After ranking the point guards, shooting guards and small forwards, we’re now on to the power forwards.
Following a rather controversial ranking of the shooting guards, there was a lot less debate about the rankings of the small forwards.
I had a conversation with some friends a while back, bemoaning the lack of quality, two-way power forwards in the NBA. In fact, I challenged them to name one very good two-way center under the age of 30 (they had to be very good on both ends of the court). They couldn’t. The power forward position seems to have been separated into those who score, but don’t defend much, and those who defend, but don’t score much.
Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and even Pau Gasol seem to be the last of a dying breed of power forwards who are game changers on both ends of the floor.
Now, Al Horford probably would have fit that description if he played his natural position of power forward, but he’s been the Hawks starting center since he was drafted, so he wasn’t included in either that argument or my rankings.
The two young power forwards of the future, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, both leave defense to their teammates, which is probably okay because when they do play it they aren’t very good.
For the rankings, I included some players who have played center last season, but have been considered power forwards for most of their careers, like Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett.
I have included Kevin Love’s stats from 2012 (other than his individual defensive stats, which I don’t have access to) since he only played 18 games last season.
|
Player
|
PER
|
Rank
|
WS
|
Rank
|
WS48
|
Rank
|
WP48
|
Rank
|
WP
|
Rank
|
| Kevin Love* |
25.4
|
1
|
10.0
|
2
|
0.223
|
1
|
0.226
|
3
|
10.1
|
4
|
| Tim Duncan |
24.4
|
2
|
8.3
|
7
|
0.191
|
3
|
0.230
|
1
|
10.0
|
5
|
| Blake Griffin |
22.4
|
3
|
10.6
|
1
|
0.196
|
2
|
0.178
|
8
|
9.7
|
6
|
| Amare Stoudemire |
22.1
|
4
|
2.7
|
30
|
0.191
|
3
|
0.108
|
19
|
1.5
|
29
|
| Anthony Davis |
21.7
|
5
|
6.1
|
17
|
0.167
|
8
|
0.174
|
9
|
6.7
|
15
|
| LaMarcus Aldridge |
20.4
|
6
|
7.2
|
13
|
0.124
|
21
|
0.081
|
24
|
4.7
|
19
|
| David West |
20.1
|
7
|
9.1
|
4
|
0.179
|
6
|
0.154
|
15
|
7.8
|
12
|
| Chris Bosh |
20.0
|
8
|
9.0
|
6
|
0.175
|
7
|
0.104
|
21
|
5.3
|
18
|
| Dirk Nowitzki |
19.8
|
9
|
5.0
|
22
|
0.145
|
16
|
0.108
|
19
|
3.7
|
22
|
| Paul Millsap |
19.8
|
9
|
7.6
|
9
|
0.154
|
13
|
0.150
|
16
|
7.4
|
13
|
| Serge Ibaka |
19.4
|
11
|
9.4
|
3
|
0.181
|
5
|
0.222
|
4
|
11.5
|
1
|
| Kevin Garnett |
19.2
|
12
|
5.6
|
19
|
0.133
|
19
|
0.090
|
22
|
3.8
|
20
|
| David Lee |
19.2
|
12
|
9.1
|
4
|
0.150
|
15
|
0.156
|
13
|
9.4
|
7
|
| Kenneth Faried |
18.5
|
14
|
7.8
|
9
|
0.167
|
8
|
0.228
|
2
|
10.7
|
2
|
| Ersan Ilyasova |
18.3
|
15
|
6.7
|
14
|
0.159
|
10
|
0.216
|
6
|
9.1
|
8
|
| Thaddeus Young |
18.2
|
16
|
7.4
|
11
|
0.136
|
18
|
0.149
|
17
|
8.1
|
11
|
| Ryan Anderson |
18.1
|
17
|
6.5
|
15
|
0.125
|
20
|
0.065
|
28
|
3.4
|
24
|
| Zach Randolph |
17.9
|
18
|
7.9
|
8
|
0.145
|
16
|
0.161
|
11
|
8.8
|
9
|
| Ed Davis |
17.8
|
19
|
5.4
|
20
|
0.159
|
10
|
0.217
|
5
|
7.3
|
14
|
| Josh Smith |
17.7
|
20
|
4.2
|
25
|
0.075
|
29
|
0.053
|
29
|
2.9
|
26
|
| Carl Landry |
17.6
|
21
|
6.2
|
16
|
0.159
|
10
|
0.162
|
10
|
6.3
|
16
|
| Derrick Favors |
17.5
|
22
|
4.4
|
23
|
0.117
|
22
|
0.155
|
14
|
5.8
|
17
|
| Amir Johnson |
17.3
|
23
|
7.3
|
12
|
0.151
|
14
|
0.216
|
6
|
10.5
|
3
|
| Carlos Boozer |
17.1
|
24
|
5.7
|
18
|
0.108
|
24
|
0.067
|
26
|
3.6
|
23
|
| Pau Gasol |
16.7
|
25
|
3.7
|
26
|
0.107
|
25
|
0.111
|
18
|
3.8
|
20
|
| Luis Scola |
16.7
|
25
|
4.4
|
23
|
0.096
|
28
|
0.007
|
30
|
0.3
|
30
|
| Tristan Thompson |
16.1
|
27
|
5.2
|
21
|
0.098
|
27
|
0.159
|
12
|
8.5
|
10
|
| Elton Brand |
15.2
|
28
|
3.4
|
28
|
0.107
|
25
|
0.084
|
23
|
2.7
|
27
|
| Jason Thompson |
14.6
|
29
|
3.6
|
27
|
0.075
|
29
|
0.067
|
26
|
3.2
|
25
|
| Taj Gibson |
14.4
|
30
|
3.3
|
29
|
0.109
|
23
|
0.072
|
25
|
2.2
|
28
|
For the most part, there probably aren’t a whole lost of surprises here, but there might be a few.
Kenneth Faried does well in WS, but is absolutely LOVED by WP, in large part because it favours defensive rebounding so much. To me this is an example of the flaws of this system, as WP considers Faried an elite player. In fact, he has the 6th highest WP in the entire league. I like Faried. But he’s not that good.
Pau Gasol had a horrible year, last season, and while it’s likely won’t be as bad this season, there’s a good chance last year wasn’t a blip but rather an indication of a dropoff in play.
Raptor fans might look longingly at Ed Davis’ numbers, since, per 48 minutes, he did well in both WS and WP, as did Amir Johnson.
|
Player
|
TS%
|
Rank
|
TRB%
|
Rank
|
OR%
|
Rank
|
DRR%
|
Rank
|
Stl Rate
|
Rank
|
Blk Rate
|
Rank
|
| Amare Stoudemire |
63.7
|
1
|
12.4
|
27
|
10
|
11
|
15.1
|
30
|
0.8
|
28
|
2.7
|
12
|
| Serge Ibaka |
61.2
|
2
|
14.2
|
15
|
11.1
|
7
|
17
|
28
|
0.6
|
30
|
7.4
|
1
|
| Carl Landry |
60.5
|
3
|
14.2
|
15
|
10.9
|
8
|
17.3
|
26
|
0.9
|
26
|
1.3
|
24
|
| Chris Bosh |
59.2
|
4
|
12.6
|
26
|
7
|
26
|
17.6
|
24
|
1.4
|
14
|
3.4
|
10
|
| Amir Johnson |
58.7
|
5
|
15.6
|
12
|
11.4
|
6
|
20
|
20
|
1.8
|
7
|
3.8
|
9
|
| Kenneth Faried |
57.3
|
6
|
18.3
|
4
|
13.2
|
2
|
23.2
|
9
|
1.8
|
7
|
2.9
|
11
|
| Blake Griffin |
57.2
|
7
|
15.2
|
14
|
8.7
|
15
|
21.5
|
12
|
2
|
4
|
1.6
|
22
|
| Kevin Love* |
56.8
|
8
|
19.0
|
3
|
11.6
|
5
|
26.4
|
3
|
1.1
|
23
|
0.9
|
28
|
| Dirk Nowitzki |
56.5
|
9
|
12.2
|
30
|
2.5
|
30
|
21.5
|
12
|
1.2
|
17
|
1.7
|
20
|
| David Lee |
56.1
|
10
|
16.8
|
8
|
8.5
|
17
|
24.5
|
6
|
1.2
|
17
|
0.6
|
30
|
| Ed Davis |
56.1
|
10
|
16.7
|
10
|
10.9
|
8
|
22.8
|
10
|
1.2
|
17
|
4.2
|
7
|
| Anthony Davis |
55.6
|
12
|
16.8
|
8
|
10.5
|
10
|
23.5
|
8
|
2.2
|
3
|
5.1
|
4
|
| Tim Duncan |
55.5
|
13
|
19.3
|
2
|
7.3
|
24
|
29.6
|
1
|
1.2
|
17
|
6.4
|
2
|
| Ersan Ilyasova |
55.2
|
14
|
13.9
|
19
|
7.9
|
20
|
20.3
|
18
|
1.7
|
10
|
1.3
|
24
|
| Ryan Anderson |
55.1
|
15
|
12.4
|
27
|
8.9
|
14
|
15.9
|
29
|
0.9
|
26
|
1
|
27
|
| Paul Millsap |
54.9
|
16
|
13.6
|
21
|
8.6
|
16
|
18.8
|
22
|
2.3
|
2
|
2.7
|
12
|
| David West |
54.4
|
17
|
13.0
|
25
|
6.8
|
27
|
18.8
|
22
|
1.6
|
12
|
2.1
|
18
|
| Thaddeus Young |
53.9
|
18
|
12.3
|
29
|
7.6
|
22
|
17.2
|
27
|
2.7
|
1
|
1.6
|
21
|
| Kevin Garnett |
53.5
|
19
|
15.5
|
13
|
4.5
|
29
|
25.8
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
2.4
|
16
|
| Jason Thompson |
53.3
|
20
|
13.6
|
21
|
8.4
|
18
|
19.5
|
21
|
1.1
|
23
|
2.1
|
18
|
| Derrick Favors |
53.2
|
21
|
17.8
|
5
|
11.9
|
4
|
24
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
5.7
|
3
|
| LaMarcus Aldridge |
52.7
|
22
|
13.9
|
19
|
7.2
|
25
|
20.9
|
16
|
1.2
|
17
|
2.5
|
15
|
| Taj Gibson |
51.8
|
23
|
13.6
|
21
|
9.7
|
12
|
17.5
|
25
|
1
|
25
|
4.7
|
5
|
| Luis Scola |
51.6
|
24
|
14.1
|
17
|
8.1
|
19
|
20.4
|
17
|
1.6
|
12
|
1.2
|
26
|
| Carlos Boozer |
51.2
|
25
|
17.4
|
6
|
7.8
|
21
|
27.2
|
2
|
1.4
|
14
|
0.8
|
29
|
| Tristan Thompson |
51.2
|
25
|
17.3
|
7
|
13.2
|
2
|
22.1
|
11
|
1.2
|
17
|
2.2
|
17
|
| Pau Gasol |
51.0
|
27
|
14.0
|
18
|
7.6
|
22
|
20.1
|
19
|
0.7
|
29
|
2.7
|
12
|
| Zach Randolph |
50.7
|
28
|
19.5
|
1
|
13.8
|
1
|
25.1
|
5
|
1.3
|
16
|
1
|
27
|
| Josh Smith |
50.1
|
29
|
13.6
|
21
|
5.8
|
28
|
21.3
|
15
|
1.8
|
7
|
3.9
|
8
|
| Elton Brand |
49.9
|
30
|
15.7
|
10
|
9.7
|
12
|
21.5
|
12
|
1.7
|
10
|
4.6
|
6
|
What’s important to note here is that no one in the top 6 were either the first or second option on the team, and in many cases not even the third or fourth one. It’s easier to shoot a higher percentage when you the defenses aren’t keyed on you. Of course, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Dirk Nowitzki took more shots than anyone else on their team, and they all finished in the top 10 in True Shooting Percentage, thanks to a lot of foul shots and close shots for Griffin and a combination of a lot of three point shots and foul shots for Love and Nowitzki.
Clearly, you can shoot efficiently while still being your team’s main scorer, something players like Josh Smith and Zach Randolph should take note of.
While Stoudemire was an efficient scorer, off the bench last season, he was awful in the other above categories.
Like Stoudemire, some of the older power forwards, like Chris Bosh, Pau Gasol and Nowitzki struggled on the boards, probably caused by a lack of mobility that seems to happen when you get older (something I can attest to). Rebounds they would have gotten five years ago are out of range today.
While Amir is an efficient scorer, and good on the offensive boards, he is only average overall, partially because he is a below average defensive rebounder at his position.
|
Player
|
PPP
|
Rank
|
Post up
|
Rank
|
P&R
|
Rank
|
Spot up
|
Rank
|
DRating
|
Rank
|
DWS
|
Rank
|
xRAPM
|
Rank
|
| Zach Randolph |
0.75
|
1
|
0.76
|
8
|
0.83
|
13
|
0.83
|
6
|
99
|
2
|
4.7
|
2
|
1.0
|
23
|
| Kevin Garnett |
0.76
|
2
|
0.64
|
1
|
0.81
|
10
|
0.88
|
10
|
99
|
2
|
3.8
|
8
|
5.9
|
2
|
| Taj Gibson |
0.76
|
2
|
0.75
|
5
|
0.96
|
23
|
0.84
|
7
|
101
|
6
|
2.3
|
19
|
2.6
|
8
|
| Dirk Nowitzki |
0.8
|
4
|
0.73
|
4
|
0.8
|
7
|
0.79
|
2
|
106
|
22
|
1.8
|
26
|
1.3
|
17
|
| David Lee |
0.81
|
5
|
0.84
|
15
|
0.6
|
1
|
0.82
|
4
|
104
|
16
|
3.7
|
9
|
1.1
|
19
|
| Josh Smith |
0.81
|
5
|
0.71
|
2
|
0.92
|
20
|
0.93
|
15
|
101
|
6
|
4.5
|
4
|
3.3
|
6
|
| David West |
0.81
|
5
|
0.89
|
21
|
0.97
|
24
|
0.81
|
3
|
99
|
2
|
4.7
|
2
|
2.3
|
10
|
| Pau Gasol |
0.82
|
8
|
0.75
|
5
|
0.87
|
15
|
0.88
|
10
|
106
|
22
|
1.7
|
27
|
1.6
|
14
|
| Chris Bosh |
0.82
|
8
|
0.81
|
13
|
0.72
|
4
|
0.85
|
8
|
103
|
14
|
3.4
|
11
|
2.0
|
12
|
| Blake Griffin |
0.83
|
10
|
0.88
|
20
|
0.61
|
2
|
0.95
|
18
|
102
|
10
|
3.9
|
7
|
1.4
|
16
|
| Carlos Boozer |
0.84
|
11
|
0.9
|
24
|
0.95
|
21
|
0.72
|
1
|
100
|
5
|
4.3
|
5
|
1.1
|
19
|
| Tristan Thompson |
0.84
|
11
|
0.79
|
9
|
0.91
|
18
|
1.01
|
24
|
108
|
27
|
2.0
|
23
|
1.0
|
23
|
| Derrick Favors |
0.86
|
13
|
0.92
|
26
|
0.81
|
10
|
0.87
|
9
|
101
|
6
|
2.9
|
13
|
3.1
|
7
|
| LaMarcus Aldridge |
0.86
|
13
|
0.71
|
2
|
0.98
|
25
|
0.91
|
14
|
107
|
25
|
2.3
|
29
|
2.1
|
11
|
| Thaddeus Young |
0.86
|
13
|
0.89
|
21
|
0.68
|
3
|
0.94
|
16
|
103
|
14
|
3.7
|
9
|
1.7
|
13
|
| Elton Brand |
0.87
|
16
|
0.8
|
11
|
0.88
|
16
|
0.96
|
21
|
102
|
10
|
2.2
|
22
|
2.6
|
8
|
| Paul Millsap |
0.87
|
16
|
0.8
|
11
|
0.8
|
7
|
1.01
|
24
|
104
|
16
|
2.9
|
13
|
3.4
|
5
|
| Tim Duncan |
0.88
|
18
|
0.75
|
5
|
1.12
|
30
|
0.95
|
18
|
95
|
1
|
4.9
|
1
|
6.3
|
1
|
| Amir Johnson |
0.88
|
18
|
0.84
|
15
|
0.73
|
5
|
0.94
|
16
|
104
|
16
|
2.9
|
13
|
3.6
|
3
|
| Luis Scola |
0.88
|
18
|
0.83
|
14
|
1.04
|
28
|
0.82
|
4
|
107
|
25
|
1.9
|
24
|
0.7
|
25
|
| Jason Thompson |
0.88
|
18
|
0.79
|
9
|
0.98
|
25
|
0.9
|
13
|
111
|
29
|
0.9
|
28
|
0.6
|
26
|
| Serge Ibaka |
0.89
|
22
|
0.84
|
15
|
0.91
|
18
|
1.03
|
26
|
101
|
6
|
4.1
|
6
|
3.5
|
4
|
| Ryan Anderson |
0.9
|
23
|
0.86
|
18
|
0.81
|
10
|
0.99
|
22
|
112
|
30
|
0.8
|
29
|
-2.9
|
30
|
| Ersan Ilyasova |
0.94
|
24
|
1.02
|
28
|
0.76
|
6
|
0.99
|
22
|
104
|
16
|
2.5
|
16
|
0.1
|
27
|
| Kenneth Faried |
0.95
|
25
|
0.89
|
21
|
0.95
|
21
|
1.15
|
29
|
102
|
10
|
3.4
|
11
|
1.1
|
19
|
| Ed Davis |
0.95
|
25
|
0.96
|
27
|
0.9
|
17
|
0.95
|
18
|
102
|
10
|
2.4
|
17
|
1.2
|
18
|
| Anthony Davis |
0.97
|
27
|
0.9
|
24
|
1
|
27
|
1.11
|
27
|
104
|
16
|
2.4
|
17
|
1.1
|
19
|
| Amare Stoudemire |
0.97
|
27
|
1.08
|
30
|
1.06
|
29
|
1.11
|
27
|
108
|
27
|
0.6
|
30
|
-1.3
|
29
|
| Carl Landry |
0.98
|
29
|
0.86
|
18
|
0.85
|
14
|
1.26
|
30
|
106
|
22
|
1.9
|
24
|
-1.2
|
28
|
| Kevin Love* |
1.03
|
30
|
1.03
|
29
|
0.8
|
7
|
0.88
|
10
|
104
|
16
|
2.3
|
29
|
1.5
|
15
|
As I’ve said previously, all of these defensive ratings are fairly flawed. Zach Randolph is NOT a very good defender, but because he plays beside one of the best in the league, and because Memphis is a very good defensive team, he does very well in all but the XRAPM rating.
Serge Ibaka, one of the better defenders in the league, at the power forward position, fairs poorly in the situational defensive stats, but not in the ratings.
And then there is Stoudemire, who is probably very appropriately ranked in all but the XRAPM rating.
Amir does pretty well across the board, which is probably where he should be. Amir has shown to be a good, but not great, overall defender.
Faried, despite his favourable WS and WP rankings, doesn’t not fair well in most of the defensive categories.
|
Player
|
Rank Avg
|
| Tim Duncan |
7.95
|
| Blake Griffin |
9.32
|
| Zach Randolph |
10.26
|
| Amir Johnson |
10.68
|
| Serge Ibaka |
10.74
|
| David Lee |
10.95
|
| Kenneth Faried |
11.05
|
| Kevin Garnett |
11.16
|
| Kevin Love* |
11.42
|
| Derrick Favors |
11.89
|
| David West |
12.21
|
| Chris Bosh |
12.32
|
| Paul Millsap |
12.68
|
| Anthony Davis |
13.47
|
| Ed Davis |
13.79
|
| Thaddeus Young |
14.74
|
| Dirk Nowitzki |
15.16
|
| Josh Smith |
15.53
|
| Ersan Ilyasova |
15.63
|
| Carlos Boozer |
15.68
|
| Tristan Thompson |
16.37
|
| Elton Brand |
16.58
|
| Taj Gibson |
16.63
|
| LaMarcus Aldridge |
16.63
|
| Carl Landry |
17.89
|
| Pau Gasol |
18.00
|
| Luis Scola |
20.47
|
| Amare Stoudemire |
20.68
|
| Ryan Anderson |
21.26
|
| Jason Thompson |
21.32
|
If you’re a Raptor fan, you have to like the ranking average for all the power forwards, which favours Amir’s overall positive finish in most categories.
On the other hand, one of the best young power forwards in the league, LaMarcus Aldridge, finishes horribly close to the bottom, maybe hinting he might be a tad overrated.
| Rank |
Player
|
| 1 |
Tim Duncan
|
| 2 |
Kevin Love*
|
| 3 |
Blake Griffin
|
| 4 |
LaMarcus Aldridge
|
| 5 |
Serge Ibaka
|
| 6 |
Chris Bosh
|
| 7 |
Kevin Garnett
|
| 8 |
Dirk Nowitzki
|
| 9 |
David West
|
| 10 |
David Lee
|
| 11 |
Paul Millsap
|
| 12 |
Ersan Ilyasova
|
| 13 |
Zach Randolph
|
| 14 |
Amir Johnson
|
| 15 |
Kenneth Faried
|
| 16 |
Thaddeus Young
|
| 17 |
Josh Smith
|
| 18 |
Pau Gasol
|
| 19 |
Anthony Davis
|
| 20 |
Derrick Favors
|
| 21 |
Carlos Boozer
|
| 22 |
Tristan Thompson
|
| 23 |
Ed Davis
|
| 24 |
Ryan Anderson
|
| 25 |
Carl Landry
|
| 26 |
Amare Stoudemire
|
| 27 |
Taj Gibson
|
| 28 |
Luis Scola
|
| 29 |
Elton Brand
|
| 30 |
Jason Thompson
|
While he can’t play 35 minutes per game, anymore, I had to put Tim Duncan at the top. There isn’t another power forward in the league who can play at both ends as well as Duncan, even at his advanced age.
While Love and Griffin are not good defensive player, they both are so productive, they almost make up for their weakness on the defensive end. I say almost because their respective teams will probably struggle with those two should they go deep into the playoffs.
Those who believe the Hawks are worse because Josh Smith is no longer with the team might want to take a closer look at Paul Millsap, who seems to be a better player than Smith.
Ersan Ilyasova played a lot of small forward last season, which probably negatively affected his stats, but he might be one of the most underrated power forwards in the league, right now. He scores efficiently from inside and out, is a very good rebounder and a decent defender. And he probably he one of the better contracts in the league, right now.
While Faried is loved by some advanced stats, the fact that he’s undersized, and thus struggles on defense, makes it difficult to rank him very high.
While Amir Johnson will never make an All Star team, Raptor fans should be very pleased to have such a good, all around power forward. I would say that position is the least of their worries, especially considering how few good two-way power forwards there are in the league.
