In the first of a 6-part NBA season preview, we rank the top 10 small forwards in the league entering the 2017-18 season
Small forwards. The future of the NBA. The Warriors are making small ball the new norm league-wide. Playing Klay Thompson, Andre Igoudala, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green all at the same time forces the opponent to go small and matchup size wise. They will always have mismatches due to the dynamic ability and unique size of each player on the wings.
The only way to beat Golden State, in the new incarnation of them, is to load up your team with tall, long, athletic wings than can be threats not only offensively, but slow down star players defensively as well. Easier said than done, right?
Boston is slowly, but surely, trying to get to that point by drafting Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in back-to-back years with their top picks. Young players like Jonathon Isaac, Brandon Ingram, and even Thon Maker are valued higher in todays game because of their versatility and length.
There is no secret what the key to success is for teams trying to make it to the top and dethrone the champs. The winning world revolves around small forwards. Let’s take a look at the best in the league.
10. Harrison Barnes, Dallas Mavericks
After what a lot of people labeled as an “embarrassing” NBA Finals performance in Golden State during the 2016 season, Barnes seeked a fresh start in Dallas last summer and made the most of it. His production didn’t result in wins, but his 19.2 points and five rebounds per game lands him as a top 10 small forward in the NBA.
At just 24 years old, Harrison has a long ways to go when talking about developing his game, but has made big strides in 2017. His scoring and ability to make plays off the dribble has grown leaps and bounds due to his new role as a Mav.
Back in the day (2015), Harrison would post up in the corner like a guy at the bar trying to pick up chicks until the shot clock ran down . Steph would either heave up a 30 footer or make an easy pass to Barnes for a corner three. The extent of his role as a Warrior was a spot up shooter who barely had the ball in his hands.
Now, in Dallas, he has the ball much more due to the fact that the Mavs switched point guards five times last season. Barnes was the Mavericks leading scorer last year by a landslide. The next closest contributor was Wes Matthews with six fewer points per game. Dennis Smith Jr. should help a lot with the scoring load and playmaking next season, but look for Harrison’s gameplay to result in more wins this season.
9. Otto Porter, Washington Wizards
Out of nowhere! Otto Porter, during his contract year, upped his game to another dimension. Making about $4.8 million a year, Porter felt like it was now or never to prove himself as a next level role player and did just that in 2016-17.
The key to playing alongside John Wall and Bradley Beal was to knock down open 3’s. Otto led the league in 3-point shooting for the majority of the season, and ended up with a final mark of 43.4 percent from distance. That’s a boost of 6.7 percent, shooting 74 more 3’s and making 50 more than the previous season.
While his long-range shooting was the biggest contributor to his developement, Otto also upped his scoring to 13.4 points per game (up 1.8 from 2016) and rebounding to 6.4 per game (up 1.2 from 2016). This offensive outburst helped the Wizards legitimately contend for an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, and got Porter a max contract ($26.6 M) from Brooklyn that Washington had to match.
8. Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
If this is Hoodie Melo, we might as well sweep LeBron James to the side and stamp his place at the top. However, this is New York Knicks, non-Olympics Melo, so he lands at 8th on our list. Since the 2013 season averaging 28.7 points per game, Melo has been on a slow decline on an individual level, and as a member of the New York Knicks.
Some of us still see Melo as a superstar and a top player in this league due to the fact that he was a supernova in the Mecca of basketball that is Madison Square Garden. His name carries a ton of weight because of his history with a storied franchise, but the fact of the matter is, he hasn’t produced. Averaging 22.4 points per game on a 31 win team in 2017 doesn’t do much for his reputation as a league’s top small forward, and until he decides to move on from the Knicks, I don’t see his role changing.
Let’s say Harden and Chris Paul get their hands on Melo and is shipped to Houston. Being a part of a winning team where he doesn’t have to be “the guy” would really benefit Carmelo. Just as he was on the Olympic team, Anthony would be a sidekick or deferring to two other guys before he gets his. The alleviated pressure of doing too much is off his shoulders. He can relax, and stay Me7o.
7. Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves
After this past season, Andrew Wiggins has asserted himself a comfortable spot in the top 10 for years to come. His 3-point shooting has developed him into a much more consistent scorer (35.6 percent) and significantly harder to guard. Defenders have to take his perimeter pump fakes seriously and try to contest. His athletic ability has always been there, as he’s able to use a quick burst to blow by bad defensive close outs.
As offense was a huge part in his come up last year (23.6 ppg), the defensive side of the ball is where his next level needs to come from. Wiggins has been a below averaged defender despite his freakish length and athleticism. The main concern for this isn’t athletically, but mentally.
It didn’t help that Minnesota had no shot in making the playoffs last season, which meant the drive to compete on both ends just wasn’t there. With a tenacious multi-time all-star in Jimmy Butler being added to this roster next season, this will change. Jimmy will not allow for young studs like KAT and Wiggins to waste their prime youth and not play defense. Look for a huge jump in competitiveness in both Towns and Wiggins in 2018.
6. Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics
One of the most underrated players on this list is Gordon Hayward. A massive part of Hayward’s underrated-ness was the team he played for. Utah was always a middle of the road playoff team who never really got over the hump during his time as a member of the Jazz.
They hardly ever had primetime games on ESPN or ABC, so outside of the basketball nerds (like me), the nation hasn’t gotten a full appreciation for Hayward’s talents.
Last season Hayward made a big leap by making his first All-Star game averaging 21.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, both career highs. Some of you may have heard, but Hayward was a free agent this offseason and signed with his former college head coach in Boston. With Hayward and Kyrie Irving as Celtics, this new roster has a lot of promise, and looks to be the favorite to be the 1 seed in the weaker Eastern Conference.
5. Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder
Paul George has been a tough player to peg. Pre-All-Star break, PG13 is a calm cool and collected player. He wont give you max effort but his 75 percent is still good for 20 a game. Post-All-Star break, PG13 is a killer. He’ll go at your throat and drop 35 on you with 20 in the fourth quarter alone.
He turns it on when he needs to, whether that be a good things or a bad thing. The bottom line is, he’s über talented, but wasn’t in love with being in Indiana.
The next chapter for Paul George is Oklahoma City where things already look brighter. He will be co-dominant with the MVP of the league Russell Westbrook in a place where he is happy. He is happy when he is competing for a championship, and with OKC’s current roster, that’s exactly what they will be doing.
Last season, George averaged 23.7 points on 39 percent shooting from 3. This is a brilliant fit for what the Thunder need. Spacing the floor, and knocking down shots behind the arch. The Thunder were dead last in the league last year in 3-point percentage. This is a match made in heaven for Paul George. He is slotted in at number 5 on this list of top small forwards, but with success in the immediate future for OKC, don’t be surprised if we see him get closer to the top.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
The Greek Freak is exploding onto the scene, doing things no one in the NBA has ever witnessed before. His combination of length, height, speed, and ball skills is literally one of a kind. He led the Bucks in points (22.9), rebounds (8.8), assists (5.4), steals (1.6), and blocks (1.9) per game last season. Oh and by the way, those are all career highs.
The next aspect for Giannis to improve is, of course, shooting from deep. Antetokounmpo shot just 27 percent from 3 last season and defenses can simply go underneath every screen in a halfcourt set. When guarding Giannis during set plays, it is known league wide to sag off a couple of steps below the 3-point arch, and even then he’s tough to stop.
The Greek Freak is the fourth best small forward in the NBA coming up on just his fifth season in the league. If he can develop a 3-point jimmy in the next couple years, the top three need to keep their head on a swivel.
3. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
This is where things get juicy. The top three small forwards in the league are franchise changers, world champions, and two-way monsters. Kawhi is the best perimeter defender in the league (don’t @ me). He came into the league playing suffocating defense on the worlds best offensive players. What has made Kawhi jump to third on this list is his constant and steady increase of production offensively.
Part of this is due to his slowly but surely shift to a one man wrecking crew in San Antonio. Yes, the Spurs still have incredible ball movement and unselfish play, but Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and even Lamarcus Aldridge are either gone, or not what they used to be.
Kawhi has emerged as their go to scorer, their main playmaker, and sometimes even their main ball handler in multiple sets. Kawhi averaged 25.5 points and 3.5 assists per game last season which were by far his career highs. Look for these numbers to only go up, the older and older the Spurs keep getting.
2. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Winning a ring last year solidified KD at the two spot on this list. He has always been an unstoppable bucket getter, but this past season he has taken more pride on the defensive end than in years past. No one, and I mean no one, can stop Durant defensively one on one. He is the greatest scorer in our league to date. And he knows this.
To further his game, he has said in multiple interviews that the next step for him to take is to be a defensive stopper, which then would result into winning rings. It doesn’t hurt to be on a team with Steph, Klay, and Draymond either.
Kevin Durant’s move to join the Warriors was slamming the door shut on one chapter of his life, and moving on to the next. He has proven what he can do on an individual level, now the next step for building his legacy is titles. Plural. And it looks as though he has set a solid foundation on doing just that. I am as big of a fan as any when it comes to the next guy on this list, but Kevin Durant is not as far from him as you think.
-
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The alpha male. LeBron James has ruled the basketball world for the last 10 years and it’s crazy to think he may just be entering his prime. No one, in any sport has been as durable and as consistently great as LeBron.
Last season, he set his career high for rebounds (8.6) and assists (8.7) per game at the age of 32. He shot nearly 55 percent from the field to go along with 36 percent from beyond the arc. His last five games of the 2017 season happened to be the best five statistical games LeBron has ever played in his legendary career (33.6 ppg, 12 rpg, 10 apg on 56 percent shooting).
Oh yeah, and that was against the greatest team to ever be assembled in history during the NBA Finals.
Must Read: Five Big-Name NBA Players Who Could Find Themselves On The Trade Block Next
The fact of the matter is, no one knows what LeBron’s future has in store. LeBron himself might not even know what his next step is. In 2018, he will be in his last year of his contract as a Cleveland Cavalier. With the super-duper team out West, LeBron has a major mountain to climb in order to add to his legacy with championship rings. Whether you like him or not, everyone can admit that they are witnessing greatness.