The Power Forward role in the NBA has become more dynamic in the past decade. A lot of era-defining stars have come in and shaped what was once a position that mainly thrived off the low block. So, who are the game-changers in the 2024 NBA season and how good have they been so far?
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LeBron James
If it was a decade ago, The King would have come out on top. Age has caught up to him since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and his game has experienced quite a regression. Things are looking optimistic for him and the Anthony Davis-led squad though. With JJ Redick at the helm, their rotations have looked polished and James is being used properly such that fatigue doesn’t hit him as much.
Throughout the first four games of the Lakers campaign, he amassed 20 points on a 44.6% field goal shooting percentage. His all-around presence is still very much active. Nothing proves this more than his averages of 7.5 assists and 7 rebounds. Year 21 is looking very promising for the Akron native.
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Kevin Durant
For all the same reasons as LeBron James, The Slim Reaper’s production has been watered down due to age. His Phoenix Suns are still experiencing a lot of problems in terms of schemes and Kevin Durant can only do to much with his age.
Despite all of these hardships in their system, he is still doing all of the heavy lifting. Durant is playing an average of 40 minutes and knocking down his field goals with a bonkers efficiency of 53.3%. All of these have gotten him 29 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal in each of their last four games.
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Jayson Tatum
It’s hard to gauge his productivity at the four-spot because of how stacked the Boston Celtics are. However, the former college star out of Duke is looking primed to make a run for the MVP award in 2024.
Tatum just won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award by averaging 28.5 points on a 51.3% field goal shooting clip, 6.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.5 steals. The Celtics have also not dropped a game because of his efforts despite not having Kristaps Porzingis.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Milwaukee Bucks are in a rough spot. They thought that signing Damian Lillard would be the panacea to all of their problems but everything remained stagnant. It even looks like they are regressing. Nonetheless, Giannis Antetokounmpo is still balling out to keep the Doc Rivers-led squad afloat.
His numbers? Well, they have been very astounding. Despite just playing under 35 minutes, the Bucks superstar has amassed an average of 28.8 points on a very solid 62% shooting clip. He is also averaging a double-double with his 11.8 rebounds. More than all of this, he also took a larger playmaking role with the Bucks which pushed him to get 6.2 assists a game.
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Paolo Banchero
Call it an overreaction or whatever but the Orlando Magic are looking like the team of now and the future. All of that is due to the huge leaps that Paolo Banchero made over the 2024 offseason.
After just dropping one loss in four games, Banchero already recorded the first 50-piece of the season. More than that, he has also been very consistent with his insane outputs. The young forward is getting 28.5 points a night on 48% shooting from the field and 39.1% from three. Moreover, he is also dropping six assists and grabbing 9.2 rebounds.
What puts him above these other squads is his ability to thrive no matter what schemes are thrown against the Magic. If he gets these numbers a little bit higher, Banchero could be at least a runner-up for MVP.
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