Position Analysis: Power Forward

Starters Rankings:

1. Amar'e Stoudemire-PHO..............................23.1ppg, 8.9rpg- 82 games played/54 games wins
   
2. Dirk Nowitzki-DAL.........................................25.0, 7.7- 81/55
   
3. Chris Bosh-TOR.............................................24.0, 10.8- 70/40
   
4. Pau Gasol-LAL..............................................18.3, 11.3- 65/57
   
5. Carlos Boozer-Utah.......................................19.5, 11.2- 78/53
   
6. Tim Duncan-SA..............................................17.9, 10.1, All-Defensive (2nd)- 78/50
7. Zach Randolph-MEM.....................................20.8, 11.7- 81/40
   
8. LaMarcus Aldridge-POR'..............................17.9, 8.0- 78/50
   
9. Josh Smith-ATL..............................................15.7, 8.7, 4.2apg. All-Defensive (2nd)- 81/53
   
10. Kevin Garnett-BOS.........................................14.3, 7.3- 69/50
    
11. Antawn Jamison-WAS...................................18.7, 8.4- 66/2 teams, helped Cleveland to playoffs
    
12. David West-NO................................................19.0, 7.5- 81/37
    
13. Luis Scola-HOU...............................................16.2, 8.6- 82/42
    
14. Jeff Green-OKC...............................................15.1, 6.0- 82/50
    
15. Rashard Lewis-ORL........................................14.1, 4.4- 72/59
    
16. Troy Murphy-IND...............................................14.6, 10.2- 72/32
    
17. Carl Landry-SAC..............................................16.8, 5.9- 80/2 teams
    
18. Michael Beasley-MIA.......................................14.8, 6.4- 78/47
    
19. Andray Blatche-WAS.......................................14.1, 6.3- 81/26
    
20. Danilo Gallinari-NY...........................................15.1, 4.9- 81/29
    
21. Kevin Love-MIN.................................................14.0, 11.0- 60/15
    
22. Kenyon Martin-DEN..........................................11.5, 9.4- 58/53
    
23. Elton Brand-PHL...............................................13.1, 6.1- 76/27
    
24. Boris Diaw-CHR...............................................11.3, 5.2- 82/44
    
25. Drew Gooden-LAC...........................................10.9, 7.7- 70/2 teams
    
26. Taj Gibson-CHI..................................................9.0, 7.5- 82/41
    
27. Jonas Jerebko-DET..........................................9.3, 6.0- 73/27
    
28. Yi Jianlian-NJ.....................................................12.0, 7.2- 52/12
    
29. Anthony Tolliver-GS...........................................12.3, 7.3-46/26
30. J.J. Hickson-CLV...............................................8.5, 4.9- 81/61 (started 73 games, became a back up once Jamison came in trade and Shaq got healthy)
    
31. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute-MIL.......................6.2, 5.5- 73/46
    

Top 5 Backups:

1. Al Harrington-NY................................................17.7, 5.6- 72/29-would rank around #16
   
2. Lamar Odom-LAL.............................................10.8, 9.8- 82/57-would rank around #17
   
3. Paul Millsap-Utah..............................................11.6, 6.8- 82/53-would rank around #19
   
4. Udonis Haslem-MIA..........................................9.9, 8.1- 78/47-would rank around #26
   
5. Ersan Ilysova-MIL..............................................10.4, 6.4- 81/46-would rank around #27

Notable players not on list due to injuries:
Blake Griffin-LAC

Highest Paid Starter: Tim Duncan-22.18 million
Lowest Paid Starter: Anthony Tolliver-427,316

Oldest Starter: Tim Duncan-4/25/76
Youngest Starter: Michael Beasley-1/9/89

Top Free Agents:
Amar'e Stoudemire (ETO)
Dirk Nowitzki (ETO)
Chris Bosh (PO)
Carlos Boozer
Luis Scola (RFA)
Al Harrington
Udonis Haslem
Drew Gooden
Tyrus Thomas (RFA)

3 Young Players to Watch:
DeJuan Blair-SA-21 years old
Tyrus Thomas-CHR-23 years old
Tyler Hansbrough-IND-24 years old

Overall Synopsis: This is a power forward driven league. The days of a team building around a center are a thing of the past. Only Orlando, New York, Milwaukee, L.A. Clippers, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Chicago have a center that is substantially more productive than their power forward. Many of those centers (David Lee-NY, Al Jefferson-MIN, and Joakim Noah-ATL) would play power forward on other teams.

The great debate amongst basketball fans. Who is the best power forward in the NBA? Dirk, Amar'e and Bosh all put up similar numbers but i gave the slight edge to Amar'e this year because he got his team the furthest. Gasol is a star, Boozer is great and Zach Randolph is a 20 &10 guy who almost took the Grizzlies to the playoffs. Duncan and KG are still great defenders even as they get older.

However my favorite player on this list has to be Josh Smith. He is one of the most versatile players in the NBA today. He's an all-world defender, a great rebounder, good scorer and one of the best passing power forwards in the league.

The off-season could see major shifting of the top power forwards. Four of the top five power forwards are free agents and there is a good chance they all could leave their current teams. In addition there could be as many as 6 power forwards that could be lottery picks in this years draft. So almost half of the teams in the league could have a new starting power forward next year. This off-season should be very interesting.