NBA’s Top 10 Small Forwards
LeBron’s gotta be No. 1, right?We were all so quick to anoint LeBron as the best player in the League following the Detroit series that it took a couple San Antonio piecings to bring it back to reality: For starters, is LeBron even the best player at his position in the NBA? The three spot is one of the most loaded in the League, stocked with scoring champs and All-Stars, Defensive Player of the Year winners and MVP candidates. So who’s No. 1?
10. Tayshaun Prince — Detroit’s iron man played all 82 games for the fourth straight year and was the Pistons’ most consistent performer. One of the most unheralded players in the game, Prince (14.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) quietly does whatever it takes to win games. He takes pride in his defense, embraces the tough assignments he draws — usually the other team’s best perimeter player — and has a knack for coming up with the big play. Offensively, Tay shoots 36 percent from three-point range in his playoff career, and has proven to be reliable in pressure situations. Don’t let his poor showing in the Cleveland series distract you from the fact that he’s one of the best in the League at what he does.
9. Caron Butler — The toughest player on the Wizards boasted career highs in nearly every statistical category (19.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.1 spg) and was rightfully rewarded with his first All-Star appearance. Butler has a lethal mid-range game and is an excellent finisher who shoots 84 percent from the line. He is the Wizards’ best defender (OK, so that’s not saying much) who aggressively plays the passing lanes. Gilbert Arenas is unquestionably The Franchise in D.C., but Caron is the Pippen to Gil’s Jordan.
8 Lamar Odom — He’s so unique and talented, it’s crazy to believe Odom isn’t a consistent All-Star selection. One thing he is, though, is a consistent triple-double threat (15.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 4.8 apg). How many 6-10 lefties can handle and pass like a point guard but still be effective on the boards and as a scorer? When guarded by a smaller defender, Odom abuses them in the post with an arsenal of spins and jump hooks. If a big man should dare try his luck, Odom runs circles around them using dribble moves most guards would envy. His court vision is uncanny and he shoulders the majority of the ball-handling duties for the Lakers as a result. If he shot the ball more than the 12 times a game he averaged this year, he’d be even more of a problem.
7. Ron Artest — The best defensive three in the game (arguably the NBA’s best all-around defender, period), Ron-Ron is a scary sight for opposing small forwards at 6-7, 260 pounds and a rep for being rough and unpredictable. He gets it done on both ends of the court, though, as he put up 18.8 points a game this year to go along with 6.5 rebound, 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals. When Artest has the rock, he often uses his brute strength to punish defenders on the block, but can also step out and hit the long ball.
6. Josh Howard — J-Ho’s career year (18.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) earned him his first All-Star appearance, and his playoff output (21 ppg, 9.8 rpg) proved he is Dallas’ best all-around player and toughest competitor. He’s also the guy the Mavs depend on to provide lock-down D on the perimeter.
5. Carmelo Anthony — George Karl instilled a 10-10-10 rule this year: basically, if ‘Melo took 10 free throws per game and 10 shots in the paint, he would be allowed to shoot 10 perimeter jumpers. The rule was designed to encourage ‘Melo to attack the paint and punish defenders with his deadly post game and not settle for jumpers (Hear that, Lawrence Frank?), and it appeared to work. Even after Allen Iverson joined the Nuggets, ‘Melo kept doing whatever he wanted when he had the ball, averaging 28.9 points a night and finishing second to Kobe for the League lead. He also had career-highs in rebounds (6.0) and assists (3.8) per game. He was better in the ‘07 playoffs than he was in ‘06, but he still needs to step it up in the postseason if he hopes to take Denver past the first round.
4. Shawn Marion — The Matrix has averaged 18 points a night over the course of a nine-year career while hardly ever having a play called for him. He is a beast in transition and when he’s moving without the ball, finishing Steve Nash’s “How the hell did he get that through” passes with one of the League’s best arsenal of dunks. Make fun of that ugly jumper all you want, but it drops; he’s shot a respectable 34 percent from three for his career and when he catches in the corner it usually seems to go in. The human pogo stick is active in the passing lanes, blocks shots and has averaged over 10 boards a game for the last five years, all while guarding power forwards just as effectively as point guards.
3. Paul Pierce — Being injured for most of the year might allow some people to forget that P-Double is one of the top pure scorers on the planet. Pierce destroys smaller players in the post, finishes strong off the dribble and is a lethal shooter. In crunch-time, he’s one of the most prolific fourth-quarter scorers in the League. If he’s healthy next year and guys like Al Jefferson continue to emerge as potential stars, The Truth could have Boston back in the playoffs next year.
2. Tracy McGrady — Everyone wants to talk about how he hasn’t led his team out of the first round, but you can’t always blame Mac when he’s putting up stat lines like 29 points and 13 dimes in Game 7s and his teammates don’t come through. Whether it is checking the opposition’s best wing player or creating off the dribble, there isn’t a thing he can’t do on the court. If the Rockets upgrade their roster this summer, T-Mac (24.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 6.5 apg) may finally take his team past the first round.
1. LeBron James — Alright, so it wasn’t exactly difficult to put ‘Bron at the top of this list. He does everything for his team (27.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6.0 apg), and as we’ve seen this postseason, the Cavs only go as far as King James takes them. Critics question his defense and lack of killer instinct, but it’s easy to pick apart his game right now, being on the League’s biggest stage and his team taking a beating. Just remember that ‘Bron carried a not-very-good Cavs team this far basically by himself and just ran into the buzzsaw of the closest thing the NBA has to a dynasty. In the Detroit series he played stellar D on Tayshaun Prince, and his killer instinct shouldn’t have been questioned after Games 3-6 — especially the 48-point Game Five.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Kobe lover says:
Yayyyyyyy Lamar Odom
June 12th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
dank says:
legit list. couldnt agree more.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Andy Buckets says:
Terrell are you serious? T-Mac is more of a two and yeah P Double is nice but Melo HANDS DOWN is the second best SF in the league next to King James. Check the numbers Melo had better numbers in six statistical categories which included points, rebounds, steals, and field goal percentage.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Noah says:
Watch out for Loul Deng, he’s comin. He averaged nearly 19 and 7 in the regular season, shooting 51% and then 22 and 9 in the postseason. That’s more points than Howard, Odom, Prince and Pierce in the posteason, oh wait, Pierce was on the worst team in the NBA, winning should also play a factor and all Deng does is win. Not to mention that Deng is a beast defender and played only one year of college ball at Duke, watch out, he’s comin.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Terrell James says:
Andy Buckets,
Yeah Melo’s numbers are impressive and he is scoring machine but the guys ahead of him are more complete players.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Girlybballluver says:
T-Mac is more of a shooting guard, but I agree with his placement here. I just think Caron should be higher on the list.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Amar says:
no luke walton?
June 12th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Terrell James says:
Noah,
I agree that Deng is quite monstrous and if he has another year like this year he will make the cut next time around.
As for Pierce, he was winning before Danny Ainge decided it would be a good idea to develop 27 guys under 21 at the same time. Granted, Pierce was on the worst team in the league but he only played 47 games this year. They weren’t exactly tearing it up when he was healthy, but they won 5 straight games before he shut it down and would’ve competed for a playoff spot since the Atlantic division was terrible.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
J Crom says:
couldn’t agree more
June 12th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
G says:
On point. Maybe an honorable mention to: Maggette, Rashard Lewis, Deng
June 12th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Chief says:
Oh My God Terrell,
Well if we can have Tracy McGrady on this list then why isn’t Vince Carter on this list? Better still, why isn’t Vince Carter number one on this list? And Lamar Odom(?)I seriously think I would’ve put Luke Walton before him! Still definitely something to talk about for us NBA fans who can’t bare to talk about the execution which is being passed off as a championship matchup, thanks!
June 13th, 2007 at 9:26 am
rod says:
Marion should have gone higher than 4…….and yeah Deng is legit
June 13th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
JT$ says:
Uh last time I checked Paul Peirce was a shooting guard, and only a shooting guard. If he’s not the Celtics shooting guard, then who the Hell is?! For the same reason Vince Carter is not on the list, neither should Paul Peirce. And T-Mac is a good 2 inches taller than Vince, rebounds and defends better, that’s why he’s a small forward. Duh. Melo and T-Mac should be 2a and 2b, with Marion not far behind.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Austin says:
Pierce was listed as a forward on this year’s All-Star ballot, so take that for what it’s worth.
T-Mac was a guard, as was Vince.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Ashleigh says:
It’s a good list you should crap on it because you think tmac and pierce are shooting guards (Theodoros Plakadopoulos)
heck you could claim lebron is a point guard and shawn marion/lamar odom are power forwards (tplay)
anyway caron should be ahead of lamar, artest, josh howard
June 13th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
JT$ says:
Just like Ben Wallace was listed as a center on a team where he plays power forward, and Amare was listed as a power forward on a team who he playes center for.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
JT$ says:
Someone name the Celtics starting shooting guard for the past like 10 seasons.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
JT$ says:
Someone tell me the name of the Celtics startig shooting guard the past like 10+ years
June 13th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Austin Burton says:
I see your point JT$, but it’s not totally crazy to classify Pierce asa SF when he’s listed as one on the All-Star ballot.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:30 am
sean says:
wally world was , ricky davis,
June 15th, 2007 at 8:25 am
JT$ says:
Wally? WALLLLLLY!? Dude is like 6′10, how many pills did you just take? In order to be a “shooting guard” you have to be marginally good at perimeter shooting, which Mr. Davis certainly is not. Wally played center for his UofMiamiOH team, pull your head outta the toilet. And where’s my boy ‘DreDala on this list? I’d take him over Tay or Lamar anyday of the week. I’d throw Artest in there, too, since he’s a head case, but as a former JuCo player, that’s the last muthaf*cka I want guarding me. ALLSTAR next year, no doubt about it, especially in the East
June 15th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Luke says:
watch out for the other A.I. in Philly
June 17th, 2007 at 6:50 am
vince says:
lewis is a top 10 sf
June 17th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
bigdre says:
man, if ronron got his head on right, he coulve been ranked higher.
oh, and i gotta argue that stevenson is a better defender than caron
June 18th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Adam says:
Prince?! What about JOSH SMITH or GERALD WALLACE
Smith - 16.5; 8.5 reb; 1.4 st; 2.9 bl
Wallace - 18; 7.2 reb; 2.0 st; 1 bl
Those are some gaudy, FUNKY numbers
June 18th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Down South says:
Rashard Lewis has to in the top ten. There is a reason this guy gets double-teamed almost every time he touches it. To leave him off the list and include Butler and Prince is crazy.
June 18th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Ian says:
josh smith and rashard lewis ????
June 19th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Pishenis says:
Do this list again next year, we’ll see Iggy and J-Smoove up there…
June 20th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Terrell James says:
Guys,
Rashard Lewis couldn’t guard his shadow so no way does he make this list. He scores but with the best of them but what else does he do? Everyone on the list has multiple dimensions to their game. Futhermore, if Tayshaun Prince played on the Atlanta Hawks or the Charlotte Bobcats, he’d have numbers that are just as good as Josh Smith’s or Gerald Wallace’s.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
dylan says:
lebron is the best in the NBA!
July 11th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Alex says:
Ricky Davis was the SG in Boston, and Pierce is a natural small forward. The only reason Pierce played the 2 so much this year is because Wally is too slow for the 2 spot, he also isnt 6″10.
Pierce will return to the 3spot this year with Ray Allen coming in.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Dank Gago says:
no AK?
August 10th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Dank Gago says:
sorry i forgot, this is a hip-hop hopper baller magazine suited for And-1 cross over ankle breakin plays, of course no fundamental players allowed
August 15th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Hawi says:
Lamar is the best SF in the NBA, hands down
August 15th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Hawi says:
one more thing. where is rashard lewis? Wow this Terrel James is a joke.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Solomon says:
Melo is the best as far as I am concerned…
February 24th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Lamar7Odom says:
Here is my list of top 10 Small Forwards:
10. Gerald Wallace
9. Josh Howard
8. Caron Butler
7. Lamar Odom
6. Ron Artest
5. Josh Smith
4. Paul Pierce
3. Tracy Mcgrady
2. Carmelo Anthony
1. LeBron James
April 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pm
IMBORED says:
U ALL SUCK
June 16th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
micballa says:
melo is b4 lebron he is 1st then t mac is 2nd and then james is 3rd