Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesHere is our fourth of five positional breakdowns. Today we are looking at power forwards. This is a very solid and quite deep group, evidenced by a guy like Kevin Garnett being 17th in the rankings. And there is even more new blood fighting their way up the ranks with rookies like Blake Griffin and Demarcus Cousins. So let’s get to the rankings and see how things shake out at power forward, as well as looking at some sleepers and bust candidates. Dirk Nowitzki – Dallas MavericksPau Gasol Reebok Oakland Raiders #21 Nnamdi Asomugha Realtree camo Jersey
– Los Angeles LakersAmare Stoudemire – New York KnicksDavid Lee – Golden State WarriorsChris Bosh – Miami HeatJosh Smith – Atlanta HawksTim Duncan – San Antonio SpursDavid West – New Orleans HornetsTroy Murphy – New Jersey NetsLamarcus Aldridge – Portland Trail BlazersZack Randolph – Memphis GrizzliesKevin Love – Minnesota TimberwolvesAntwan Jamison – Cleveland CavaliersJeff Green – Oklahoma City ThunderAndray Blatche – Washington WizardsLuis Scola – Houston RocketsKevin Garnett – Boston CelticsCarlos Boozer – Chicago BullsPaul Millsap – Utah JazzAnthony Randolph – New York KnicksRashard Lewis – Orlando MagicLamar Odom – Los Angeles LakersBlake Griffin - Los Angeles ClippersChanning Frye – Phoenix SunsDemarcus Cousins – Sacramento KingsBoris Diaw – Charlotte BobcatsJ.J. Hickson – Cleveland CavaliersAl Harrington – Denver NuggetsElton Brand – Philadelphia 76ersTyrus Thomas – Charlotte BobcatsCharlie Villanueva – Detroit PistonsDrewReebok Pittsburgh Steelers #86 Hines Ward Realtree camo Jersey
Gooden – Milwaukee BucksAmir Johnson – Toronto RaptorsCarl Landry – Sacramento KingsJason Thompson – Sacramento KingsKenyon Martin – Denver NuggetsTaj Gibson – Chicago BullsAnderson Varejao – Cleveland CavaliersTiago Splitter – San Antonio SpursAnthony Tolliver – Minnesota Timberwolves The number two through four spots are close, but Gasol gets the slight nod over Amare. While Stoudemire has the better offensive game, Gasol’s rebounding and blocks put him just over the top. Not to mention he’s an excellent big man passer.Not as much is made of the effect of going to Miami on Chris Bosh. In Miami Bosh will be the third option, so he won’t be taking 16.5 shots per game, probably more like around 13 – 14. That said, those should be some very good looks at the hoop and he should still be able to get 20 points a game. Lebron will steal around a board or two a game and I think Bosh ends up with around 9 per game. 20 and nine are still pretty good numbers.Emeka Okafor’s presence in New Orleans took a toll on David West’s numbers last year, both blocks and rebounding. For the first time in three seasons West averaged less than eight rebounds per game, finishing the year at 7.4. Okafor hasn’t gone anywhere and chances are West’s numbers don’t jump much higher than eight anymore, but 20 points and eight rebounds isn’t far Reebok Pittsburgh Steelers James Harrison Realtree camo Jersey
off from where I project Bosh to finish.Everything inside of me wants to put Kevin Love in the top 10 because it seems I am developing a man crush on the whole Timberwolves team. Al Jefferson is gone and Kevin Love is, for all intents and purposes, the man in Minnesota. I expect big things, but I am trying to remember he hasn’t averaged 30 minutes a game yet and he only started 22 games last year. But in those 22 games, he averaged 13.3 rebounds! He’s got the potential to blow up this year and if his offensive game improves he could average 18 points and 12 boards per game.A lot of people think Luis Scola is going to be effected negatively by Yao’s return, but I don’t see the cause for concern. Scola played alongside Yao in 2008-2009 and had just as many rebounds as he did last year without Yao. And also keep in mind Yao is only playing 24 minutes per game here. So the only effect I can see might be Scola losing a shot or two, but I can’t see it being anything dramatic enough to bring him under 15 points a game.Anthony Randolph is a bit of a wildcard to me this year, and I think some love him more than me, though his spot in these rankings, I feel, is quite generous. There is no doubt the potential is there for him to become one of the better big men in the league, especially considering he’s only 21. Now that he doesn’t have Don Nelson breathing down his neck he should see more playing time in New York, if he can stay healthy, which he’s had a hard time doing. But still, while playing time will increase, don’t expect 35 minutes a game. Health seems to be the only thing that can stop Randolph from being an all-star, but don’t expect him on the team this year.Demarcus Cousins is moving quickly up my board, even since my Top 200 rankings. This is for two reasons, the first of which is his preseason so far. I know it’s only the preseason, but Cousins looks really good out there Reebok San Francisco 49ers #21 Frank GORE Realtree camo Jersey
right now. He’s got to learn to keep his head on straight and stay out of foul trouble, but it’s obvious that he has big time skills. The second reason he is moving up is Samuel Dalembert is hurt. So instead of being the backup center and in the middle of a three-way logjam at power forward, Cousins will now start the season at Center. Dalembert shouldn’t miss much more than a month of the regular season, but if Cousins can make an impression he’ll see his playing time stick, either at power forward or center.Taj Gibson has a similar opportunity as Cousins in that he’ll be the starting power forward when the season tips off thanks to an injury to Carlos Boozer. Unlike Cousins though, Gibson is just keeping the spot warm until Boozer can come back. While he is starting, Taj is a decent play in all formats, as he should progress a little bit from an already solid rookie season. However, once Boozer is back his minutes will tumble, so you’re really just renting him for about a month or so.Sleeper: Amir Johnson. Here is another guy whose potential has my mind swimming with excitement and I can’t help but reach a round or two to get him in drafts, just in case he explodes. He has been brought along slowly between Toronto and Detroit, but this year he’s poised to be the starting power forward and get a chance to see what he can do over 25 – 30 minutes per game and hopefully even more.Consider that in the five games Amir started last year he averaged 17.8 points, six rebounds and one block. He won’t likely produce that kind of point output over the course of a full season, but he should certainly score double digits. And the rebounding and block number should also shoot up, especially without Chris Bosh in town.Amir is essentially the team’s best rebounder and he could easily clear eight rebounds and come close to two blocks a game, as he just has a natural talent for blocking shots. If he lives up to Reebok Washington Redskins #98 ORAKPO Realtree camo Jersey
his potential, you’ll be getting one of the steals of the draft at the point that you can grab him.Deep Sleeper: Hakim Warrick. Channing Frye is going to be the starting power forward in Phoenix and I actually like him in that spot quite a bit. However, there should be playing time to spare and Warrick could get close to 20 minutes a game, especially if he makes use of the time he has on the court.He’s a better rebounder than Frye and reports are that Phoenix likes him as a partner with Nash to run the pick and roll now that Amare is gone. Warrick could possibly still manage double digits in points if he gets those 20 minutes per game in.Bust: Zack Randolph. This one might be a bit of a long shot, but I think the pieces might be in place for Randolph to regress a bit coming off the best season of his career. I think he is still going to put up solid numbers, but I think, as the guys around him get better, his numbers will be affected.I think O.J. Mayo has the potential to take a big step forward this year and go over 20 points per game as his shot improves. If he does that I think it’s going to cut into Randolph’s scoring a little.Along the same line of thinking, Marc Gasol is only getting better, and as he gets better, he’s going to start taking more of Randolph’s looks inside the post away. He’s also going to take away some of Randolph’s boards as well. It should be another solid year for Z-Bo, I just think it could look more like 18 & 9 than 21 & Reebok Pittsburgh Steelers 43 Troy Polamalu Realtree camo Jersey
12.What are your thoughts on the power forward position? Who are you high on and who are you still “on the fence” with? Let me know your thoughts.To check out previous positional breakdowns follow these links:Point GuardShooting GuardSmall Forward
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