The NBA season is off to a hot start and fans can't seem to get enough of the action. Professional sports are at their best when the competition is high and underdogs or injured players are able to prove themselves in the spotlight.
NBA 2K21 is the premier NBA game on the market these days and the designers spend countless hours trying to figure out how players should be rated. Sometimes they nail it, and other times it feels way off. Here's a look at the 10 best power forwards in the NBA according to player overalls in NBA 2K21.
10 Danilo Gallinari (83)
Danilo Gallinari was once a promising international player who had the potential to be an all-time great. These days Gallinari is playing for his 5th franchise in the Atlanta Hawks and is hoping to be the role player they needed to get over the hump and make some plays in the postseason. Averaging 16 points per game for a career is pretty impressive in the NBA and Gallinari has shown a solid level of consistency. This is the major reason why the league veteran stands at an NBA 2K21 overall of 83 and is a Top 10 power forward in the game.
9 Blake Griffin (83)
Casual NBA fans likely hear the name Blake Griffin and still think of him as a world-class dunk specialist. Since being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Detroit Pistons, Griffin has worked tirelessly to evolve his game in order to be able to still play it at a high level. Not only has he developed a solid 3-point shot for a power forward, but he's also managed to become one of the position's better passers. With an NBA 2K21 overall of 83, it may seem like his best days are behind him, but evolution isn't the same as deterioration.
8 Jaren Jackson Jr. (83)
Ja Morant, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, deservedly gets a lot of the media attention when it comes to the Memphis Grizzlies. He's not the only emerging young player in the music capital of the world.
Jaren Jackson Jr. improved from a player who averaged 13 points per game to well over 17 points per game last season. With Ja Morant's recent injury Jackson Jr. and his 83 overall will have to help the Grizzlies win more than a few games and that could lead to a more prominent role for a power forward.
7 John Collins (85)
In the 41 games John Collins played in last season he managed to average a double-double with 21.6 points per game and 10.1 rebounds on top of that. He's currently in his 4th season and at the young age of 23 is coming into the prime of his career. If he can average those numbers in 2020-21, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks could be serious playoff contenders. People might scoff at the idea of him having an 85 overall in NBA 2K21, but by season's end, he could emerge as a Top 5 player at the power forward position.
6 Domantas Sabonis (85)
The Indiana Pacers are a relatively small NBA market, but that doesn't mean their best players should fly under the radar. Domantas Sabonis may or may not be a name you recognize, as his dad was a fan favorite NBA player decades ago. Domantas doesn't live in the shadow of his father, and analysts likely would argue he has a much higher ceiling. An overall of 85 in NBA 2K21 may sound high, but Domantas is a walked 18 points per game and 10+ rebounds per game and is deserving of every point.
5 Zion Williamson (86)
When the rosters were revealed for NBA 2K21, Zion Williamson's overall quickly became a point of contention among fans. On one side you have those who believe the hype and think Williamson is on the fast track to stardom and the 86 overall is warranted. The other side of the discussion thinks he's simply being rewarded for hype and someone who played as little as he did shouldn't be that high of an overall. The 2020-21 NBA season will likely settle this debate and decide where exactly Williamson should sit in terms of overall.
4 Pascal Siakam (88)
Thanks to the Toronto Raptors championship a few years ago Pascal Siakam's name has become a lot more known than most players across the Canadian border. He's had his ups and downs over his career, and despite what many believed to be a bit of regression on his part, he averaged good numbers.
The reason Siakam has an overall of 88 in NBA 2K21 is that he averaged 23 points per game and 7 rebounds. Those are career numbers many other players would love to post, and for Siakam it seems there's only room for growth.
3 Jayson Tatum (90)
Jayson Tatum is one of the NBA's future superstars and has been on the cusp of that echelon for the last 2 seasons. The 6'8" wing is realistically one deep playoff run away from becoming a true household name. His 90 overall in NBA 2K21 has him sitting as the 3rd best power forward in the game, though some would argue his natural position is at small forward. Either way, Tatum has proven to be a dynamic scorer and distributor who would easily develop into one of the league's best wing defenders as well.
2 Anthony Davis (96)
Hot off the heels of his first NBA Finals win as a Los Angeles Laker and easily his best NBA Playoffs performance, Anthony Davis has proven he is one of the NBA's 5 best players. His 96 overall in NBA 2K21 is good enough to have him tied as the #3 player in the game next to NBA superstars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. For years fans knew how talented Davis was, but his lack of postseason success and proneness to injury left many lingering questions and doubters in the wings. Most of that has now faded away with the title of NBA champion now added to his resume.
1 Giannis Antetokounmpo (97)
The 2x reigning NBA MVP has yet to find any real success in the NBA Playoffs, but it's hard to deny how dominant he is on a night-to-night basis. Giannis Antetokounmpo is easily the best point scorer in the league and has a case as the league's best defender as well. He managed to be one of only a few players to ever win both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season, following the 2019-20 season. His 97 overall puts him at #2 in NBA 2K21, only behind Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James.