National Basketball Association

5 NBA players who are playing out of position

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The NBA has a bunch of skilled players entering the 2016-17 NBA season. Here are five players that could benefit from a slight position switch.

The small ball era of the NBA has ushered a renaissance of rampant three-pointing shooting and essentially position-less basketball. Traditional power forwards and even some centers are getting in on the three-point craze. Near seven-footers are asked to bring the ball up the court. What is going on?

In short, basketball is becoming less defined by traditional position designations, which frees up the game on both ends of the floor and in transition. All that aside, there are a few players in the game today that could use a slight position switch. Here are five players that are playing out of position in 2016-17.

Sep 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) during media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

5. Nerlens Noel

Though Ben Simmons will miss a lot of his rookie season with a fractured foot, the 2016-17 Philadelphia 76ers could be a fun team to watch. They are well coached by Brett Brown and offer a ton of interesting frontcourt players — perhaps too many.

With Dario Saric and Joel Embiid making their NBA debuts, Philadelphia will have a serious logjam in the frontcourt. Saric and Embiid will join center Jahlil Okafor and power forward Nerlens Noel.

It stands to reason that either Noel or Okafor will be traded at some point this season. While we don’t who it will be, one thing is certain: Noel needs to get back to playing center. He’s playing out of position at power forward.

While he does give the 76ers great length and rim protection defensively, Noel doesn’t shoot from distance. Okafor is the more refined offensive player, but Noel seems more willful and could work as a center in the small-ball era.

Spacing is going to be an issue with the76ers. Even if Simmons was going to play point forward, he’s still 6’10” and could aid on the glass and defensively when he finally gets on the court. If a team needs rebounding and rim protection at the 5, it should give the 76ers a call for Noel.

Philadelphia won’t part with him for next to nothing, but the poor guy needs to play center on a halfway decent team.

Oct 19, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) tries to get past Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) in the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Milwaukee Bucks will always be exciting, as long as they have point forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. This guy is so close to making his first trip to the NBA All-Star Game. He is a rangy, defensive dynamo and is one of the most explosive offensive players in transition.

The three-point shooting will hopefully come eventually, but here’s the crazy thing about Antetokounmpo in 2016-17: head coach Jason Kidd is all on in the Greek Freak playing point forward/guard this season.

The Bucks traded failing point guard Michael Carter-Williams to the Chicago Bulls for wing Tony Snell. Maybe Snell provides some better shooting from the perimeter now that Khris Middleton is out for most of the year with a hamstring injury.

Could the point forward experiment with Antetokounmpo work in Milwaukee? Aren’t we all pulling for it, to see him become the next Magic Johnson? The problem is he may just be a really good small forward.

Ideally he’d play stretch-4, but Milwaukee has too many big men and Antetokounmpo still can’t keep defenses honest with a reliable three-ball. Choosing to go with him at point forward is something we’re all rooting for.

If it pans out, maybe Milwaukee has itself a truly unique superstar. If not, the Bucks might have to reallocate resources and put him at power forward. Don’t turn the ball over and make some threes please, Giannis!

Oct 20, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Kent Bazemore (24) drives on Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

3. Kent Bazemore

This one goes under the radar because the Atlanta Hawks always seem to fly under the radar. Kent Bazemore got paid and will be a wing for the Hawks for the foreseeable future. The problem is that Atlanta isn’t willing to bring sharpshooter Kyle Korver off the bench as a sixth man at this stage of his career. That forces undersized Bazemore to start at small forward.

Small forward is the perfect label for Bazemore as he is literally a small forward. However, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to start at shooting guard for the Hawks with one of their two rookie swingmen in Taurean Prince or DeAndre’ Bembry eventually starting at the 3?

In theory, that is probably what Atlanta wants to do, as Korver has only a few years left in the NBA. Putting Bazemore at the 2 would give him more of an opportunity to handle the basketball, something he’s actually pretty good at. It could create some interesting offensive sets for head coach Mike Budenholzer to run with having point guard Dennis Schroder doing some work off ball.

Atlanta would use two point guard sets with Schroder and Jeff Teague the last two years, but Teague was traded to the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks were able to get Prince’s draft rights in that three-team deal with the Pacers and the Utah Jazz.

Malcolm Delaney is Schroder’s backup, but has never played in an NBA regular season game. Maybe Bazemore and Schroder could feed off each other’s ball skills to create more dynamism in Atlanta’s offense in 2016-17?

Bazemore could go back to being a sixth man type of guy, but that type of demotion wouldn’t sit well with the fickle Hawks faithful. By moving Bazemore to the 2, he can still play lockdown defense out on the wing, but won’t be as physically dominated by bigger forwards like LeBron James or Paul George.

Oct 6, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) looks towards an official during a break in the action against the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter at the SAP Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

2. Kevin Durant

For the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors to be the best team in basketball, all of their star players will have to be willing to play out of their comfort zone. Draymond Green seems too stubborn to do any of that. Klay Thompson is going to shoot every time he touches the basketball.

Andre Iguodala has been selfless for years, but might be growing tired of being the team’s thankless sixth man. That leaves Golden State’s two best players to be the key proponents of sacrificing for the greater good of the team: point guard Stephen Curry and small forward Kevin Durant.

Curry can help by limiting turnovers in the half court offense, pass more and commit to defensive excellence as an improved help defender. What hurts Curry is that he has physical limitations at 6’3″. That is not an issue for near seven-footer Durant.

Durant has played small forward for most of his career with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. He is a great isolation player and has the hardest shot to defend in basketball. With the Warriors losing so many frontcourt players in 2016 NBA free agency, it is time for Durant to embrace playing stretch-4 at every opportunity.

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Durant will need to help Green in rim protection, but who else is going to do that on Golden State? Zaza Pachulia? David West? Come on! In theory, Durant would replace Harrison Barnes at the 4 in Golden State’s Death/Armageddon Lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Durant and Green.

What could be more interesting is if Durant and Iguodala switch positions defensively. Iguodala is one of the few forwards that has the lateral quickness and the physicality to guard LeBron James one-on-one. Durant has range and potentially good shot-blocking skills, but is physically outmatched by James every time.

In the smartest city in America, Golden State will have to be creative to offset some of its depth issues caused by the Durant signing. A decent solution is to have him play more as a stretch-4, even as a power forward over his small forward role with the Thunder. Durant will get beat up more by going inside, but it’s the best thing for Golden State to win the 2017 NBA Finals.

Oct 4, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) during a game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

1. Carmelo Anthony

The New York Knicks might actually be good this season. Jeff Hornacek looks to be an upgrade at head coach. Let’s just hope Phil Jackson stops getting cranky about having his team run the archaic Triangle Offense. The Knicks have also beefed up their starting five by adding Derrick Rose, Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah to Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.