2021-2022 Fantasy Basketball Rankings: Forwards

Boom! Just like that, we are only three weeks away from the NBA Regular season. That can only mean one thing: Fantasy Hoops is back! With tip-off fast approaching, you will need to begin preparing for your fantasy draft, and what better way to do that than with draft rankings!

In case you missed it, the NBA Team here at RotoBaller released our 21-22 rankings last week and while it's mostly what you'd expect, there are a few surprises that stuck out. Rather than simply posting a list of rankings without context, I'll be doing a three-part series to provide some extra insight and analysis to our consensus rankings.

For the first installment, I took a deeper look at the guard position. You can find that here. Next up is forwards! Let's get right into it.

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Fantasy Basketball Forward Rankings

Note: These rankings are based on our staff's H2H 9-cat rankings.

Tier	Rank	Player	Team	Positions
1	5	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	SF,PF
1	9	Paul George	LAC	SG,SF
1	10	Jayson Tatum	BOS	SF,PF
2	11	Kevin Durant	BKN	SF,PF
2	12	Anthony Davis	LAL	PF,C
2	14	Jimmy Butler	MIA	SG,SF
2	15	Bam Adebayo	MIA	PF,C
2	19	Domantas Sabonis	IND	PF,C
3	24	Michael Porter Jr.	DEN	SF
3	25	Jaylen Brown	BOS	SG,SF
3	29	Khris Middleton	MIL	SG,SF
4	33	Zion Williamson	NOR	PF
4	34	Julius Randle	NYK	PF,C
4	35	Brandon Ingram	NOR	SG,SF
4	37	Tobias Harris	PHI	SF,PF
4	39	Christian Wood	HOU	PF
4	40	Richaun Holmes	SAC	C,PF
4	41	LeBron James	LAL	SF
4	42	Kristaps Porzingis	DAL	PF,C
4	43	John Collins	ATL	PF,C
4	44	OG Anunoby	TOR	SF
4	46	Jaren Jackson Jr.	MEM	PF
5	51	Mikal Bridges	PHO	SF
5	57	DeMar DeRozan	CHI	SG,SF
5	59	Gordon Hayward	CHA	SG,SF
5	60	Caris LeVert	IND	SF,SG
6	62	Anthony Edwards	MIN	SG,SF
6	63	Pascal Siakam	TOR	PF
6	68	Draymond Green	GSW	PF,C
6	69	Ben Simmons	PHI	PG,SF
6	70	Isaiah Stewart	DET	PF,C
6	72	Chris Boucher	TOR	PF,C
6	73	Cade Cunningham	DET	SF
6	74	Bogdan Bogdanovic	ATL	SG,SF
6	75	Jerami Grant	DET	SF,PF
6	78	P.J. Washington	CHA	PF
6	80	Robert Covington	POR	SF,PF
7	82	Miles Bridges	CHA	SF
7	84	Norman Powell	POR	SG, SF
7	87	Harrison Barnes	SAC	SF,PF
7	88	Nickeil Alexander-Walker	NOR	SG,SF
7	89	Kyle Anderson	MEM	SG,SF,PF
7	90	Kevin Porter Jr.	HOU	PG,SF
7	95	Keldon Johnson	SAS	SF
8	96	Daniel Gafford	WAS	SF
8	99	Evan Fournier	NYK	SG,SF
8	101	RJ Barrett	NYK	SF
8	103	Kelly Olynyk	DET	PF,C
8	104	Bojan Bogdanovic	UTH	SG,SF
8	106	Jonathan Isaac	ORL	PF,SF
8	107	Mason Plumlee	CHA	PF,C
8	108	Thaddeus Young	SAS	SF,PF
8	110	Saddiq Bey	DET	SF,PF
8	112	Andrew Wiggins	GSW	SG,SF
8	113	Larry Nance Jr.	POR	PF,C
8	114	Khem Birch	TOR	PF,C
8	115	Jae'Sean Tate	HOU	SF,PF
9	117	Joe Ingles	UTH	SG,SF
9	118	Marcus Morris Sr.	LAC	SF,PF
9	119	Evan Mobley	CLE	PF,C
9	120	Jaden McDaniels	MIN	PF
9	122	Montrezl Harrell	WAS	PF,C
9	123	Lauri Markkanen	CLE	PF
9	125	Klay Thompson	GSW	SG,SF
9	127	De'Andre Hunter	ATL	SF
9	128	Duncan Robinson	MIA	SG,SF
9	129	Al Horford	BOS	PF,C
9	130	Nicolas Claxton	BKN	PF,C
9	131	Dillon Brooks	MEM	SF
9	132	Kelly Oubre Jr.	CHA	SF
9	133	Aaron Gordon	DEN	SF,PF
9	135	Bobby Portis Jr.	MIL	PF,C
9	137	Will Barton	DEN	SG,SF
9	138	Chuma Okeke	ORL	PF
9	140	Kawhi Leonard	LAC	SG,SF
9	141	Patrick Williams	CHI	F
10	143	Derrick Favors	OKC	PF,C
10	146	Kyle Kuzma	WAS	SF,PF
10	147	Aleksej Pokusevski	OKC	SG,SF
10	148	Isaiah Roby	OKC	PF,C
10	149	Royce O'Neale	UTH	SF
10	150	Rui Hachimura	WAS	PF
10	152	Gary Trent Jr.	TOR	SG,SF
10	154	Joe Harris	BKN	SG,SF
10	155	Danilo Gallinari	ATL	SF,PF
10	157	Tim Hardaway Jr.	DAL	SG,SF
11	162	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	LAL	SG,SF
11	165	Brandon Clarke	MEM	PF
11	166	Terrence Ross	ORL	SG,SF
11	168	Dorian Finney-Smith	DAL	SF,PF
11	170	Darius Bazley	OKC	PF
11	171	Luguentz Dort	OKC	SF
11	173	Josh Hart	NOP	SG,SF
11	174	Isaac Okoro	CLE	SG,SF
11	177	Davis Bertans	WAS	PF,C
11	178	Danny Green	PHI	SG,SF
12	183	Jae Crowder	PHO	SF,PF
12	184	Marvin Bagley III	SAC	PF
12	185	Daniel Theis	HOU	PF,C
12	186	Kenyon Martin Jr.	HOU	SF
12	189	Serge Ibaka	LAC	PF,C
12	190	Xavier Tillman	MEM	PF
12	191	Terance Mann	LAC	SG,SF
12	194	Nicolas Batum	CHA	SG,SF
12	199	Cameron Johnson	PHO	PF
13	200	Kevin Love	CLE	PF,C
13	201	Juan Toscano-Anderson	GSW	SF,PF
13	202	Jalen McDaniels	CHA	SF
13	203	Josh Richardson	BOS	SG,SF
13	205	Reggie Bullock	NYK	SG,SF
13	207	Blake Griffin	DET	PF,C
13	209	Justin Holiday	IND	SF,SG
13	210	Doug McDermott	SAS	SF,PF
13	211	Otto Porter Jr.	GSW	SF, PF
13	213	Josh Jackson	DET	SG,SF
13	221	Paul Millsap	DEN	PF,C
13	222	Carmelo Anthony	POR	SF,PF
13	223	LaMarcus Aldridge	SAS	PF,C
13	224	T.J. Warren	IND	SF, PF
13	225	Dario Saric	PHO	PF,C,SF
13	227	Precious Achiuwa	TOR	PF
13	228	Dwight Howard	PHI	PF,C
13	229	Maxi Kleber	DAL	PF
13	230	Cody Zeller	CHA	PF,C
13	231	Obi Toppin	NYK	SF,PF
13	232	Hamidou Diallo	DET	SG,SF
13	233	Dwight Powell	DAL	PF,C
13	235	Rudy Gay	SAS	SF,PF
13	236	Derrick Jones Jr.	POR	SF
13	238	Nemanja Bjelica	SAC	PF
13	241	Jonathan Kuminga	GSW	SF,PF
13	243	Marquese Chriss	GSW	PF
13	244	Tristan Thompson	BOS	PF,C
13	245	Jeremy Lamb	IND	SG,SF
13	246	Troy Brown Jr.	WAS	SF
13	247	P.J. Tucker	HOU	SF, PF
13	250	Gary Harris	DEN	SG,SF
13	252	Justise Winslow	MEM	SF,PF
13	253	Danuel House Jr.	HOU	SF,SF
13	254	Zach Collins	POR	PF, C
13	255	Aron Baynes	TOR	PF,C
13	257	Cheick Diallo	FA	PF,C
13	258	Kevon Looney	GSW	PF,C
13	259	DeMarcus Cousins	HOU	PF,C

 

Is Giannis Too High?

Surprisingly, the reigning Finals MVP slots in as the top forward and the number five overall player in our consensus. Call me crazy, but I believe that is too high. Giannis is absolutely a top-three selection in points leagues, but these are 9-Cat rankings and there are some major concerns.

For starters, he's shot less than 70 percent from the free-throw line over the last two seasons. Unless you are punting free throw percentage in your league, this has to be taken into consideration when drafting in the first round. His poor performance from the line has had such a negative effect on his value that he has finished 22nd and 17th, in per-game value over the last two seasons according to BasketballMonster.com. While he did improve to 68 percent during last year's regular season, regressed to an abysmal 58 percent during the playoffs. He surely made Ben Wallace proud.

Believe it or not, there is something else that dings Giannis' value in 9-Cat formats: his three-point shooting. He's made only 28 percent of his three's throughout his career, though he was able to improve to 30 percent from behind the line in each of the last two seasons. Still, it's not enough. Selecting Giannis with a top-five pick has the ability to set you back in two categories. That's not exactly what you want with your top-pick.

Giannis slots in at number 11 for me. At the end of the day, you know he will provide a high field goal percentage, score a ton of points, and grab a ton of rebounds. I am here absolutely here for it. Just not in the top-five.

 

Analyzing The Top Players

After Giannis surprisingly wound up as the number one overall forward, we see Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum fall in right behind. That makes sense. Durant and Tatum are excellent building blocks for your team and should be drafted with confidence towards the end of round one. Where we get our first controversy is with the next two players.

After years of fantasy dominance, LeBron James comes in at the number four forward and number 31 overall player. If you're keeping score with the chart above, that's eight spots lower than Michael Porter Jr. So, how did this happen?

First off, I completely agree with LeBron's spot in our rankings. Although it hurts to admit, he will be 37-years old in December and he has missed at least 27 games in two of the last three seasons. With a star-studded cast and sights set on lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy in June, it's possible the Lakers can and will scale back his workload during the regular season. Adding a high-usage player in Russell Westbrook certainly gives them the flexibility of doing that.

Michael Porter Jr. on the other hand is coming off of a breakout season last year and could be poised for an even bigger year with Jamal Murray still without a timetable for return after suffering a torn ACL last April. Here were his numbers without Murray in the lineup last season: 22.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.7 combined blocks and steals. The best part? He did all of that on elite efficiency, shooting just under 55 percent from the field and 44 percent from three.

While this ranking may not be the case in points leagues, it's clear that Porter Jr. is better suited for 9-Cat than LeBron at this point in his career.

Top 100 Guys With The Most Downside

Who am I lower on than the consensus?

Jerami Grant - Detroit Pistons
RB ranking: 70, Alex ranking: 76

Grant finally got his shot to be the number one option in Detroit and he exceeded all expectations by averaging career-highs in minutes and points. Unfortunately, he didn't do much else. Now throw Cade Cunningham and Kelly Olynyk into the mix and he will surely lose some playmaking upside. If his scoring takes a hit, Grant doesn't provide enough in the peripherals to negate the loss of value. His style of play is better suited for points leagues.

Robert Covington - Portland Trailblazers
RB ranking: 87, Alex ranking: 94

Don't forget how disappointing Covington was last season. There was a good portion of the year where people were actually wondering whether or not they should drop him. And most did. Covington is a prototypical three-and-D guy and provides most of his value on the defensive side of the ball. He averaged 2.6 combined blocks and steals but only 8.3 points while shooting 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. We're going to need to see it from Covington before trusting him as a surefire top-100 guy this season.

Keldon Johnson - San Antonio Spurs
RB ranking: 99, Alex ranking: 103

Johnson enjoyed a solid sophomore season in 2020-21, averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 28.5 minutes. While DeMar DeRozan is now in Chicago, the Spurs brought in Doug McDermott and Thaddeus Young in the offseason and both serve as a threat to cut into his production. On top of the added competition, Johnson is a poor three-point shooter and doesn't provide much on defense, making him a risky selection inside the top-100.

 

Who Are Some Sleepers?

Which players outside of the top-100 am I higher on than the consensus?

Kenyon Martin Jr. - Houston Rockets
RB ranking: 176, Alex ranking: 142

Martin Jr. was a certified league winner last season. Over his final nine games, he put up 18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.8 combined blocks and steals. Even more impressive was that he was able to do it on 52/43/71 shooting splits. He could lose some usage to Jalen Green and a healthy Christian Wood but it's important to remember that John Wall and Kelly Olynyk will no longer be out there for Houston. Martin Jr. isn't someone I want to trust right out of the gate, but I'm convinced he will see a larger role than most are anticipating. His massive upside makes for a fine late-round flier in drafts.

Marcus Morris Sr. - Los Angeles Clippers
RB ranking: 119, Alex ranking: 105

Morris Sr. was huge for the Clippers down the stretch last season and ended the season shooting a mind-boggling 47 percent from three on 5.2 attempts per game. He was at his best in the 14 regular-season games without Kawhi Leonard in the lineup, improving to 17.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks and steals while sinking 50 percent of his triples. It should be the same for Morris as Leonard remains without a timetable to begin the season, as the Clippers don't have any offense outside of Paul George, Reggie Jackson, and (maybe) Eric Bledsoe. Don't be surprised to see the younger Morris twin sneak into the top-100 out of sheer necessity this season.

Dorian Finney-Smith - Dallas Mavericks
RB ranking: 161, Alex ranking: 138

Did you know that Finney-Smith finished top-115 in per-game value last season according to BasketballMonster.com? He averaged career-highs in points, assists, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage while seeing 32 minutes a night. It should be more of the same for him this season as the Mavericks traded Josh Richardson to the Celtics and let James Johnson walk in free agency. They did add Reggie Bullock but DFS should still see a hefty amount of playing time a continue to contribute across the board. Bottom line: If Robert Covington can be ranked as a top-100 player then so should Finney-Smith.

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