Top 10 NBA small forwards, ranked: Zion Williamson makes the list and Jayson Tatum continues to fill the stat sheet
Zion Williamson could be the New Orleans Pelicans' starting center on opening night. Does that make him a “giant” in today's vaguest dictionary of positions? I suppose reasonable minds can disagree with this, but this is my list and so I'm going to make a decision.
No, Zion Williamson is not a big man.
For starters, he's 6'5″. He's a mediocre rebounder. He's not a rim protector. He can't defend credibly. real Centers. Just because the Pelicans are going to start him at center or at least play him a lot of minutes there doesn't mean he's a center. It means the Pelicans are in trouble.
Unfortunately, Williamson is a small forward (so far, a power forward in the Tech lineup), but a penetrator who starts most of his possessions by initiating the offense as a true point guard or cutting in from the perimeter. From there, yes, he has huge interior advantages due to his power and his low-center leverage that feeds his explosive athleticism. If we allow him to gain momentum, he will be a success.
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But remember, Jalen Brunson also outclasses many of his positional peers in the paint, particularly in the post, but that doesn't make him a tall player either. Zion has positional advantages as a small forward and has major disadvantages as a tall player. You can look at it that way, too.
All of this is to say, once again, that Zion is a small forward. Below is a positional breakdown of that list with the top 10 small forwards heading into the 2024-25 season, as voted on by our Top 10. NBA analysts.
Top 100 ranking: 33
Indiana’s leap forward on defense largely coincided with the addition of Siakam, and that’s no coincidence. On offense, he’s the certified second scorer the Pacers coveted alongside Tyrese Haliburton. A force in transition and adept at footwork, Siakam can create out of system, and I continue to believe he’s a more capable three-point shooter than his numbers indicate. For stretches of the playoffs, Siakam played like a true star, and the Pacers rewarded him with a max contract. Brad Botkin
Top 100 ranking: 22
Butler is what he is: a great player who paces himself in the regular season to produce superstar postseason runs. The stats fill every column, and the impact always adds up. Last season, the Heat outscored their opponents by 1.7 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass; that figure rose to plus-eight points per 100 when Butler was on the court. The question is: Are the Heat still good enough to give Butler a chance to put on his playoff clothes? Or is this a regressing team that might actually look to trade Butler before his next and likely last significant payday? Brad Botkin
8. Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Top 100 ranking: 21
Williamson was sidelined by injury again as the Pelicans’ 2023-24 season ended, but this time it felt different. His absence from the playoffs was a bummer, not because it sparked unpleasant discussions about his conditioning and commitment, but because his play over the preceding months had completely changed the conversation.
Williamson injured his hamstring when he made a floater over Anthony Davis to tie New Orleans’ play-in game against the Lakers in clutch time. The shot gave him 40 points; in one of the biggest scenarios of his career, he had had one of his best games, leading a fourth-quarter comeback that would fall short after he left.
In the best form of his career, Williamson proved he could play a lot of minutes while carrying a heavy playmaking load and competing defensively like never before. He appeared in a career-high 70 regular-season games and, right at the end, even took a few jump shots when opponents were resisting him. Now, all the Pelicans are asking of him is that he perform like an MVP candidate for a full season as they continue to try to put together a roster that can surround him with the defenders and shooters they need to make the jump. James Herbert
Top 100 ranking: 20
George was finally healthy last season, when he reached the 70-game mark for the first time since 2019. However, once again, the Clippers’ hopes were dashed by a playoff injury — this time to Kawhi Leonard. And so, five years after returning home to Los Angeles, George packed his bags and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent. He’s not the player he was in his prime, and injuries will always be a concern, but he’s still an excellent two-way forward who should fit right in alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Jack Maloney
Top 100 ranking: 18
Though he once again failed to stay healthy in the playoffs, it’s easy to forget that Leonard was able to play in 68 games last season. For most of that time, he looked like one of the league’s best players again with 23 points per game and a free throw percentage above 62%. He remains one of the most lethal jump shooters with his ability to separate himself in the final minutes, as evidenced by his 1.2 points per possession average in isolations, the most efficient mark in the league among all players with an isolation frequency above 15%. Over a two-month period from the turn of the calendar through the end of February, Leonard hit 46% of his 3-pointers on nearly five attempts per game. Brad Botkin
Top 100 ranking: 15
Nearly a decade ago, Brown was greeted around the league with boos from Celtics fans upset that he was their No. 3 pick in the 2016 season. NBA DraftHe's now a franchise icon and one of Boston's most beloved athletes. He sealed his status with a spectacular playoff run, in which he hit the two biggest shots: the game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and the game-clinching jumper in Game 3 of the finals. He was named Eastern Conference finals MVP and Finals MVP. These days, there aren't as many jokes about Brown's left hand and his $300 million contract. Jack Maloney
Top 100 ranking: 10
Edwards jumped from No. 22 on this list last year to No. 10 this time around, highlighting his impressive rise to stardom. He averaged career-bests last season, made his first All-NBA appearance and led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals, defeating the defending champion Nuggets. Early in the Wolves' playoff run, there were legitimate comparisons — at least aesthetic ones — to Michael Jordan. Over the summer, he reiterated his status as one of the game's best by playing a prominent role in Team USA's gold-medal campaign. Jack Maloney
Top 100 ranking: 9
Durant remains very close to his full potential. He averaged 27-6-5 on 41% shooting from 3-point range last season and, perhaps most importantly, played in 75 games, easily his best mark since leaving Golden State. There were rumors that he didn't like the way Frank Vogel was using him. It will be interesting to see what kind of difference Mike Budenholzer makes in terms of Durant's scoring and shooting and the way he receives the ball; i.e., from stationary positions or behind more of his preferred screens. Either way, Durant was the best isolation scorer in basketball last season. Brad Botkin
Top 100 ranking: 8
LeBron James recently became the oldest player to win an MVP award in any competition involving active players. NBA On June 20, LeBron James was named the most valuable player of the 2024 Olympics, breaking a record he himself set during the NBA’s inaugural tournament. Sure, it’s unreasonable to expect the impending quadragenarian to be the NBA’s best player over the course of an 82-game season, but make no mistake, in a smaller sample size, there still might not be a single player in all of basketball who inspires more fear in his opponents than LeBron James. It’s unclear how many MVP awards of any kind he still has left in his aging body, but when he needs them, he can still summon all of the skill and ferocity that earned him his first award. Sam Quinn
Top 100 ranking: 7
At long last, Tatum is an NBA champion. Along the way, he surpassed his idol, Kobe Bryant, in playoff scoring before turning 27 and joined Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic as the only players to win a title while leading their team in points, rebounds and assists during the postseason. Tatum didn’t win the Eastern Conference finals or Finals MVP awards, but he was the driving force behind Boston’s league-leading 18th championship. Few, if any, players are as complete as the Celtics star, who is one of three players to make the All-NBA First Team in each of the past three seasons. Jack Maloney
