NBA Draft: Profiling the top 5 small forwards from the 2020 class

Profiling the top 5 small forwards that are expected to be included in the 2020 NBA Draft class.

As the NBA season rolled into the month of December, I found myself starting to watch some college basketball games as well. In addition, I also began doing some reading about some of the top players who will enter the 2020 NBA draft.

Now that the NBA season is currently on hold and the NCAA Tournament has been canceled, like that Algebra 1 class which I never thought I would use in real life (I actually taught it for three years), I will reveal based on my research, the top five forwards available in this summer’s draft.

Honorable Mention: Saddiq Bey – Villanova

Saddiq Bey is a native of Charlotte who is in his sophomore year at Villanova. He was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team, after a season in which he started 29 of the team’s 36 games where he averaged 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Among his highlights for this season, he scored a career-high 27 points to lead Villanova to an 80-69 victory over Penn on December 4. A few weeks later, Bey found the shooting touch. He hit eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Wildcats to an 80-66 win over Georgetown on January 11.

He was a unanimous selection to the All-Big East first team. He ranked seventh in the conference in scoring with a 16.1-point average overall, and his 17.3 points per game in league play tanked fifth. He led the Big East in 3-point shooting at 45.1 percent (48.4% in conference games) and knocked down 79 3s, averaging 2.55 per game.

Bey has the opportunity to be a lottery pick in this year’s draft. He is a versatile defender who is capable of guarding any position on the floor. He looks to create his own shot, he can post up smaller defenders, and will look to draw out bigger opponents to beat them off the dribble. His ability to score in so many ways reminds me of other NBA combo forwards such as Jeff Green and Marcus Morris.