Often it's the guards in the NBA that make up a team's backcourt that get all of the attention, praise, and highlights. With the league morphing into a game centered on the 3-point shot, the value of forwards and centers are plummeting over time. Despite this evolution, the NBA is still home to some tremendously talented frontcourt duos which feature some of the game's best athletes playing today.
Who is the best pairing out there? Let's look at and rank the NBA's 10 best starting frontcourt duos.
10 Los Angeles Clippers
Montrezl Harrell is a quality forward in his own right, but now that Kawhi Leonard has come back to Los Angeles, they're a nice frontcourt duo. Kawhi choosing to play for the Los Angeles Clippers instead of the Lakers not only helped even out the playing field in the NBA, but it helped the Toronto Raptors understand Pascal Siakam is their future.
The pairing of Paul George and Kawhi is going to get all of the headlines, but look for Harrell to make his presence known alongside the fun guy himself.
9 Detroit Pistons
If you play for the Detroit Pistons in the modern age, you're likely going to get lost in the white noise of being considered mediocre at best. When it comes to frontcourt duos though the pairing of Andre Drummond at center alongside Blake Griffin who's developed a consistent outside shot in the offseason, you're going to contend with other teams.
The lack of playoff success and teammates around them hurt their positioning, but in a vacuum, these are two of the best in the league at what they do on any given day.
8 New Orleans Pelicans
Of course, Zion Williamson is the name to cover in the New Orleans Pelicans frontcourt, but don't forget about newly acquired big man Derrick Favors. He was often overshadowed by Rudy Gobert in Utah, but Favors proved himself to be a consistent presence on defense and the boards over the years.
Williamson's pure athleticism will have him accomplishing some amazing things, but listening and learning from Favors could pay off big time as his career progresses down the line.
7 Portland Trailblazers
The Portland Trailblazers sell tickets thanks in large part to their phenomenal backcourt duo of Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum. Entering the 2019 season their frontcourt is full of expectations as their promising center Jusuf Nurkic is back from an injury that kept him out all of last season.
Not only will Nurkic be looking to return and prove the hype was real, but they've paired him with Hassan Whiteside, the inconsistent but impressive rebounding machine from the Miami Heat. It will be interesting to see how it works out.
6 Toronto Raptors
How can the Toronto Raptors still be on this list when Kawhi is currently practicing in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform? Well, despite his departure the NBA's Canadian franchise is sitting strong with both Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol.
A case can also be made for Serge Ibaka in tandem with one of the two previously mentioned, but Gasol and Siakam seem like the best pairing. The two defending champions will look to show the world that they're a dangerous team even without Kawhi in the lineup.
5 Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets fans will likely be reading this and wondering why the pairing of Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap isn't higher on the list. The truth is that Millsap is a limited player physical that makes up for it with pure effort.
If the risky draft pick at center, Bol Bol, works out then you could easily be looking at the scariest and most versatile frontcourt in the entire NBA. As it sits though Jokic is a superstar in the making, while Millsap has managed to be a consistent force of effort and hard work.
4 Utah Jazz
Whether the Utah Jazz kept their entire 2018-19 roster together or made the changes they did this offseason, they still would have ended up on this list. Utah is home to the back-to-back and currently reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert.
The imposing center has been a force to be reckoned with on the inside for years and has carved himself out as one of the NBA's best big men. His new running mate at small forward, the recently acquired sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic gives them a deadly combo in the frontcourt.
3 Milwaukee Bucks
To be honest, this frontcourt duo is definitely one-sided in terms of why it's so high on the list, but Giannis Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA MVP and with the likely addition of a mid-range and 3-point shot he can quickly ascend towards LeBron's spot as the games most influential player.
Brook Lopez, who starts at center alongside him isn't a superstar but added a 3-point shot to his game which has helped stretch the floor for Giannis and has made the Milwaukee Bucks a more versatile team.
2 Philadelphia 76ers
Now, pairing Joel Embiid with Al Horford was one of the more overlooked partnerships during the 2019 NBA offseason. Horford provides toughness and experience next to Embiid's natural athleticism that may help him stay healthier during the season.
Horford is never going to be the perennial All-Star that Embiid is, but he goes out there and works his butt off all the time. He brings a sense of toughness and basketball intelligence that the Philadelphia 76ers were in desperate need of.
1 Lost Angeles Lakers
The case for the Los Angeles Lakers being first on this list is a little harder to make with the loss of DeMarcus Cousins to an Achilles injury. That being said, having the combination of both Anthony Davis and LeBron James will make any team in consideration for the best frontcourt in the entire association.
Whether you're now in on Kawhi Leonard as the best player in the NBA, it's hard to deny that both LeBron and Davis aren't both Top 7 players. This means that they have the best combination of superstar forwards and centers in the league.