In the past, National Basketball Association big men have been boxed into being paint-dominant, shot-swatting behemoths. Now, these big men have transformed through time into players who can run the floor, facilitate, shoot threes and possibly any task the coach asks of them. In this new dawn of the NBA, the likes of Nikola Jokic, Myles Turner, Karl Anthony Towns, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis have made a name for themselves as do-it-all guys.
Davis and Cousins are vying for the crown of the best big man in the league while Antetokounmpo is a 6-foot-11 freak who plays point guard. Jokic, Turner and Towns, on the other hand, secure the future of the NBA big man by turning heads in their young NBA careers.
These big men can all shoot the three ball efficiently except for Antetokounmpo who is shooting 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. The remaining five bigs combine for an average of 35.34 percent, well above the three-point percentages of Russell Westbrook and James Harden who shoot 32.7 and 35 percent, respectively.
Antetokounmpo compensates his lack of efficiency from deep by facilitating the floor. His 5.6 assists average ranks first for players who stand 6-foot-11 and above. He is ranked 24th in assists but all of the players above him are 6-foot-8 and below according to NBA Stats. Jokic has also showed flashes of his passing abilities by running the floor and dishing players with a variety of assists.
Now, Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis are in line to be not just the future of the big men but also the future of the NBA. In just 25.3 minutes per game, Embiid is averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.4 blocks while shooting 34.5 percent from downtown. Porzingis, meanwhile, shoots 40.2 percent from three-point range to average 19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
Though fellow big man Draymond Green said that Cousins is the best big man in the league, according to CBS Sports, it is not far that other of the mentioned names would take his spot.
Watch the video below to see who is NBA great Shaquille O'neal's bet for best big man in the NBA: