This will be the fourth of a 10-part series ranking the Top 100 players in the NBA for the 2023-24 season.
Keep in mind, these are projections for the upcoming season. So does track record matter? Absolutely. Does last year matter? It matters the most. This list is based on what the players have shown they can do during the previous three years and how much it will carry over to this upcoming year.
Without further ado, here are the Top 70-61 players for the 2023-24 season.
70. Klay Thompson
To put it bluntly, Thompson is not who he was before he tore both his ACL and Achilles. With this being said, the fact that he is even a serviceable NBA player after having debatably the two most serious injuries in sports is insane. Last year, he averaged 22 points per game and shot 41 percent from three. Thompson is also still one of the better off-ball movers in the league despite not being as quick anymore. Furthermore, he is targeted on the defensive end which moves him down more than a few spots. He has championship experience which never goes away, so even though he is not a top-50 player anymore, he is someone who can be relied on come playoff time.
69. Jonas Valančiūnas
Believe it or not, Valančiūnas is only 31, though it feels like he’s a lot older since he’s been in the league so long. He has been one of the more underrated bigs in the league for a little bit now. He is a guy who rebounds at an elite level, is a great post player, and shoots the three relatively well. He took a slight step back last season, but I also think part of the reason might be the fact that his two best teammates, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, only played a total of 74 games. This likely caused more pressure on Valančiūnas. The Pelicans have a higher ceiling than people think. Whether they reach that ceiling will depend on how healthy Zion stays, but Valančiūnas will also be a big reason for it.
68. Brook Lopez
Talk about another player with crazy longevity. Lopez made his only All-Star Game in 2013 and has been a perfect role player on some great teams since. I honestly believe he should have won Defensive Player of the Year last year since Jaren Jackson Jr. did not play a ton of games. The Bucks just traded for Damian Lillard, which strengthens their chances of winning another title. Lopez will be 35 come playoff time. He is going to regress eventually. If Father Time waits a year or two longer, the Bucks just might be champions again.
67. Aaron Gordon
Who could have predicted that Aaron Gordon was going to be a key contributor to one of the best teams of all-time? I always knew he had the potential, but not to that extent. Sure, he was not the first or second option, but he was probably the third-most-important player on the team. He averaged 16 points and seven rebounds per game last year. Those numbers aren’t overwhelming, but he did everything not on the stat sheet. Though he is not elite, he is a strong finisher, playmaker, and perimeter defender. It’s these solid qualities and intangibles that round out a championship, and Gordon filled that role nearly flawlessly. If the Nuggets want to win again this year, Gordon is going to have to repeat what he did, and he will be up for the challenge.
66. Marcus Smart
The Celtics fan in me still can’t write about Smart without getting upset. He’s everything that you want in a team player. He is an elite playmaker, fantastic teammate, ferocious competitors, and one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. However, Brad Stevens felt it was time to spice things up after failing to win the title with the same core he had for a few years. He has a brand new home in Memphis and he will be playing a bigger role at the beginning of the season since Ja Morant will be suspended for the first 25 games. The duo of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Smart is debatably the best guard-forward defensive pairing in the game. Smart was loved in Boston more than any player in any city, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to his new home.
65. Derrick White
Speaking of Boston, Derrick White was initially going to be the player affected by the Marcus Smart trade the most. He was probably going to be the starting point guard of the team until Jrue Holiday was traded to the Celtics. Even with this trade, White’s role will still be expanded since their depth is a lot more thin. Even though Boston is going to miss Smart, Brogdon, and Rob Williams a lot, more minutes of a Holiday and White backcourt (especially on defense) is something almost every team would take in a heartbeat.
64. D’Angelo Russell
Despite playing awful in the playoffs, he is one of the main reasons the Lakers turned their season around after the trade deadline. People will credit “getting rid of Russell Westbrook” as the reason why, but Russell filled his role flawlessly during his time there. After being traded, he averaged 17 points and six assists per game, with 61 percent True Shooting. In my opinion, if the Lakers want to win the title this year, their third-best player will have to be Russell and not Austin Reaves. If he reaches his ceiling this year, the Lakers might be the favorites.
63. C.J. McCollum
Here we have another Pelican who is a tough player to rank. Last year, he played in a very different role than what he’s used to since it was his first full season away from Damian Lillard. He was also without Williamson and Ingram for a significant portion of the season. If the team stays healthy this year, McCollum will be in his smallest role since very early in his career. Seeing him in a third-option playmaking role will be interesting, and he can take Los Angeles very far as long as he does not regress too much.
62. Fred VanVleet
VanVleet is another guy who just signed a huge contract. He hasn’t played in any massive playoff games since the bubble and probably won’t anytime soon. The Rockets are an exciting, young team, but their floor is rock bottom and they aren’t expected to sniff the playoffs this year. VanVleet has been a top player on his team since Kawhi Leonard left, but 2023-24 will be different because he’ll be the sole leader on the team. Regardless of whether the Rockets are the worst team in the league, seeing VanVleet in this new role should be fun to watch.
61. Michael Porter Jr.
Another champion makes the list. Whenever I think of Porter, I think of the year 2017. Why is that, you ask? Right as the Celtics were being eliminated by the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, I thought, “Boston is lucky it has both of Brooklyn’s draft picks for the next two years. The trio of Jaylen Brown, Markelle Fultz, and Michael Porter Jr. is going to be filthy!” Well, Danny Ainge had other plans and traded both of those picks for Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving, so my dream of having the best trio of all-time died out pretty quick. But enough of that. Even though Porter hasn’t lived up to the hype (or his contract), being the third option on a championship team is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. He just turned 25, so he can expand his role. However, he already has both his payday and his ring, so he might not feel the need to change too many things.
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