This will be the final installment of a 10-part series ranking the top 100 players in the NBA for the 2025-26 season.
A few things to note before I start.
- This is a projective list of what I think will happen this season. While I rely heavily on the past two to three seasons to evaluate them, if a younger player has shown a lot of progression, I will assume they will play even better this season. The opposite is also true. If an older player has shown signs of consistent regression, I will assume they will play worse.
- My criteria, in short, is answering the following question: “If I am building a team to win a championship, who would I rather have on my team?” In other words, I am prioritizing ceiling raisers over floor raisers on my team. For example, if Player A is better at leading bad teams to relevance, but Player B is much better at playing his role on an elite team, I will likely rank Player B higher.
- Since this is a projective list, I unfortunately have to apply an “injury tax” for players who have a history of serious injuries or already have concerns for this year.
- This is only about predicting what will happen this season. Therefore, while Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, and Damian Lillard would all be on this list when healthy, they are dealing with long-term injuries and therefore do not qualify. Hopefully, they will all be back on this list next year.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 players for the 2025-26 NBA season.
#10 Anthony Davis
We lead off with one of the best two-way players in the game. People were so perplexed at Luka Doncic being traded to the Lakers for not a lot of draft capital that it seems they forgot how elite Anthony Davis is. Not only this, but many people were already underrating him because the Lakers had been underachieving. However, Davis is pretty much the last player (besides maybe LeBron James) to blame for that. People question Davis’ ability to lead, but this year will be a test for that. Whether you think he can be a leader or not, he is debatably the most pluggable player in the league.
2024-25 Ranking: 9
#9 LeBron James
Davis’ former teammate is right in front of him. Before anyone asks, yes, I would probably have James up a spot or two if he were not diagnosed with sciatica and missing the first couple of weeks of the season. This might be too much projection; these types of injuries tend to hurt a little more for guys in their 40s. Then again, it’s LeBron James, so maybe not. Also, this will be James’ first full season in which he is objectively not the best player. It will be super interesting seeing him in this type of role.
2024-25 Ranking: 7
22 years ago LeBron made his NBA debut 👑
10/29/2003 pic.twitter.com/Li6w5HSWFF
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) October 29, 2025
#8 Stephen Curry
The other face of the league comes in at number eight. In the middle of last season, there was a stretch where it was looking like Curry was steeply declining. However, after the Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler, it totally turned his season around. Many thought he deserved to make First Team All-NBA. The Warriors are a very old, but also very talented team. Who knows how good they’ll be, but Curry still has plenty left in the tank.
2024-25 Ranking: 8
#7 Kevin Durant
Curry’s old teammate comes in at No. 7. Durant has a new home in Houston this year. The Rockets finished as the No. 2 seed, but lost in the first round. The thing they were missing the most was an elite shot creator, which is exactly Durant’s role. Trading Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks was a no-brainer. However, Fred VanVleet being out for the entire season will cause lots of problems and slow down the offense. With this being said, it will be fun to see Durant mentor some of the younger guys on the team.
2024-25 Ranking:
#6 Anthony Edwards
Up next, we have debatably the best American-born player not named (healthy) Jayson Tatum. Edwards led his team to back-to-back Western Conference Finals. It’s not like he was just a solid during those runs; he was all around awesome. In the past two postseasons, he averaged 26.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 6.0 APG, and 1.9 Stocks on 58.5% True Shooting. Complain about his off-ball defense or his personality all you want, but he is young, super athletic, and a solid two-way player. This is only the beginning, and as long as he stays healthy, he will be one of the best players in the league for a long time.
2024-25 Ranking: 11
Gucci Ref: “WCF or Bust?”
Ant: “At this point, it’s championship or bust.”
Anthony Edwards has his eyes set on winning a ring 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/PWvkWMr7YG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 25, 2025
#5 Victor Wembanyama
Yup, I’m ready for it. A lot of people might think it’s too early, but I do not think so. At the end of the day, having a guy who is 7-foot-4, will block any shot in sight, is a good post player, and has a borderline jump shot is something literally any team would take. The main reason I do not think that it is too early is that Wembanyama was close to being a top-five MVP candidate before he got injured last year. Given that he has a solid supporting cast around him now, he will only get more efficient and better as time goes on.
2024-25 Ranking: 17
#4 Luka Doncic
Now, we have entered the top tier of superstar territory. Doncic had what was considered a down season last year and still averaged 28.0 PPG, 8.0 APG, and 8.0 RPG. This was all with an injury and dealing with the mentality of having to abruptly switch teams in the middle of the season. He will be in an interesting spot this year. Even though he is easily the best player on the team, James will be the “Alpha Dog” on pretty much every team he is on.
Also, if there is one thing that Doncic is weak at, it is his defense. Unfortunately for him, there are not many elite defenders on the Lakers outside of Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt. This especially goes for his backcourt partner, Austin Reaves. The Lakers will have to adjust to this problem, but at the end of the day, having two top-10 players on your team will always be a luxury most teams don’t have.
2024-25 Ranking: 3
#3 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The reigning MVP and Finals MVP comes in at No. 3. Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off one of the best scoring seasons of all time. Even though the Thunder would have still been a phenomenal defense without him, he carried their offense at multiple points during the regular season. Many say it was the best non-Steph Curry or Kobe Bryant season for a guard since Michael Jordan. So with this said, many might see him not being a top-two player as a sign of disrespect, but it is the furthest thing. It is only because I still hold the two guys ahead of him in such high regard.
2024-25 Ranking: 5
Jason Kidd says Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player in the world 👀
(Via @CAlmanza1007) pic.twitter.com/oVOVgoqJxC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 28, 2025
#2 Giannis Antetokounmpo
Do you remember that time in the mid-to-late 2010s when people talked about some of the best players in the league, and LeBron James would be kind of left under the radar because everyone already knew how good he was? That is what it feels like with Antetokounmpo now. Many have seen Giannis as having a “down couple of seasons,” and it could not be further from the truth. Last season, he averaged 30.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 6.0 APG on 63% True Shooting.
“But he hasn’t made it past the first round in three seasons. Yes, this is true. But that is absolutely not his fault. One of those seasons, he was injured, and two of them, he played out of his mind, but his teammates let him down. I’m not sure what to expect from Antetokounmpo given how bad this roster is, but I can expect him to make his eighth straight All-NBA First Team for sure.
2024-25 Ranking: 2
#1 Nikola Jokic
I believe this is relatively indisputable at this point. People will point to his defensive deficiencies, but it’s a little more complicated than “his defense is so bad, move him down.” The main thing is that players can only individually impact a team’s defense so much. If offense and defense were equal on an individual basis, he might slip down further. With this being said, the offensive gap between him and the second-best offensive player in the league is so big that it makes up for nearly everything on that end. Also, this is the best supporting cast since he became an MVP candidate. He will be able to take a slight step back during the regular season and absolutely light it up in the playoffs.
2024-25 Ranking: 1
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