This is something I've just been thinking about today, and it's that we're entering a new era of basketball led by small forwards. Athletic 6'9 small forwards who can run the floor to be exact. Shawn Kemp was one of the first long athletic small forwards to make major damage in the league in the 90's. Back then players like him were a rarity. Tracy McGrady was the next notable player who fit that role. But Shawn Kemp and T-Mac were both drafted in an era dominated by bulky power forwards and centers.
The new era started in 2003 with the draft of LeBron James. That is when the transitioning began. If you look at his size, he's 6'8 and about 240 pounds. Looking at that you'd think an undersized power forward. Instead he is he is the first big athletic small forward to start the revolution.
In 2004 Josh Smith was drafted and in his rookie year he was already among the league leaders of blocked shots. So far this year he's averaging 3 blocks per game, doing it in non-conventional ways (usually from the weak side). He's still young and his future is so bright. When all is said and done, he could end up averaging 20-10-4-3 during his peak years. This is not at all out of the question.
Luol Deng was also drafted in 2004, and although he didn't start showing signs as soon as Smith, has shown that he also belongs in this category. He's long, athletic, can rebound, run, defends and can score. He's looked at as the future leader of the Bulls.
In 2005 Marvin Williams and Danny Granger were drafted. These two, although not as good as Smith and LeBron, have very bright futures, and definitely fit the description of this new style of players, and have started to break out in the early part of this season.
Last year was when the next big time small forward was drafted in Rudy Gay. He has the tools all the tools to be just as good as Smith, and he's already scoring 20 ppg this year (yes I know it's early), and he's shown the potential to be a nasty defender as well. He's athletic and willing to sacrifice his body. He's an example of what the league's top players are becoming.
In six years, when people are listing the mvp candidates, who are they going to list off? In my opinion, with the current trend, that list will be heavily dominated by these new breed of small forwards, which is a strong contrast of the players who have dominated those lists in the past 15 years (power forwards and shooting guards).
It's taken the league a while to recover from Michael Jordan's retirement, but with this style of players evolving right before our eyes, the future of the league is looking as bright as ever.