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Who Are The Unicorns Of The NBA?

By Cameron Stewart

Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) greets Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) prior to the game at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) greets Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) prior to the game at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 12, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Pau Gasol (16) looks on against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Honorable Mentions

Pau Gasol

The elder Gasol brother is a bit of an odd choice for this. He blocks shots and his rim protection is probably better than you think (fourth in points saved per game, 15th in field goal percentage allowed at the rim).

Still, he’s a liability on defense in pick-and-rolls and he’s taken less than 100 threes in the last two seasons. He’s got the three-point percentage (37.9 percent last season) to qualify, however.

Paul Millsap

Millsap is consistently underrated and Atlanta Hawks fans would argue that he deserves to be on the list and not here. They’d have a solid argument. Millsap’s ability to space the floor and be a plus defender has allowed them to overachieve the last few seasons.

However he’s just scraping the bottom of the ways to qualify. He put up great rim protection numbers for his position last season, but was an outlier while also shooting 31.9 percent from deep.

Joel Embiid

The internet’s favorite basketball player who’s never played in an NBA game has potential to be on this list, but he’ll have to prove it first. He should project to be a very good rim protector but it’s the three-point part that may disqualify him.

He’s flashed three-point range in workouts but there are plenty of NBA big men who can hit three’s consistently in workouts. I once saw Roy Hibbert swish three after three early on in his career. He’s attempted 24 threes in eight NBA seasons. The Philadelphia 76ers will need some shooting on their team and we’ll see early on if Embiid’s range in workouts will translate to actual games.

Kevin Durant

It’s odd to see Durant, who we typically think of as a small forward on this list, but he could very well prove to be deserving of a spot on this list. Durant is the best shooter of anyone on this list by a wide margin.

He’s never been asked to be a rim protector in the past while playing with traditional lineups. This year, he may be asked to pick up some of the rim protection duties, which he’s shown flashes of being good at.

Marvin Williams

Williams had a breakout year at age 29, which just so happened to occur in a contract season. Williams shot a career-high 40.2 percent on three-pointers and a career-high 1.0 blocks per game.

He allowed only 45.7 percent shooting at the rim, good for 12th in the NBA, which is extremely impressive to do as a power forward who can’t really play center. Why doesn’t he crack the list? We’re on Year 11 for Williams and one outlier season colors us skeptical on whether his emergence was a sign of things to come.