Five small forwards to watch for the 2016-17 NBA season

With the NBA season set to start in just a few weeks, Yardbarker is breaking down the most interesting players to watch at every position. Here, we take a look at the small forwards who will move the needle during the 2016-17 season. 

Justise Winslow,  6.4 PPG | 5.2 RPG | 1.5 APG | 45.7 eFG% | 2.5 WS | 8.4 PER One of the questions going into his rookie season was whether he’d be able to produce on the offensive end when forced to fill in for either Dwyane Wade or Luol Deng. Now, with Wade in Chicago and Deng in Los Angeles, Winslow we’re going to get a much better answer than what we were left with following the 2016 season. After a season, Winslow struggled to adjust to the NBA on the offensive end, but he’s going to be one hell of a defender.
Winslow can slide around and defend three positions incredibly well. He moves well laterally, is strong, has great length and moves seamlessly from the perimeter to defending in the post without fouling. Even if Winslow never pans out on the offensive end, he’s going to be one of the NBA’s top five defenders by the end of the season -- especially knowing that he has the comfort of playing with a guy like Hassan Whiteside behind him cleaning up any potential mess.
Andrew Wiggins, 20.7 PPG | 3.6 RPG | 2.0 APG | 48.1 eFG% | 4.1 WS | 16.5 PER Andrew Wiggins is next, or at least he should be. The young Timberwolf is dripping in athleticism, gets to the rim at will and already has a signature move that inspires awe every time it’s unleashed. You can see Wiggins’ spin move coming from your seat in the rafters, but once it’s set in motion, there is very little defenders can do about it. Wiggins’ plants his outside foot as if he’s trying to stomp a hole in the floor, and uses that transfer of energy to maneuver around his defender swiftly. Once his outside foot comes back around, he uses all of his momenta to create a bounce out of his jump stop that elevates him above anyone bold enough to stand under the rim.
Combined with Karl-Anthony Towns, Wiggins is half of a duo that is set to take over the NBA in the years to come. Wiggins is only 21 and is still figuring out what his body can do, and how he can use that against unsuspecting defenders. Wiggins knows more than anything else how to get to the rim, but his next step should be about craft instead of athleticism. Those legs won’t be young forever, and all of the great wings continued to add to their game during their younger years to have a matured footwork by the time their bodies can no longer carry them through the air at the same rate. Going into his third season, Wiggins, at the very least, should start showing flashes of this development. And if he does, Minnesota is going to be a problem for the NBA in a few years.
Gordon Hayward,  19.7 PPG | 5.0 RPG | 3.7 APG | 49.3 eFG% | 8.9 WS | 18.3 PER There might not be a more underrated player in the NBA. He can beat defenders off the dribble, is fearless at the rim, has a phenomenal pull-up jumper and can shoot with the best of them when he sets his feet. He’s become one of the best leaders in the NBA not only vocally, but in the way he plays on the floor. Hayward has superstar numbers but continues to play like a guy earning a roster spot – and this only makes the rest of the Jazz want to play their hearts out.
The Boston Celtics get a lot of credit for their intense, gritty style of play, but the Jazz could be the grittiest team in the NBA for the 2016-17 season, and a lot of that has to do with Hayward. He’s a cold-blooded monster on the floor and is surrounded by a legion of music notes who want to be the same. If for no other reason, watch the Jazz this year to see one of the unsung players who can do it all. Hayward is a great passer, willing defender and will dunk on anyone who gets in his way. If he were playing for a more prominent franchise, he’d be one of the most marketed players in the league. Instead, he’s stashed away in Utah serving as a diamond in the rough instead of the league’s crown jewel.
Kawhi Leonard,  21.2 PPG | 6.8 RPG | 2.6 APG | 56.5 eFG% | 13.7 WS | 26.0 PER Kawhi Leonard’s 3-point shooting in 2016 jumped 10 percentage points higher from where he was a season ago. It’s unreasonable to expect this kind of offensive improvement from the NBA’s best defender, but with Leonard, we shouldn’t be surprised with any improvement the kid makes. There are very few flaws in his game, and after five seasons, he’s still going to get a whole lot better.
At his best, Leonard is an asphyxiating defender, breathing isn’t allowed for his assignment. There isn’t a loose ball, hell, there isn’t a controlled ball that doesn’t belong to Leonard. His length makes it nearly impossible to get around him, he’s strong enough to fight through any and all screens and has the intelligence to predict where the ball is going before the offense knows itself. He’s a student of the game, allowing him to disrupt the principles that are as old as basketball. Leonard jumps give-and-go and pick-and-roll passes more than anyone in the NBA, and it’s a huge reason the Spurs continue to be so efficient on both ends of the floor.
Live ball turnovers turn into the most efficient kind of offense, and Leonard’s sheer presence on the floor causes more of them than what should be attributed to a single player. And when they’re not running the break after another Leonard steal, Leonard has grown into a guy who can initiate the offense or spot up off the ball in half-court sets. As all Spurs players are wont to do, Leonard moves incredibly well without the ball and is developing the vision to hit the open cutters who don’t appear to be open. This year’s MVP feels like LeBron James’ to lose, but if Leonard continues to improve, he could hold up that trophy at some point in the next half decade.
LeBron James, 25.3 PPG | 7.4 RPG | 6.8 APG | 55.1 eFG% | 13.6 WS | 27.5 PER LeBron James is pretty good at basketball things. He can score and pass and makes incredible, series-saving defensive plays. He is the NBA’s best basketball player and has been for quite some time. James doesn’t belong on a list of players to watch for 2017 because we already know what he’s capable of and we were going to watch anyway. But here’s the thing: after James won his first title in Miami, he follows up the season by giving us historically great basketball. He loves an encore, and after winning in Cleveland, you should be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what he does next.
Following his first title in Miami, James played the most efficient 20-game stretch of basketball we’ve ever seen. He shot under 50 percent only once during that stretch while shooting better than 60 percent eight times and over 70 percent four times. During those games, James averaged 27-7-7, shooting 60 percent from the field, 42 percent from three with the Heat going 19-1. His offensive rating was an ungodly 129 with both his true shooting and effective field goal percentages north of .640. Knowing how much winning in Cleveland meant to him, there should be no doubt that James wants to defend that title to the best of his ability, and wanting to see how he does that makes James one of the players you have to watch this season.