Top Small Forwards in the 2019 NBA Draft

Miye Oni

Louis King

Terance Mann

Brian Bowen II

Aubrey Dawkins

Oshae Brissett

Amir Coffey

Note:

It was tough excluding both Chuma Okeke and Charles Matthews off of this list. There’s no doubt that they’d be in the top 10 if it weren’t for their unfortunate injuries. It’s really hard to rate them otherwise. Matthews now will be on the outside looking in on draft night most likely, while Okeke still could earn himself a 2nd round pick being only 20 years old. This is a very good draft for small forwards, it’s not an indictment for any of these players to be left off of this list.

10. Iggy Brazdeikis

Ignas (or Iggy) is a very fascinating prospect who hasn’t received nearly as much attention lately as he did early in the season. Iggy’s a crafty player who had very solid shooting splits in his freshman year at Michigan: 46/39/77. He can finish with either hand and can create for himself. He wasn’t as lethal from deep at times as we had hoped, but there’s much promise in his game.

9. Deividas Sirvydis

Deividas Sirvydis is one of the best shooters in this draft and probably the best one coming from overseas. He literally just turned 19 and is a promising young wing who has brilliant form on his jump shot. In all competitions this past year, he has shot right above 36% from deep. In our most recent mock draft we have Sirvydis going 42nd overall, but there’s a real chance he could slip into the late 1st round.

8. Dylan Windler

The third lefty in a row, Dylan Windler is, like Sirvydis, one of the best shooters in this draft. He can move off-ball extraordinarily well even though he isn’t the quickest and rebounds with some of the best forwards in the draft. Windler has also shown the ability to handle the ball and make good reads off of the P&R. There’s so much skill in his game and Dylan will be able to help an NBA team right away. Expect his name to be called in the late 1st/early 2nd round range.

7. Admiral Schofield

Admiral is a beast on both ends of the court. His perimeter defense is elite due to his quick feet, size, and tenaciousness. On offense he is comfortable with hitting spot up 3’s and is even able to throw down some ferocious slams on the opposition’s heads. Like many of the other upperclassmen on this list, Admiral will be able to be thrown into a rotation right away. We see him as a late 1st round pick in this year’s draft.

6. Cam Johnson

We’ve talked about Cam Johnson a lot as we’ve dove into breaking down the best seniors in this class. Cam is not only a phenomenal shooter, but he’s also a very high IQ player. Feel free to read more about him in our scouting report on him here. He’ll be a 1st round pick.

5. Nassir Little

Little is a great defender. He’s long, athletic, and can be someone you throw onto your best perimeter player. Offensively, he is still a work in progress but is young and has a lot of room to grow. His 77% mark from the line also indicates that he should be a much better shooter in the future as he works to develop his game.

4. Sekou Doumbouya

There have been rumblings of Doumbouya looking better and better overseas in France. His shot looks smooth and we already know about his length and defensive capabilities. In May, he had a game where he put up 34 points on 13/18 shooting. We think the NBA is going to be an easy transition for Doumbouya and expect him to be a lottery pick.

3. Cam Reddish

Cam Reddish has been a topic of conversation all season long because of his poor shooting numbers. The skillset and intangibles are there even though the numbers weren’t there for Cam all year long. He cuts off passing lanes really well which lead to an average of 1.6 steals per game and his 3PT% mark of 33% really isn’t that bad. We can’t imagine him slipping past the Hawks with the 8th pick.

2. DeAndre Hunter

We had a tough time determining whether Hunter would be a small forward or power forward. We see him more as a wing threat on both ends of the court which made us consider him a small forward. His off-ball defense isn’t as good as on ball, but he’s terrific when focused on one man. Zion was really the only player who was easily able to get by Hunter and that’s understandable. His 3P% mark ended at 44% on the season which is a bit higher than we would expect for the league, but the 3 and D potential is there.

1. RJ Barrett

RJ Barrett is the best small forward in this draft. We have concerns about his horrible tunnel vision and the fact that he often relied too heavily on getting a call from the referees. RJ is still a killer and will work so hard to find success in the league. We see him getting selected as the 3rd pick by the Knicks this year.