Before we begin, this was supposed to be a puff piece about the dominance of the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion, Alex Periera, but I’m a basketball junkie, so bear with me.
The Player Pool: The Player Pool is basically me ranking about 60-70 of the best players in the league and putting them five groups.
Some criteria I’m using: Impact on offence and defense, do you make your teammates better, do you contribute to winning, consistency, efficiency, longevity and availability.
Let’s get into it.
Group A: The Top 10 (Best Players in the League)
The is the crème de la crème of the league, the best 10 guys in the world. Basically, if you’re playing a seven-game series with your life on the line, call these guys.
Nikola Jokic (C/Nuggets)
Luka Doncic (G/Mavericks)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (F/Bucks)
Joel Embiid (C/Sixers)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (G/Thunder)
Jayson Tatum (F/Celtics)
Jaylen Brown (F/Celtics)
Anthony Edwards (G/Timberwolves)
Jalen Brunson (G/Knicks)
Kevin Durant (F/Suns)
Group B: The Next Best Thing
This group is stellar, but just not quite better than Group A. From a consistency, age, unproven ability, or availability standpoint. Again, this is still an elite crop of guys, and if your life is on the line and Group A isn’t available, you can call these guys.
Lebron James (F/Lakers)
Anthony Davis (F/Lakers)
Stephen Curry (G/Warriors)
Kawhi Leonard (F/Clippers)
Devin Booker (G/Suns)
Tyrese Maxey (G/Sixers)
Jamal Murray (G/Nuggets)
Ja Morant (G/Grizzlies)
Tyrese Haliburton (G/Pacers)
Donovan Mitchell (G/Cavs)
De’Aaron Fox (G/Kings)
Kyrie Irving (G/Mavericks)
Zion Williamson (F/Pelicans)
Jimmy Butler (F/Heat)
Damian Lillard (G/Bucks)
Group C: The Fringe Superstars & The Plug-in Play All-Stars
Depending on team dynamics, some of these of guys can be the second or third-best player on a championship team. Others could be a valuable plug-in play guy for any contender around the league.
Pascal Siakam (F/Pacers)
Paul George (F/Sixers)
Kristaps Porzingis (C/Celtics)
Domantas Sabonis (F/Kings)
Bam Adebayo (F/Heat)
Karl-Anthony Towns (C/Timberwolves)
Evan Mobley (C/Cavs)
Trae Young (G/Hawks)
Darius Graland (G/Cavs)
Jrue Holiday (G/Celtics)
Jalen Williams (G/Thunder)
Julius Randle (F/Knicks)
James Harden (G/Clippers)
Mikal Bridges (F/Knicks)
Jaren Jackson Jr (F/Grizzlies)
DeMar DeRozan (F/G/Kings)
Lauri Markkanen (F/Jazz)
Desmond Bane (G/Grizzlies)
Bradley Beal (G/Suns)
Group D: The Elite Role Players
These guys are elite in their roles, whether it’s being an All-NBA defensive player, rebounding, their two-way ability, adding valuable scoring off the bench, or high-percentage three-point shooting. Whatever you need, this group of guys can deliver valuable production on any winning team.
Rudy Gobert (C/Timberwolves)
Naz Reid (C/Timberwolves)
Derrick White (G/Celtics)
Aaron Gordon (F/Nuggets)
Jaden McDaniels (F/Timberwolves)
OG Anunoby (F/Knicks)
Lou Dort (G/Thunder)
Josh Hart (G/Knicks)
Jarrett Allen (C/Cavs)
Nickal Alexander Walker (G/Timberwolves)
Tyler Herro (G/Heat)
Grayson Allen (G/Suns)
Dante Divincenzo (G/Knicks)
Malik Monk (G/Kings)
Kris Middleton (G/F/Bucks)
Kentavious Caldwell Pope (G/Magic)
Mitchell Robinson (C/Knicks)
Marcus Smart (G/Grizzlies)
Alex Caruso (G/Thunder)
Group E: The Next Big Thing
The young bucks in the league. Some of these guys are already star-level players, and some have been key pieces on contending teams. I think a couple of these guys will make an All-NBA team within the next two seasons (Palo and Wemby), but overall, all these young guys are impactful players on their respective teams. Also, this will be the last season that Wemby will be in this group.
Victor Wembanyama (C/Spurs)
Palo Banchero (F/Magic)
Chet Holmgren (C/Thunder)
Jamie Jaquez Jr. (F/Heat)
Alperen Sengun (C/Rockets)
Franz Wagner (F/Magic)
Derek Lively II (C/Mavericks)
LaMelo Ball (G/Hornets)
Brandon Miller (F/Hornets)
Carson Wallace (G/Thunder)
Jalen Green (G/Rockets)
Josh Giddey (G/Bulls)
Keegan Murray (F/Kings)
Jabari Smith Jr. (F/Rockets)
Cade Cunningham (G/Pistons)
Jonathan Kuminga (F/Warriors)
The 10 Honorable Mentions
I couldn’t objectively fit these guys into any of the five groups, so I made an honorable mention category
D’Angelo Russell (G/Lakers)
PJ Washington (F/Mavericks)
Zach Lavine (G/Bulls)
Micheal Porter Jr (F/Nuggets)
Jalen Suggs (G/Magic)
Klay Thompson (G/Warriors)
Dejounte Murray (G/Pelicans)
Brandon Ingram (F/Pelicans)
Jerami Grant (F/Blazers)
John Collins (F/Jazz)
Some Takeaways:
Depth around the league
The league is incredibly deep at the moment. It's actually kind of ridiculous. I had way more players in the honorable mentions category, but I had to forced myself to cut it to just 10 guys. I probably have to create another group. Maybe a group solely for the big men, the “Valuable Bigs” or something corny like that.
Had a lot of fun doing this
I’ve been ranking players for about 15 years at this point, and this is the most fun I’ve had with it
I plan on making this an annual thing
I was thinking about updating this throughout the season. Maybe in December (during the Christmas games or after the in-season tournament), All-Star Weekend, and obviously the off-season. We’ll see.
Lastly, I just want to say thank you to all the people who supported last week's article. It's crazy to me that people actually took the time out of their day to read something that I wrote and thought it was half decent, so again, thanks for the support.
Oh, amazing lineups
Brother Samson you keep doing 💯 what you do best 👌 👍🏽