This will be the eighth 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 30-21 players for the 2025-26 NBA season.
#30 Ja Morant
We lead off with a guy who should be much, much higher on the list. When Morant made the second team All-NBA and led his team to the second seed in 2022, it was looking like one day he could be an MVP. Since then, everything has gone wrong. This is because of things that are both in his control and out of his control. With this being said, Morant is coming off a season in which he played the majority of the games. There is not a ton of reason to be optimistic, but I have hope given how talented he is.
2024-25 Ranking: 18
#29 Alperen Sengun
Up next, we have one of the newer stars. Most people saw the potential in Sengun earlier in his career, but not many people were expecting him to be so good so fast. He made his first All-Star Game and led the Rockets to the No. 2 seed last year. With this being said, many people (including myself) give the team and coaching more credit than Sengun. This is not to say that Sengun didn’t have a great season, but either way, it should be fun to see his game grow this season.
2024-25 Ranking: 45
Alperen Sengun tonight:
21 Points
6 Rebounds
6 Assists
7/11 FGM
2/2 3PM
5/5 FTM
30 Minutes pic.twitter.com/2aMwXG9ewN— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 28, 2025
#28 Tyrese Maxey
Literally everything went poorly for the Sixers last year, and Maxey was far from the team’s biggest problem. He did take a slight step back last year. However, most of this likely has to do with the fact that he was injured for a lot of last season. Given the Sixers are in a better spot this year, I fully expect Maxey to play a lot better than he did last year.
2024-25 Ranking: 21
#27 Trae Young
It seems to be a common theme, but up next, we have one of the hardest players in the league to rank. On one hand, Young is one of the best offensive players in the league. There is not much else you could ask for from a guy who can score at will and find open looks for his teammates every possession. On the other hand, he tends to be very ball-dominant in certain spots and is one of the worst defenders in the league. Players with this type of play style tend to have a lower ceiling. With this being said, he is in a great situation now, surrounded by great defenders and shooters. We’ll see how good the Hawks can be in this situation.
2024-25 Ranking: 32
#26 De’Aaron Fox
Here we have one of the most fun players in the league to watch. Fox is not as good as he was in 2023 (when the Kings made the playoffs), but I still think he has the potential to have a great season. He is a great lob threat and is paired up with Victor Wembanyama. Additionally, he is responsible for mentoring Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. This will be great for the team.
2024-25 Ranking: 19
Year 9🖤🩶 pic.twitter.com/Vr6T7Mog7V
— De’Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) October 2, 2025
#25 Karl-Anthony Towns
Most people thought that Towns would be an upgrade for the Knicks last season, but I do not think anyone was expecting him to be this great. It was probably his best offensive season yet. In fact, many people who watched the Knicks regularly last season might say that this is way too low a ranking. However, remember the question: who do I want on my team if I want to win a championship? If all I wanted to do was win 50 games and lose in the first or second round, Towns is your guy. However, if you want to win a championship, unless you have great pieces around him, Towns’s defense often holds his team back. This is not to say that a team could not win a championship with him as the second option, but it would be easier to do it with the guys ahead of him.
2024-25 Ranking: 30
#24 Jaren Jackson Jr.
One of the best defenders in the league comes in at No. 24. Jackson had an awesome start to last season and was the main reason the Grizzlies were competent to start the campaign. In addition, he was the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year for a brief time after Wembanyama got injured. However, both he and the Grizzlies slipped towards the end of the season. With this being said, I am expecting him to be more consistent this season. At the end of the day, he is one of the better two-way players in the game, and I believe you can plug him into any contender and increase their ceiling by a substantial amount.
2024-25 Ranking: 42
#23 Pascal Siakam
The Eastern Conference Finals MVP comes in at No. 23. I personally think that Siakam is one of the most underrated players in the league. At the end of the day, if you are building a championship team, Siakam is the exact type of guy you would want. This is a guy who can pop off any given night, can play both sides of the ball, and ups his game in the playoffs. He cannot be the sole first option on a championship team, but we just watched him be a 1B on a team that made it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. This is the exact type of guy you need if you want to win a championship.
2024-25 Ranking: 35
Pascal Siakam.
26, 10 & 6 per game through 3 games.
Fighting through all the adversity.
One of the greatest Pacers trade acquisitions ever 💛 pic.twitter.com/3KulPu9V5k
— WOJ Artest🇦🇺🦘🏀 (@PacersWoody) October 27, 2025
#22 Bam Adebayo
Next, we have another guy who you can place in any situation, and he would make a massive impact. He is not necessarily one of the best rim defenders in the game, but he guards every team’s best player and can switch one to five. Though his offensive game is limited, it’s not like you can completely ignore him on that end. He had a down season last year, but I moved him up a couple of spots for two reasons. The first one is that I am expecting him to have a bounce-back season, and the second one is that I placed more emphasis on the criteria than talent from last year.
2024-25 Ranking: 25
#21 Jalen Williams
We finish this part of the list with a guy who proved me wrong big time last season. It’s not that I doubted him, but it is more that I was not expecting him to be so great so soon. Scoring 40 points in the NBA Finals is not easy, especially for someone his age. I think the biggest problem with his game is his inconsistency. While I praise him for his highs, he also has some low lows. I do think this will improve with age.
2024-25 Ranking: 38
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