NBA 2018-19 season: The top 10 power forwards today

Holla! Of late, we at Sportskeeda have put out ranking for the best point guards, shooting guards and small forwards in terms of expected impact during the 2018-19 season. While the title of this article reads 'Top 10 power forwards today', there's a couple of clarifications that I need to make clear before you take a deep dive into the article and look for the author in indignation:

(a) Anthony Davis will be the Pelicans' starting center this season. That much is clear from the preseason action that we've seen and the role he played during the playoffs last year. Therefore, he is disqualified from a list that he would easily have topped last season;

(b) Kristaps Porzingis is probably going to miss over 50 games this season. While he's arguably a lock for a top-two spot on this list based on his talent and his displays from the 2017-18 season pre-injury, we can't place an injured player on a list trying to gauge the impact of players in the upcoming season;

(c) Al Horford is a power forward, and that is where he's logged the majority of his minutes through the course of his 11-year career. But the Celtics will be starting Horford at the center role this season, as is obvious from the preseason action. This disqualifies him, like AD, from this list.

Without further ado, here's your list of top 10 power forwards today:

#10 Dario Saric

Dario Saric has blossomed into a versatile, do-it-all stretch 4 for the Philadelphia 76ers who is also one of the better secondary playmakers in the league. In his sophomore season, the Croatian big man put up 14.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists while connecting on 2.0 3-pointers per game. This he achieved on exemplary 45.3/39.3/86.0 shooting splits.

There was some concern about how Saric’s poor outside shooting as a rookie would affect the team’s offensive output when sharing the floor with Ben Simmons (a total non-shooter), but those worries were quelled with the improvements Saric made as a shooter over the 2017 offseason.

To go with his improved outside stroke, Saric continued his progression as a playmaker last season, although his lack of a quick first step may prevent him from ever being more than an average on-ball defender. But what he does provide to the Sixers even now is more than valuable for the franchise to make a deep playoff run this go-around.

#9 Derrick Favors

He may not be the most natural modern power forward, but Favors’ two-way impact earns him the #9 spot among the best 4s in the league. The Utah Jazz play a two-big lineup as part of their starting frontcourt, and Favors is an integral part of their setup, as evidenced by the contract he signed with the franchise this past summer that locks him into Salt Lake City for 3 more seasons.

While Favors' skillset translates better to a modern 5 than a 4, the Jazz don't have the personnel to run him as the kind of rim protector who is a help defender on every single drive to the rim. Nevertheless, even despite the evidence showing Favors should be playing the center position, he and Gobert manage to make things work just fine when they’re on the floor together.

With their bulky frontcourt in the game, the Jazz posted a strong +8.0 net rating last season. The expectations of him going forward will be the same: hustle, score from the mid-range when open, post up when required and defend stoutly. Favors even showed off a relatively good 3-point stroke for a player of his size last season.

#8 Nikola Mirotic

Mirotic was brought into the NBA as a stretch 4, but up until the 2017-18 season, he never really showed off his marksmanship for a long enough period of games to be regarded as something other than an outlier. Last season was, however, a time when he was excellent for the entirety of the season as well as the postseason, averaging an elite shooting percentage and acting as an able third fiddle to Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday.

Mirotic, Randle and Anthony Davis form what is, on paper, the best modern frontcourt in all of the NBA. Mirotic is expected to be a starter with Randle coming off the bench this season, which is what makes Mirotic's placement above him and on this list a justifiable decision - the former Laker was a viable candidate to make this list as well.

#7 Tobias Harris

The former Magic and Pistons power forward made a significant improvement in his game through the course of the summer of 2017 - adding a potent 3-point spot-up shot to his arsenal. After averaging below-league-average numbers from downtown during his first 6 seasons in the league, Harris ranked #14 among all qualified players in 3-point percentage for the 2017-18 season, shooting 41.4% from downtown.

However, Harris is anything but just a Kyle Korver-like spot-up-shooting threat. Over the course of his NBA career, Harris has blossomed into a well-rounded scorer from the midrange as well. He uses his quickness and a pristine, Carmelo Anthony-like shooting stroke to create mismatches against traditional big men, all of whom he's quicker than.

If only Harris were a more aggressive driver of the ball, he'd be able to use his excellent free throw shooting more productively in the form of points.

Nevertheless, 2018-19 will be Harris’ age-26 season, meaning he’ll be just entering his prime, so don’t be surprised if he does improve those two minor deficiencies and becomes an even more productive player next year.

#6 Aaron Gordon

Surrounded by more talent than he’s had in a while, and under the most stable front office and competent head coach he’s ever had, Aaron Gordon is going to be heading up the charts of the NBA's elite.

He’s got the handles of a guard and the physique and strength of a traditional power forward. What’s more, Gordon’s really turning into a solid playmaker, as he posted an 11.7 percent assist rate last year – a tremendous improvement from his seasons past.

The Arizona product averaged 17.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 three-pointers per game last year, shooting 43.4 percent from the floor and a career-best 33.6 percent from downtown (after starting off in the high 30s in this category) in 2017-18.

That outside shooting mark will have to improve to at least league average for him to rank among the top 5 players on this list at the next time of asking.

#5 Paul Millsap

A fully healthy Paul Millsap could have ensured the Nuggets' qualification to the postseason for the first time in 5 seasons last year. As fate would have it, he missed nearly half the season with a wrist injury as the Nuggets ran out of steam after initially adapting to his loss well.

Millsap is one of the most defensively versatile power forwards in the league, and an All-Defensive Team candidate at his best. He is a really good rebounder for his size (6'9"), and his repertoire of isolation moves from the low post allow him to be a dominant scorer when required - which is not often, as Millsap is a really good system player and can leverage the strengths of those around him to synthesize the best possible result for the team overall.

A healthy 2018-19 campaign will most likely see him back in playoff action after a gap of one summer, and this time it'll be in Mile High City.

#4 Kevin Love

Cleveland Cavaliers v Boston Celtics - Game Five

Though it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the Minnesota Kevin Love of old again, the former UCLA Bruin should get back to posting huge numbers next season. After all, he will now be the first option of an offense like his days in Minneapolis, when he set several records for streaks of double-double games right from his third season onwards - although playoff qualification wasn't one of the things he was able to achieve there.

It might have been forgotten since Kevin Love has primarily been a small ball 5 or a stretch 4 since getting traded to Cleveland, but the 6'11" big man has always been one of the best post-up players in the league in addition to being a sharpshooter from 3-point range. Love has the whole offensive package sorted, and one can assume that in a first-option role, he'll be asked to post up and create a whole lot more than in the past 4 seasons.

#3 Blake Griffin

What puts Blake above Kevin Love in the pecking order of the best power forwards in the league is his ability to dish the ball to teammates at an elite level. Griffin was a legitimate MVP candidate during the 2014-15 season because of this ability of his - although injuries have sapped him of his previously elite explosiveness and stopped him from playing ball for an entire season fully fit.

Griffin is one of the biggest mismatches in the league. Having worked hard and steady at developing a jumpshot, Griffin now boasts of several clutch moments when he's come through for both the Pistons and previously, the Clippers.

His 5-year, $171 million contract may be construed as an overpay by some people, but there is no statistical explanation for why he's undeserving of it when he's fit. He's a do-it-all forward who can get it done on both ends of the floor.

#2 Draymond Green

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors - Game One

The 2016-17 Kia Defensive Player of the Year continued in the same vein the following season as he has through the entirety of his career - quarterbacking the league's best playoff defense and setting up some of the greatest shooters in the history of the game with dimes left, right and center.

Short of scoring buckets on his own game after game, there is not a single basketball skill that Draymond is not elite at. He has among the highest basketball IQs in the league, and he leverages that to full effect on both ends of the floor.

Simply put, Draymond is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and at 6'7" and 230 pounds, also one of its most dominant interior defenders. Think about that for a second.

The Warriors may score tons of points every single game because of their offense, but it's Draymond who unlocks the heart and soul of the team on a nightly basis on the defensive end.

#1 LaMarcus Aldridge

Who is the lone power forward this season to have anchored multiple playoff teams on both ends of the floor through the course of his career? Who is the only power forward this season who can get his points every single night no matter who is guarding? Who is the best low post player in the league today? Who is the primary reason the Spurs are still considered a playoff team by most NBA fans?

The answer to all of those questions is also the answer to the next, slightly damning question for NBA fans: who is the most disrespected franchise player in the NBA?

LaMarcus Aldridge staged a resurgence in his Spurs career after initially putting in a trade request at the start of last offseason. Always knocked for his defense before joining the Spurs (even though he was an above-average defender from the low post before his move), Aldridge is now a true two-way stud with whom few big men, if any, can keep pace with on either end of the floor.

The Spurs will go only as far as Aldridge takes them this season.

Edited by Amar Anand