one by any estimation."

Carmelo is not a maximum salary player. There are probably less than five of them in the league. However, each team can pay that amount.