Ranking the top 25 forwards in the NBA for the 2019-20 season

As ESPN’s Malika Andrews  explained, New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson put on a show that included several highlight-reel dunks during his preseason debut. The Pelicans hope that’s only the beginning. Williamson’s PPG should near 20 as a first-year pro, and the 19-year-old is physically capable of competing for Defensive Player of the Year honors well before his 24th birthday. Doubts about his conditioning looked rather silly after he took the court on Oct. 7. Admittedly, we still want to see him develop a jumper vs. pro competition.  

The Oklahoma City Thunder are hoping to remain competitive after the departures of Russell Westbrook and Paul George, in part because forward Danilo Gallinari will be in the lineup. Gallinari  averaged  19.8 PPG and 6.1 AST, both career highs, with the playoff Los Angeles Clippers last season, and the 31-year-old was  fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage (43.3 percent). Per Erik Horne of The Oklahoman, Gallinari finished the campaign 19th overall in true shooting percentage. 

The Denver Nuggets didn’t flinch in picking up Paul Millsap’s  contract option that will pay the veteran over $30 million for 2019-20. At 34 years old, Millsap has slipped at both ends of the court, but he did shoot 36.5 percent from three-point range last year, and he’s the anchor of his team’s defense in crunch time. No team wants to pay a player like Millsap $30 million, but he’ll be worth the price if he’s the best version of himself in April and May and if the Nuggets emerge as the best of the loaded West. 

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. didn’t produce as did Luka Doncic and Trae Young, but the now 20-year-old did  average 13.8 PPG and 1.4 BLK in 58 appearances. Per ESPN , Anthony Davis is the only other player to average at least 13 PPG and 1.0 BLK as a teen. Jackson also shot 35.9 percent from long range, a sign that his ceiling may be even higher than it was last October. As  Grizzly Bear Blues’ The StatDoctor wrote, Jackson must improve upon his 4.7 REB average to get where Memphis needs him to be in Year 2. 

De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield both averaged more PPG than rookie Marvin Bagley III, but the 20-year-old may be the most promising of the trio. Bagley started in only four games his first pro year, so the idea that he could tally 20 PPG and 10 REB isn’t too far-fetched after he notched 14.9 PPG and 7.6 REB last season. As Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee wrote, there are some questions about Bagley’s height heading into the upcoming campaign. He matched up rather well with bigs as a teenager.

If there’s one thing we learned from the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half of the 2010s, it’s that LeBron James won’t wait long to insist his employer makes wholesale changes. That’s why 24-year-old Kyle Kuzma must mature into an All-Star immediately. Kuzma  scores over 18 PPG, but his three-point shooting dropping from 36.6 percent to 30.3 percent his sophomore season sets off alarms. With James and Anthony Davis in the lineup, Kuzma should see a plethora of open looks. What he does with them will determine his future. 

The days of Domantas Sabonis serving as a super-sub for the Indiana Pacers are finished, as the club plans to put him in the starting lineup alongside Myles Turner. Last  season , the 23-year-old tallied career bests in PPG (14.1), REB (9.3), but the Pacers probably will look for him to shoot more than 17 three-point attempts as a starter. With Bojan Bogdanovic now with the Utah Jazz, Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon will be tasked with being Indiana’s top offensive weapons until Victor Oladipo is ready to return from injury.

Ranking Atlanta Hawks duo John Collins and Trae Young in these lists is difficult because the eye in the sky doesn't lie.  Bleacher Report’s Adam Fromal named Collins as the Association’s worst defensive power forward for the 2018-19 campaign, and numbers offered by ESPN back up that claim. On paper, Collins is an All-Star in waiting who should average  20 and 10 following a dynamic second season. He's worked with league royalty Vince Carter on becoming a more versatile and complete player, per  Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His ranking on lists a year from now will be determined by how he grows on defense. 

An elbow injury slowed Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen during the opening stages of the 2018-19 season, and a  rapid heart incident sidelined him after March 26. The previous February, the 22-year-old completed the best month of his career, during which he averaged 26 PPG and 12.2 REB while shooting 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. Chicago is hoping that version of Markkanen can remain healthy, stay in form and become an All-Star along with Zach LaVine. 

Neither Brandon Ingram nor the New Orleans Pelicans believe the blood clot that prematurely ended his 2018-19 season will be a problem moving forward. The 22-year-old will have a new contract in mind once he takes the court in October. During his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Ingram averaged 18.3 PPG and 5.1 REB, but his three-point shooting fell from 39 percent to 33 percent. In New Orleans, Ingram won’t be asked to be the star of the show, as all eyes will be on Zion Williamson. This could open opportunities for Ingram to develop into a 20 PPG scorer in an uptempo offense. 

At first look, Bojan Bogdanovic is potentially an elite scorer coming off his best season when he averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.1 REB while shooting 42.5 percent from three. As The Ringer’s Paolo Uggetti  wrote, the Indiana Pacers often put the underrated defender on an opposing team’s top offensive threat, particularly during the postseason. Bogdanovic will be able to come into his element with the Utah Jazz in a lineup that starts Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. He won’t need to be Utah’s top scorer or best defender, and he could feast when facing small power forwards. 

Where Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum actually is and where analysts and fans want him to be are two different locations as of October 2019. His " posterizing dunk" over LeBron James during the 2018 playoffs remains his career highlight, as the 21-year-old regressed following a breakout rookie campaign while averaging 15.7 PPG with a Boston Celtics team that had a cantankerous superstar in the lineup. Nobody should have expected Tatum to shoot over 43 percent from three his entire career, but his poor shot selection and drop in shooting percentage (37.7 3P percent in 2018-19) suggest he’s more the player we saw last winter than the one who was on the cusp of an NBA Finals appearance in May 2018. 

At $178 million in total , Khris Middleton will be a bargain for the Milwaukee Bucks as long as the franchise can convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to dedicate his long-term future to the organization. Middleton isn’t a superstar, but he’s a three-and-d specialist who can drain 40 percent of his perimeter attempts and  average 20 PPG while playing just about anywhere on the court. The 28-year-old is an ideal fit in the modern Association where positions are merely formalities. Milwaukee can play him anywhere 1-4 depending on Antetokounmpo’s availability and if the Greek Freak decides he wants to be the primary ball-handler.

Aaron Gordon abusing rims via highlight dunks was fun and put smiles on faces when the Orlando Magic were winning fewer than 30 games a season. Orlando paid Nikola Vucevic this offseason so the franchise can be more than a one-and-done playoff team, but getting to that level will involve Gordon becoming the All-Star many expected he’d be last February. The 24-year-old isn’t yet equal to Blake Griffin, and some  stats suggest he’s overrated as a defender. Last March, Howard Megdal of The New York Times wrote Gordon is “ready for stardom.” It’s time he progresses from the ready stage to actual stardom. 

It’s easy to crush Kevin Love for his worst season since he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. A painful toe injury cost him 50 games, and he ultimately returned to the Cleveland side that embraced tanking before the holidays. A contender such as the Portland Trail Blazers or Miami Heat would take Love today if such a team could get him on the cheap. Whatever team deals for him, that club will be getting a  five-time All-Star who has shown in the past he can shoot over 41 percent from three-point range as a team’s No. 2 option and who once successfully guarded Stephen Curry in the closing seconds of a championship final. 

The Golden State Warriors don’t have Draymond Green for the regular season. It often seems as if the three-time champion is going through the motions during the grueling winter months. As  Steve Aschburner of NBA.com wrote, the 29-year-old is unquestionably one of the Association’s best defenders during springtime contests, and Green is coming off his best postseason since 2016 when he would’ve been a Finals MVP candidate if not for LeBron James. He’d own more than one Defensive Player of the Year trophy if votes were counted in July.

The line that separates overrating Luka Doncic from giving him the admiration he’s earned is paper-thin. Doncic posted the best run ever produced by an NBA teenager and matched Oscar Robertson as the only rookies to ever average at least 20 PPG, 7.0 REB and 5.0 AST. He heads into the fall with Kristaps Porzingis as a new teammate. Doncic will be a top 10 player in the league before long. He may even get there by this time next year. 

No forward averaged higher PPG totals for the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers than Tobias Harris, who arrived in Philadelphia through a February trade. The Sixers essentially elected to keep Harris over Jimmy Butler in July, which was the right call for locker room chemistry but could affect Philly on the court. Harris isn’t Butler, a dynamic two-way player who took over as the 76ers’ closer last spring. Harris’ overall production  dipped  in the playoff series vs. the Toronto Raptors, which led to  Ryan Callahan of The Sixers Sense wondering if the trade for the 27-year-old was the right decision. 

Statistically  speaking, Blake Griffin enjoyed his best season in 2018-19, as he averaged a career-best 24.5 PPG and also 7.5 REB and 5.4 AST. Even still, the Detroit Pistons were no match for the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs, which perfectly sums up Griffin’s career. The 30-year-old deserves credit for adapting his game and improving his three-point shooting to 36.2 percent, but it’s no secret injuries have slowed him. He shouldn’t be playing in even 60 regular-season games for a legitimate contender. Trading him is the right business decision for Detroit, but we don’t envision that happening before next July. 

As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com pointed out, Pascal Siakam increased his points per game from 2017-18 to 2018-19 more than any other player (7.3 PPG to 16.9) en route to winning Most Improved Player honors. Siakam did that with Kawhi Leonard as a teammate, though, and he dropped 26 and 32 points on the Golden State Warriors during the title series playing alongside the two-time Finals MVP. ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike recently explained she believes Siakam will continue to shoot 40 percent on corner threes and take another career jump following Leonard’s departure. We'll see. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden distanced themselves from everybody else in the MVP race, but Paul George was the clear No. 3 on the list. George finished the season atop the  ESPN RPM Wins category, and he posted career highs in PPG (28.0) and REB (8.2) while having to deal with Russell Westbrook’s cold streaks and awful shooting. The 29-year-old now gets to team up with Kawhi Leonard, the league’s best two-way star from April through early June. Clippers fans will have to wait to see that duo, though, as George is out until at least November following shoulder operations. 

For years basketball observers and fans have insisted that a healthy and motivated Anthony Davis is an MVP candidate. The 26-year-old has no excuses for not getting to that level after forcing an exit from the New Orleans Pelicans and joining LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers. In August, Justin Verrier of The Ringer referred to Davis, who averaged 25.9 PPG and 12.0 REB while miserable in New Orleans, as a favorite to win the award next spring. Anything short of that, and the Lakers winning the title in June could be seen as a disappointment. 

Kawhi Leonard is a living and breathing advertisement for shortening the NBA season. Leonard appeared in 60 regular-season games to stay fresh and rested for the playoffs, and the Toronto Raptors nevertheless finished second in the Eastern Conference standings and won the title. Leonard was the league’s best two-way player in the spring, and he averaged 28.5 PPG and 9.8 REB in the Finals and was named series MVP. If this list was just about games played from April through June, Leonard would be a unanimous No. 1 and would reign over the player he defended against in May. 

The basketball gods did not have LeBron James’ back in 2018-19. A groin injury kept him off the court from the end of Christmas Day through Jan. 30, and the Los Angeles Lakers were unable to execute a needed trade for a superstar such as Anthony Davis before the deadline. We’re willing to ignore that James’ player efficiency rating was its lowest since 2006-07 because he played in a wasted campaign. He turns 35 years old in December, though, and Father Time is catching up with the future Hall of Famer. We’re not sure he’ll be in the top three of this list in October 2020. 

The future is now for the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 PPG, 12.5 REB, and 5.9 AST during his first MVP season, but he came up short vs. Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors with an NBA Finals berth on the line. Antetokounmpo unquestionably was the Association’s most dominant figure during the regular season. Leonard and the Raptors made the Greek Freak appear mortal, and that series reminded everyone that the 24-year-old isn’t yet a finished product. Per ESPN’s Eric Woodyard , Antetokounmpo is working with Kyle Korver to improve his perimeter shooting. He’ll be unguardable if he adds that aspect to his MVP-worthy repertoire.