NBA Free Agency: 5 Best Power Forwards Available in 2018
Recently, the power forward position has been often overlooked at. Teams nowadays focus on getting small, ball-handling guards or big, rim-protecting centers.
Power forwards don’t get the recognition they deserve. Having a power forward on an All-NBA First Team has become a rare occasion, as it happened only four times this past decade. In three of those four times, it was Anthony Davis, twice selected as a center.
But the power forward is as important as anyone else on a basketball team.
Having a stretch-four like Kevin Love opens up the floor and can help shooters get easier shots. Defensive stoppers like Draymond Green can switch on every position because they are almost as big as a center, but still agile enough to keep track of guards.
Having one of those kinds of forwards can upgrade a team and make it from a decent team to a title contender. Therefore, for the teams who look to level-up on their four-spot, here are the top 5 free agent power forwards this summer.
#5 Thaddeus Young
Thad Young is the most experienced player on this list. The 30-year-old finished his 11th year in the NBA and reached 800 career games this season. He entered the league as a 41.9% three-point shooter from college and was supposed to help the sixers rebuild in their post-Iverson era.
But as Sam Hinkie's "Process" started, his time with Philly ended. In 2014, as a part of the three-team Kevin Love trade, he moved to Minnesota. During that season, he was traded again, this time to Brooklyn.
His wanderings continued to Indiana, where he played for the last two years, averaging 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds, shooting just 34.4% from three.
Young is an experienced player, with 47 playoff games across eight series under his belt. He proved this past couple of seasons in Indiana he can help nurturing young players and guard multiple positions. He holds a player option for the 2018-19 season, worth over $13 million, but is rumoured to opt-out of it, searching for a long-term deal.