23-year old Jeff Green is a player on the rise for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He played in 78 games for the Thunder last season and he averaged 36.8 minutes, 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has the potential to score more if the Thunder needs him to. Green could also play some at small forward for the Thunder if the need arises. 28-year old Nick Collison will get a lot of minutes at both power forward and center this season. He played in 71 games for the Thunder last season and he averaged 25.8 minutes, 8.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. The Thunder would likely start Collison if either Kevin Durant, Jeff Green or Nenad Krstic gets injured this season. 23-year old D.J. White showed a lot of potential in his limited action for the Thunder last season. White played in 7 games for the Thunder last season and he averaged 18.6 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. 32-year old Michael Ruffin won’t likely get much playing time for the Thunder this season as his game is pretty much limited to defense and rebounding. He played in 11 games for the Trailblazers last season and he averaged 3.2 minutes, 0.5 points and 1.0 rebound per game. 20-year old rookie Serge Ibaka will not get much playing time this season as he might have a hard time making the Thunder.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: B