If you were to compare basketball positions to boxing weight classes, there’s no question that the small forwards are the heavyweights in the game. In boxing, typically the heavyweights are the most popular/best fighters. At the state the game is at right now, the small forwards are the best players.
While all other positions are definitive, small forward is not. A guard is a guard and a big man is a big man, but a small forward can be both. There aren’t many specialty players at this position. Guards can be scorers or distributors. Bigs can be scorers, rebounders, or defensive specialists. But small forwards can be all three rolled into one. That’s why they’re heavyweights of basketball.
No other position requires you to have size combined with skill and athleticism. Chances are, at any other position you can have at least one of those traits and be a pretty good player. At small forward it’s necessary for you to have all three.
That’s why it’s such a unique position and that’s why it’s home to the three best basketball players in the world. Over the years, those three guys have set the standard for the position. That’s why it’s become so important for small forwards to have a mix of size, skills and athleticism in today’s game. Some guys have a better mix than others, and that’s what sets the greats apart from the rest of the bunch.
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Honorable Mention:
Tobias Harris
Nicolas Batum
Thaddeus Young
10. CHANDLER PARSONS: 15.5 ppg, 3.5 apg, 5.3 rpg
Who would’ve expected that Chandler Parsons would be a top-10 scorer at his position in his second year in the league? Not many, that’s for sure. At Florida, Parsons played more of an inside game. He never really showcased his complete skill-set as a Gator because of the system Billy Donovan had him playing in. So when the time came for Parsons to get drafted, nobody knew his true capabilities. He was selected 38th overall in the draft, but now folks can finally see that he really should’ve been a lottery pick.
Parsons took his game to a new level this season. With the addition of James Harden, the Rockets adopted a new playing style and it’s a system tailor-made for Parsons’ abilities. His specialties as a player are his spot-up shooting and his ability to play in transition. With Harden creating, he can spot up for open looks all day long and the speed the Rockets play at is right up his ally as well. If Parsons continues to improve at the rate he is now, he could be an All-Star next season. Just look at what Paul George was able to do three years in.
9. DANILO GALLINARI: 16.2 ppg, 2.5 apg, 5.2 rpg
After Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari is the most important player for the Denver Nuggets. Although the Nuggets were still a pretty good team after losing him to an ACL injury, his absence was definitely felt, especially in the first-round series against Golden State. Gallinari’s 16.2 points a night was good enough for second-best on the Nuggets behind only Lawson. His size at the position, as well as his shooting ability, has made him a special player. Even though Gallinari isn’t the most athletic player at the small forward position, his combination of size and skill makes up for it. Gallinari is 6-10 and has range out to 30 feet. All he has to improve on is his athleticism and his ballhandling ability and he could be an All-Star very soon.
8. LUOL DENG: 16.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.3 rpg
After it was announced that Derrick Rose would likely miss the entire season this year, the responsibility to lead the team offensively fell on Luol Deng’s shoulders. He responded by earning his second All-Star appearance. His game is about as solid as it gets across the board. He doesn’t have one thing he’s exceptionally special at, but he’s solid in all facets of the game.
Luol Deng holds a ton of value to the Chicago Bulls because he helps them in all areas. Offensively he’s able to play inside and outside, but defensively is where Deng helps the Bulls most. With his combination of size and quickness, Deng is able to guard multiple positions and is usually assigned the responsibility of guarding the best player on the opposing team. Hopefully for Chicago’s sake he doesn’t miss too many more games in this Bulls/Heat series.
7. PAUL PIERCE: 18.6 ppg, 4.8 apg, 6.3 rpg
Another quality season in the books for the Truth. At this point in his career, he knows his best days are behind him, but he doesn’t let that stop him. In his 15th season, Pierce was still able to score the basketball at a top-five level among small forwards. He’s a player that opposing teams still have to worry about stopping. After losing Rajon Rondo (the NBA’s assist leader this season), Pierce felt even more responsibility to lead the Celtics offensively. His numbers improved over the last three months of the season in an effort to fill the void left by Rondo.
There’s no question that Rajon Rondo is the best player on the Boston Celtics. But Paul Pierce is their leader and most reliable player. When it’s all said and done, Paul Pierce will be remembered as one of the greatest Celtics of all-time. Not many players on this list can say that with confidence about the team they play for.
6. JOSH SMITH: 17.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 8.4 rpg
It was an up and down season for Josh Smith. It’s seems as if he’s outgrown the Atlanta Hawks and is ready for a new team. But it also seems he believes he’s worth more than he actually is. The Atlanta Hawks were taking offers for Smith leading up to the trade deadline, but didn’t get any offers worth entertaining. In the final year of his contract, Smith put up solid numbers. But it wasn’t quite good enough to really impress other teams.
This season was supposed to be Josh Smith’s breakout year. With Joe Johnson out of Atlanta, more opportunities opened up for Smith to show what type of leader he can be, but he didn’t take full advantage of that opportunity. This was the year he was supposed to make his first All-Star team. This was the year he was supposed to have a career year and show other teams that he can be a top-five player at his position. This was the year the Hawks were supposed to send him off in a blockbuster deal. Unfortunately, none of that happened and we learned nothing new about Josh Smith.
We already know he can be a great player on occasion. We know he’s primarily an inside player. We know he can block shots, and we know he’s athletic. What we don’t know is if he’s capable of leading a team and being that first option offensively. Without much of an outside game it’s hard to see him doing that. The bottom line is Josh Smith hasn’t proven that he’s worth max money yet. The Hawks definitely aren’t going to give it to him and with the way his career has stalled out it’s hard to see another team cashing out on him. Regardless if he never improves, he’s still a great asset to any team. Maybe he’s just not meant to be the guy.
5. RUDY GAY: 18.2 ppg, 2.7 apg, 6.1 rpg
The Rudy Gay trade to Toronto came as a bit of a head-scratcher to some folks at the time, but now it’s easy to see that the trade made perfect sense. Rudy Gay was always a big part of what the Grizzlies were doing. He’s everything you want in a small forward. He has that combination of size, athleticism and skill that you need to be a top-five player at the position, but he’s never quite reached his potential offensively.
Gay was ready for the Grizzlies to sort of commit to him as the guy, but they were hesitant to do so, and for good reason. Sometimes teams can make addition by subtraction. With the style of play the Grizzlies believed was best for them, Rudy Gay was really just getting in the way. The Grizzlies main priority was playing through Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Rudy Gay didn’t exactly fit in that style of play. Sure, he’s capable of being the guy on a team, as you can see now in Toronto. That just wasn’t going to happen in Memphis so they had to set him free.
It won’t be long before Rudy Gay becomes an All-Star. Now that he’s able to feel like the guy, it’s going to bring a new level of confidence to his game and it’ll show in his play. He has all the tools, he just needed a fresh start. Now that he has that, keep an eye out for him in the upcoming seasons.
4. PAUL GEORGE: 17.4 ppg, 4.1 apg, 7.6 rpg
Paul George may have made the fastest and most unexpected rise to All-Star status we’ve seen in recent memory. With Danny Granger out for the majority of the season, Paul George really stepped up and became the leader of the team. In terms of small forwards, George has the perfect combination of size, skill and athleticism. He’s proven he can be a lights-out shooter and an above-average rebounder. He also has the height, the length and the athleticism to be an elite defender.
LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony are the right now, but Paul George is the future of NBA small forwards. Those three guys are obviously in a class of their own, but after excluding those three, there’s no question that George has already become one of the best. The season he had this year propelled him into a national spotlight and now he knows he has the potential to become one of the best young players in the NBA. When you talk about the best guys in the league under 25 years old, Paul George is somewhere at the top of the list, regardless of position.
The Pacers are currently knotted up with the Knicks at 1-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Don’t be surprised if the Most Improved Player of the Year outplays Carmelo Anthony for the rest of the series. With the season he’s been having, I’m sure Paul George isn’t the only one that believes he’s capable of doing so.
3. CARMELO ANTHONY: 28.7 ppg, 2.6 apg, 6.9 rpg
Carmelo Anthony has brought the Knicks back. At 54-28, they had their best season since ’96-97. They’ve made it to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the turn of the century and they have Carmelo to thank for all of that. He had the Knicks in great standing all year long, especially with his tremendous push late in the season (he averaged about 37 points and 10 rebounds in April). Carmelo was able to accomplish all that without the help of a top-10 scorer on his team. That’s something both Kevin Durant and LeBron James can’t say, and that’s part of the reason ‘Melo was the only other player to receive a first-place MVP vote.
What’s so special about Carmelo is his unmatched skill-set. His array of shots and different ways of scoring the basketball make him the most unique scorer in the game. ‘Melo has so many different ways of putting the ball in the basket that it allows him to take advantage of his matchups on a nightly basis. That’s something only him and LeBron James can do at the small forward position.
After being criticized for being selfish by the media last season, ‘Melo came into this season with the desire of becoming more of an all-around player. Early on, he showed an effort to be more selfless on the court and you could tell he wasn’t being himself. When ‘Melo tries too hard to get his teammates involved, it seems too unnatural and he takes himself out of his game. Eventually, he realized that and went back to being the pure scorer that he is.
Despite the criticism, he finally accepts that’s just the player he is and he’s okay with that as long as it translates to wins. The bottom line is, when he’s firing on all cylinders it’s contagious for the Knicks. They support ‘Melo’s score-first mentality and it’s proven to be a successful formula for them. It’s no secret that ‘Melo’s a high-volume shooter (highest in the league to be exact) but the Knicks have found a way to build a system around those same high-volume shots. When debating who’s better between Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, I will give the edge to ‘Melo in the leadership category for his accomplishments this season. But that’s pretty much where it stops.
2. KEVIN DURANT: 28.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 7.9 rpg
It’s really hard to tell who’s better between Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. Both of them are playing at the highest level they’ve ever played at and there really isn’t much to separate the two. When debating who’s the best scorer in the NBA, half the people you encounter would say Durant and the other half would say ‘Melo. If you were to ask who’s a better player, half the people would say Durant and the other half would say ‘Melo. If you were to ask who had a better season (which is the question I’m addressing here) the majority of folks would probably say ‘Melo, and with good reason. But I beg to differ.
The deciding factor for me is efficiency. Kevin Durant had a PER rating of 28.35 this season compared to Carmelo’s rating of 24.83. And although it’s obvious that the two players are in different situations, (one guy plays with another top-10 scorer and the other guy doesn’t), that’s still no excuse for the gap in efficiency. Carmelo Anthony took an average of 22.2 field goal attempts per game and made an average of 10. Kevin Durant took an average of 17.7 field goal attempts per game and made nine of them. That’s an average of one more make on about five less shots. Clearly, Durant is a more efficient scorer.
Not only is he a more efficient scorer, but he’s also been a better all-around player. If you compare the stats, Durant averaged exactly one more rebound per game and exactly two more assists than Anthony on the season. I know that doesn’t sound like a huge difference but over the course of an 82-game season, it’s a bigger difference than it seems. Both players were able to lead their teams to at least 50 wins (OKC won 60). Both players are without a doubt the two best scores in the NBA. But one player is just more efficient than the other and that’s what it comes down to.
1. LeBRON JAMES: 26.8 ppg, 7.3 apg, 8.0 rpg
LeBron James could possibly end his career as the most efficient player the game has ever seen. To use the words of David Stern, there is an “unmatched level of excellence” that LeBron James carries himself with. In the encore season following his first championship, LeBron James won his fourth MVP award and led the Miami Heat to the overall best record in the NBA at 66-16.
Everything else LeBron James did this season was cool and all, but it was those 27-straight wins that really put an end to all discussion. If the Heat lost a few more games, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony would’ve both had a good chance at winning the award, but LeBron assured he wasn’t about to let that happen. According to NBA.com, James averaged 27 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists through the 27-game win streak. Those are numbers Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant aren’t quite capable of doing just yet. That’s what sets the King apart from the rest.
When you’re judging the best players in the world, there isn’t much aside from efficiency to separate them. LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony are the three most talented basketball players in the world and efficiency is all that separates them. LeBron is in a class of his own and Kevin Durant has a slight edge over Carmelo Anthony. At this point, there’s these three, then there’s everyone else at the small forward position. That’s why this spot is now the pinnacle of basketball excellence.
Are LeBron, KD and ‘Melo the three most talented players in the whole league?
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