If I made a list of the best forwards in the league, names like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Garnett would top the charts.  Today I am going to mention three players listed at “Small Forward” and/or “Power Forward” only according to Yahoo! who have had surprisingly well year up to this point.

1.  Kevin Durant – Now I know a lot of people can easily argue that he is one of the top small forwards and I agree 100%.  I am mentioning him because for as good we know he is, I do not think one person predicted he would have this type of year already in his young career.  This year he is averaging right under 30 points a game and 7 rebounds a game.  He is also shooting a career high 48% from the field, not to mention shooting 88% from the free throw line.  Durant has stepped up his play making big shots and carrying this young and improved Thunder team.

2.  Gerald Wallace – Gerald Wallace has been a double-double machine this year.  Who knew he would be averaging 11 rebounds a game up to this point.  The acquisition of Stephen Jackson has opened up the floor allowing him more one-on-one match ups, helping him average 18 points per game.  He is shooting a career high 36% from downtown.  If Wallace and the rest of the Bobcats could figure out how to win on the road, they are going to be a dangerous team in the second half of the season.

3.  Carl Landry – With the absence of Yao Ming, Luis Scola and Carl Landry have stepped up their game to help the Rockets stay in the playoff hunt.  Coming off the bench this year Landry has improved his scoring from a career 9.3 points per game last year to a new career high at 16.4 points per game this year.  Whenever Landry is in the game he is relentless in his attacking the basket.  He also takes advantage of every opportunity by shooting 55% from the field and 85% from the free throw line.  He is also averaging a career hight 5.5 rebounds per game.  If Yao Ming can not return to his former self next year, players hard nose players like Landry, Scola, and Hayes will keep the Rockets competitive for years to come.

There are many more players we could include on this list.  If you have any player you think has been playing extremely well feel free to leave a comment or tweet it to @nbatoday or @nbatoday_JB.  Thanks for stopping by!