2020 NBA Draft — Ranking the Power Forwards
Obi Toppin was the best player in college basketball in 2020. But is he the top power forward prospect in the NBA Draft?
IT’S THE WEEKEND BEFORE THE 2020 NBA DRAFT, and still we’re still finalizing big boards and scrambling to decide which players are good and who’s going where. Dayton’s Obi Toppin looks like he’ll go in the top five picks, while Florida State’s Patrick Williams is the hottest name in the draft, with rumors of a promise inside the top 10. And then there’s Aleksej Pokusevski, the draft’s great unknown. All three project as NBA power forwards, and the three could not be more different.
Power forward is an outdated term, but it helps to sort players into buckets for ranking and comparison. We’ll consider someone a four if they’re not quite quick enough to play or defend the perimeter full time like a wing, but not quite big enough to play full time center. That’s the case for Toppin, Williams, and Poku, and it doesn’t make them less valuable, but it does make their team fits more important.
So is Obi Toppin really the best power forward in the draft class, or does Williams or Pokusevski have more NBA upside? Let’s jump in…
Once you finish here, make sure to check out the positional draft rankings at point guard, shooting guard, small forward, and center too. And stay tuned for the final big board, coming soon!
