The 2020-21 National Basketball Association will commence on Tuesday. In the fourth of our five-part series, it is time to take a look at the top five power forwards in the NBA.
5) Jayson Tatum–Boston Celtics—The 21-year-old forward from St. Louis made the transition from small forward to power forward in 2020-21, and led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals. An all-star for the first time, he averaged career highs in points per game (23.4), rebounds per game (7.0), assists per game (3.0), steals per game (1.4), and blocks per game (0.9). Tatum also had a field goal percentage of .450, three-point percentage of .403, and free throw percentage of .812. The third overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft is a superstar now.
4) Bam Adebayo–Miami Heat—We all know the impact that Jimmy Butler had with the Heat in 2019-20, but we cannot ignore the production of Bam Adebayo of Newark, New Jersey, either. Like Tatum, Adebayo was an all-star for the first time in his third NBA season this past season. He averaged 15.9 points per game, 10.2 rebounds per game, 5.1 assists per game, 1.3 blocks per game, 1.1 steals per game, a field goal percentage of .557, three-point percentage of .143, and a free throw percentage of .691.
3) Anthony Davis–Los Angeles Lakers—In 2019-20, Anthony Davis joined forces with LeBron James in southern California, after seven seasons with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans. He averaged 26.1 points per game, 9.3 rebounds per game, 3.2 assists per game, 2.3 blocks per game, 1.5 steals per game, a field goal percentage of .503, three-point percentage of .330, and a free throw percentage of .846. We know LeBron James was the NBA Finals MVP in 2020, but there is no way the Lakers beat the Heat to win the NBA Finals without Davis.
2) Nikola Jokic–Denver Nuggets—The native of Sombor, Serbia teamed up with Jamal Murray in the Orlando bubble and took the Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals. The fifth-year center averaged 19.9 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, seven assists per game, 1.2 steals per game, a .528 field goal percentage, .314 three-point percentage, and .817 free throw percentage. Where Jokic stands out over all the rest power forwards is his play-making ability. His 512 assists were the most in the NBA among power forwards.
1)Giannis Antetokounmpo–Milwaukee Bucks—Earlier this month the Bucks gave Giannis Antetokounmpo an early Christmas present by making him the richest player in NBA history. The Greek Freak signed a five-year deal worth $228.2 million. In 2019-20, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, 5.6 assists per game, a field goal percentage of .553, three-point percentage of .304, and a free throw percentage of .633.
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