“Small ball” is the newest craze that has taken over the NBA. The league’s two best teams — The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors — both relied heavily on this strategy last season.
The emergence of the Warriors with Draymond Green at power forward (and often times center) has also helped this strategy trickle down major college basketball programs.
Playing small allows a team to have more ball handling and shooting on the floor which makes them tougher to guard. Presumably, whoever is playing power forward in a small lineup is a better shooter and playmaker than the “normal” power forward.