The Best Big Men in the 2020 NBA Free-Agency Class

The 2020 NBA free-agent class may not offer any direct paths to title contention. Anthony Davis, perhaps the only franchise-changing talent on the market, is reportedly set to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

That and the lack of available cap space suggest plenty of teams will be biding their time till the 2021 offseason.

There are 2020 free agents who can move the needle, though. And that includes bigs, despite the fact that there's some market saturation at that position.

Now, the "big" designation is sort of nebulous these days. As the game grows increasingly positionless, centers and power forwards are taking on much different responsibilities than they did in the past.

For the purposes of this piece, we'll rely on those traditional categories, though. If a player logged the majority of his minutes at power forward or center, according to Basketball Reference, he's in contention for this list.

That means some floor-spacers will make the cut here, but that really shouldn't be that surprising in 2020.

Now that we know which talent pool we're drawing from, let's look at the five best bigs on the market.

5. Montrezl Harrell

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Montrezl Harrell's stock may have taken quite a hit in the 2020 postseason. Over the course of the Los Angeles Clippers' playoff run, they were plus-15.1 points per 100 possessions with Harrell off the floor and minus-11.9 with him on.

Reasons for the catastrophic impact included Harrell's inability to space the floor on offense and his lack of size on the other end.

For a team whose best player (Kawhi Leonard) does so much damage inside the three-point line, it would help to have a big who could pull interior defenders out of the paint. Harrell's shot chart shows he doesn't do that.

Defensively, he competes. That's something you never need to worry about with Harrell. But the Western Conference features bigs like Nikola Jokic and AD, both of whom can go through or shoot over the 6'7" Harrell.

Still, in a role like the one he has with the Clippers, Harrell can provide positive value, at least on offense.

Against backups, his aggressive dives to the rim and ability to finish with touch while running full speed at the rim are effective.

Last season, he averaged 23.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per 75 possessions, on the way to a Sixth Man of the Year nod.

4. Davis Bertans

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Having Davis Bertans ahead of Montrezl Harrell will surely be controversial.

Box plus/minus ("...a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player's contribution to the team when that player is on the court," according to Basketball Reference) puts Harrell ahead of Bertans.

The Clippers big is also a year younger and averaged more points, rebounds, assists and blocks per 75 possessions than the Washington Wizards' three-point specialist.

The latter had a significantly better impact on his team's plus-minus, though. That has something to do with the roster makeup of both teams, but the bigger reason is how perfect Bertans' game is for modern basketball.

No one is signing either big to be their No. 1 option, so you have to think about how they'll complement star teammates.

For Bertans, the ability to space the floor from well beyond the three-point line helps to clear out driving lanes for slashers.

It's not just that Bertans averaged 3.7 made threes in 29.3 minutes while shooting 42.4 percent from deep (borderline unprecedented numbers). It's that he may be the best shooter in the league from 28 feet and out.

Above the break, the NBA's three-point line is just shy of 24 feet from the rim. Since 1996-97, 24 players have hit at least 50 shots from 28 feet and out. Among that group, Bertans' 41.0 percent conversion rate is first. And the gap between him and second-place Trae Young is about as big as the gap between Young and ninth place.

When you have a player who commands defensive attention four or five feet outside the three-point line, space takes on a whole new meaning. And the way Bertans changes the dimensions of the floor made him immensely impactful in 2019-20.

When he and Bradley Beal shared the floor, Washington scored 121.7 points per 100 possessions (99th percentile). When Beal played without Bertans, that offensive rating plummeted to a way-below-average 106.2 (17th percentile).

3. Danilo Gallinari

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Veteran power forward Danilo Gallinari does a lot of the same things Davis Bertans does.

In 2019-20, he averaged 3.5 threes per 75 possessions (shy of Bertans' 4.4, but still a more-than-solid number) while shooting 40.5 percent from deep.

Gallo also didn't take or make nearly as many 28-plus footers. So, his ability to space the floor isn't quite as dramatic as Bertans', though he still filled that role for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

What makes Gallinari the more effective overall player is the fact that he can put the ball on the floor when defenders close out on his perimeter catches. And when he does, he's a master at getting to the line (still the most efficient use of a possession).

Over the course of his career, Gallinari has a 59.1 true shooting percentage, a 45.5 three-point attempt rate (percentage of shot attempts that come from three) and a 44.0 free-throw attempt rate (number of free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt). James Harden is the only player in league history to match all three marks.

Gallinari's moneyball approach to the game should make him an instant ceiling-raiser for whatever team signs him. And even though the 32-year-old is moving past his prime, he should be a plus on that end of the floor for the life of his next contract. His skills are more about cunning than explosiveness.

2. Christian Wood

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Is it too early to have Christian Wood this high up a list like this?

After four years of clinging to the fringes of the NBA (Wood appeared in just 51 games from 2015-16 through 2018-19), the 2019-20 campaign was his first as a regular rotation player. And his breakout happened on a team that was nowhere near playoff contention.

When there's little other talent on a roster, someone has to put up some numbers. And we've seen plenty of examples in the past of those players then struggling to have a positive impact on better teams.

For Wood, though, there are just too many signs that he's an ideal center for modern basketball.

On top of finishing the season tied for 27th in box plus/minus, Wood averaged 22.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.5 threes and 1.5 blocks per 75 possessions.

The Detroit Pistons had a plus-2.7 net rating when he was on the floor, compared to a minus-8.3 when he was off. In other words, they played like a 48-win team with Wood and a 21-win team without him.

That impact was the result of Wood's combination of three-point shooting, rim protection and top-tier finishing ability.

His shot chart, which features a 79.3 field-goal percentage at the rim, was an analytics dream in 2019-20.

And though he's already 25, there's still some room for development here. If his three-point accuracy ticks up a bit (from an already above-average 38.6) and he adds a little playmaking and passing, Wood has a chance to be one of the game's top centers over the life of his next contract.

1. Anthony Davis

Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press

Though his return to the Lakers is almost a foregone conclusion, Anthony Davis opting out of the final year of his contract will make him a member of this free-agent class.

As such, he's a no-brainer for the top of this list.

At some point during the life of his next contract, he figures to be the new face of one of the most storied franchises in sports. And he has the talent to live up to a proud legacy of Lakers big men.

George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal all helped L.A. (or, in Mikan's case, Minneapolis) win titles. And AD already has one championship after his first season in the purple and gold.

The fact that he's just 27 years old suggests he'll push for more.

Few players across league history accomplished more by the time they reached AD's age. In fact, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Magic Johnson are the only players who had more wins over replacement player through their age-26 seasons.

He's on track to be an all-time great. And if he maintains averages around what he put up in 2019-20 (26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.5 steals), he'll likely compete for MVP awards throughout the rest of his prime.