ESPN's countdown of the NBA's best 100 players for the 2025-26 season has yet to reach its top 10, but there have been plenty of surprises already. And before we reveal our final elite group, our expert panel is breaking down this year's list.
Are future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant still deserving of top 10 honors? Which players got snubbed and which did we underrate?
Ahead of Thursday's finale, we're hitting on the top questions so far from our NBA Rank 100, including where injured superstars Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton would have landed.
Which player's ranking surprised you the most?
Jamal Collier: Victor Wembanyama is awesome, but top 10 is too high for him at this moment. I'm not saying he won't get there -- even by the end of this upcoming season. But he simply doesn't have the credentials or pressure performances of the other top-10 players in the league.
Bobby Marks: The disrespect to Tyler Herro (No. 68). Yes, Herro will be out for the early part of the regular season with a foot injury, but this is a player who was selected as an All-Star last season. For a fourth straight campaign, Herro averaged at least 20 points, and he finished 2024-25 with five games of at least 35 points, a career-best 47.2% mark from the field and 5.5 assists per game. He played a career-high 77 games last season.
Jorge Sedano: I agree with Bobby on Herro. I would add that Herro wasn't the focal point of the Heat's offense last season and still averaged nearly 24 points per game with 38% shooting from 3. Everyone remembers Pat Riley calling out Jimmy Butler III (No. 18) about 17 months ago. No one remembers that Riley also called out Herro in that same news conference, and Herro responded with the best season of his career. Herro also handled himself like a pro and a leader during the Butler saga. Herro should be in the range of top 40 to 55.
Anthony Slater: Ivica Zubac (No. 36). Not because he isn't worthy of the leap, but I'm surprised the basketball world is finally catching on to his game to this degree. Zubac wasn't ranked in our top 100 last year, failing to make the cut over players such as Jonas Valanciunas (No. 87 this year) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (now unranked). This year, Zubac is ranked above Jamal Murray (No. 46), Joel Embiid (No. 47) and Rudy Gobert (No. 49). Zubac is three slots away from Ja Morant (No. 33). Zubac's ninth NBA season was his best -- averaging 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds with elite interior defense -- but the Clippers big man, now 28, has been a sturdy starting center for a long time.
Matt Williams: While playing just 58 games over the past two seasons is a significant factor, Joel Embiid's ranking (No. 47) was surprisingly low based on his talent level. When healthy, Embiid is one of the best players in the league, winning MVP in 2023 and averaging at least 30 points across three consecutive campaigns. In 2023-24, he became the first player to record more points than minutes played since Wilt Chamberlain in 1961-62. Embiid will greatly outplay his rank -- provided he can stay healthy. His ranking reflects the panel's confidence that he can.
Make a case for one player who deserved to be in the top 100
Sedano: Keegan Murray not making the top 100 is mind-boggling. He is a legit and versatile two-way player at 6-foot-8 and has to regularly take the toughest assignment on defense for the Kings. On top of being a good defender, he is a career 38% shooter from 3 and doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact. He moves well without the ball, cuts to the basket and runs the floor. If he were on any other team, he would be ranked in the range of top 55 to 70.
Collier: Jalen Duren. His fellow Pistons teammate from the same 2022 draft class, Jaden Ivey (No. 85), made the back end of the top 100, but that spot easily could have gone to the Detroit big man. Duren isn't perfect and has some areas of his game he needs to round out. But he's a rebounding force who created plenty of problems on the glass and second-chance opportunities during the postseason while averaging a double-double in the first-round series against the Knicks.
Marks: I am going to cheat and say two: Herbert Jones and Jordan Poole. Did the voters forget that Jones was named NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2024? I do understand the top 100 is "what you have done for me lately" and that Jones does not fit the criteria, considering he played a career-low 20 games due to multiple injuries. Poole's career highs in points, assists, steals and 3-point percentage for 2024-25 will go overlooked because the Wizards won just 18 games last season.
Slater: Poole is a great answer. It feels like his reputation is unfairly tainted by his blooper reel and the dramatic final 12 months of his Warriors chapter. Back in 2022, during a third-season mega leap, he averaged 18.5 points per game as a major part of an NBA title team. Circumstances became dicey the following preseason, but we've seen him be a key cog on a winner at the highest level. We've seen him lead the league in free throw percentage. We've seen how much the Warriors miss his secondary scoring since they traded him. Then we saw him shake off a bad first season with the Wizards for a productive, efficient second season in D.C.
Williams: Duren and Jones jumped to mind, but I will mention Detroit's Ausar Thompson. The Pistons made a huge leap last season and finished 10th in defensive efficiency, thanks in part to Thompson's play on that end. According to GeniusIQ tracking, he ranked in the top five in field goal percentage allowed as the contesting defender in 2024-25 among players to contest at least 400 shots. One area for growth is his outside shot: Thompson went just 15-for-60 on jump shots last season.
PELTON: Players that will crack the top 100 next season
LeBron, Curry and Durant remain in the top 10. Who from this Hall of Fame trio makes it again next season?
Collier: I'd give Curry the best chance. He still has a seemingly endless supply of stamina and gravity to make defenses bend to his will anytime he rises from the 3-point line. Despite their ages, there's going to be a lot of expectations on all three players to make deep playoff runs in a crowded Western Conference this season. The Warriors, Lakers and Rockets have all made big moves over the past year, which puts the pressure on the trio to not only continue playing like stars but to also stay healthy enough for their teams to contend.
Marks: Maybe I am in the minority, but you could make a strong case that if all three remain healthy, James, Durant and Curry will land in the top 10 next season. James is entering Year 23 and will turn 41 in December, but that does not mean Father Time has caught up with him. From Dec. 30 on last season, James averaged 25.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists in the regular season. As for Durant, he shared the honor with Nikola Jokic as last season's only players to average 25 points with 50% shooting and 40% on 3s.
Williams: Assuming all three return for the 2026-27 season, James, Durant and Curry will stay in the top 10. Only three players averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists after James turned 40 on Dec. 30: James, Jokic and Luka Doncic. Durant has a new team, but his game translates to any setting. Last season, Durant shot 51% on off-the-dribble jumpers. The only player with a higher rate since player tracking began in 2013-14? Durant, again, in 2022-23. Per Genius IQ tracking, Curry averaged nearly 5 mph when moving on offense -- top 10 in the league last season -- and his pace will be interesting to watch as he ages. He also averaged four made 3-pointers per game for the ninth time in his career in 2024-25, by far the most in NBA history.
Sedano: I'm not betting against any of these three. Curry's ability to shoot will allow him to age the best of the trio. However, have we seen how James still looks heading into Year 23? Durant also was very efficient last season, and his skills are exactly what the Rockets needed. He's the biggest reason they will have a shot to win the West.
Slater: I'll rank it Curry, James then Durant. Curry enters the season in the most predictable role of the three. He will be the center of the Warriors' ecosystem, as he has been for more than a decade. If healthy, it's simple to expect his season will look a whole lot like last season, optically and statistically, which has him in the top 10. Durant will be adapting to a new situation in Houston. James is adjusting to life next to Doncic (top 10). Those are more unpredictable environments.
WINDHORST: LeBron, KD and an unprecedented next chapter
Which player outside the top 10 will get there next season?
Sedano: This one is easy for me. Cade Cunningham (No. 12) is an absolute star, and the leaps he continues to make will catapult him into the upper levels of superstardom. His combination of size and skill -- which are reminiscent of Doncic in a lot of ways, particularly the way he can see over the defenses -- is the reason the Pistons are the team to watch in the Eastern Conference. Cunningham's pick-and-roll game is already elite, and there's growth potential to be a three-level scorer. Also, his wingspan and defensive cunning allow him to guard multiple positions.
Slater: Anthony Davis (No. 14). This is probably a controversial take or at least risky one, given the recent injury history. But if Davis stays healthy, there has to be an extreme level of motivation for him to loudly remind people he isn't just the other guy in the Doncic trade. The storyline sets up pretty well for Davis: If the Mavericks have a surprising season -- maybe a top-six playoff seed -- they will have done it without Kyrie Irving for most or all of the regular season. No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg (No. 52) will generate headlines, but Davis is the best current player on the Mavs' roster and is still in his late prime.
Collier: Donovan Mitchell (No. 15). The Cavaliers were a huge disappointment in the playoffs last season, but none of that was Mitchell's fault. He has been consistently excellent since his arrival in Cleveland. Let's say the Cavs once again dominate the regular season and are finally ready to make a run in the playoffs -- perhaps to the Finals -- Mitchell is almost certain to be a major player in it. He would then ride the same momentum Tyrese Haliburton did after a strong postseason.
Marks: Paolo Banchero (No. 17). If the first five games of the 2024-25 regular season were any indication, Banchero is poised to have an All-NBA-caliber campaign. Before he suffered a torn right oblique, Banchero was averaging 33.2 points. He then finished the season averaging a career-high 25.9 points. And after adding Desmond Bane (No. 39) and Tyus Jones this offseason, the Magic are projected to finish in the top three of the Eastern Conference.
Williams: Coming off his first All-Star appearance last season and an exceptional run at EuroBasket, Alperen Sengun (No. 25) has the skill to get into the top 10. Although it came in a series loss, Sengun shined for the Rockets in the first round against the Warriors, becoming the fifth player in league history to average 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in his first career playoff series. Plus, an added attention from defenses toward Durant should only continue to unlock Sengun's game.
If they were healthy, where would you have slotted Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton?
Collier: They'd both have a strong case for the top 10. Tatum without question would retain his spot in the back half of the top five because of his consistent excellence, but Haliburton's playoff performance was otherworldly enough to rewrite these rankings. Sure, Haliburton turned in a few scoring duds, but his impact on the floor single-handedly ignited a team through a run to Game 7 of the Finals, something not many players ranked in the No. 11 through No. 17 slots (aside from Devin Booker at No. 16) can argue. And while Jalen Williams (No. 11) was excellent during the Finals, Haliburton's impact in the middle of the series nearly swung the balance to Indiana, and Haliburton didn't have the gravity of the MVP to share the floor with.
Marks: Tatum is easily top 10 if healthy. It is hard not to recognize a player who consistently averages at least 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Haliburton's ranking is more complicated because of the quality of players in the 10 to 20 range. But let's put Haliburton at No. 17 and shift everyone starting with Banchero back one slot.
Sedano: Both guys would be in my top 10. Tatum consistently has shown he's a premier player in the NBA, and while Haliburton doesn't necessarily put up the gaudiest numbers, his passing ability and clutch performances put him in that top-10 category for me.
Slater: Tatum is top 10, easily, and near top five. It feels like he has lived in that fifth slot on MVP ballots for half a decade, and he's just 27. He had never been better than last season before his injury. Like Bobby mentioned, Haliburton is trickier. He just had a handful of spectacular and historic playoff moments, but his overall postseason wasn't overwhelming. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.6 assists and made 46% of his shots. He had huge games and silent games. Haliburton was the face of what was a Pacers machine, but still -- in my estimation -- he belongs closer to the 20 to 30 range than the top 10 right now.
Williams: Tatum would have been in the top 10 if healthy after a season in which he averaged a career high in assists and joined Larry Bird and John Havlicek as the only Celtics to average 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Haliburton would be in the 11 to 15 range after a trip to the Finals and an All-NBA selection. Even before the playoffs, Haliburton went on a run after the All-Star break, averaging 20.6 points and 11.0 assists while committing just 26 turnovers over a 21-game span.
Make one bold prediction for any player in ESPN's top 100
Collier: Wherever he lands in the top 10, Giannis Antetokounmpo will move up this list next season. He has only gotten more efficient and more dominant in recent years and is going to carry even more responsibility for Milwaukee this season. It will set Antetokounmpo up for a monster year and perhaps a case for the top spot.
Marks: Amen Thompson (No. 37) will crack the top 20. I am not yet ready to put Thompson on the All-NBA Team, but the body of work on defense last season in Houston warrants talk for NBA All-Defensive Team and Defensive Player of the Year honors this season. Thompson had a breakout sophomore season, leading the NBA in effective field goal percentage allowed as a contesting defender. He ranked fifth in defensive estimated plus-minus. Granted, his offensive continues to be a work in progress, as he shot 27.5% on 3-pointers and 68.4% from the foul line.
Sedano: Wembanyama will be the fourth player in NBA history to win both MVP and DPOY (Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Antetokounmpo). He's a lock to win DPOY provided he logs the requisite amount of games. I think for him to win the MVP in a loaded Western Conference, the Spurs will have to be a top-six seed. I'm willing to bet there will be some things that bounce their way and that the Spurs will be improved enough to reach that benchmark.
Slater: After slotting in at No. 90 last season and No. 89 in these rankings, Andrew Wiggins will continue the trend and finish No. 88 ahead of the 2026-27 season. That's a pretty unspectacular response, but there is something unspectacularly consistent about Wiggins' game. He was the central player in a midseason Butler trade, moved cross-conference into a new situation and yet kept his stats almost perfectly static. So, I'm predicting a decent, under-the-radar season, a possible trade away from Miami and that 88th ranking in the summer of 2026.
Williams: I'll give predictions on two players, both on the Hawks: Jalen Johnson (No. 44) will be a top-25 player next season, and Trae Young (No. 29) will be in the top 15. Before Johnson saw his season come to an end due to a torn labrum, he was averaging career highs across the board and was a key part of the Hawks' offense. Young is coming off a season in which he averaged a league-high 11.6 assists per game for a Hawks record. The addition of Kristaps Porzingis (No. 50) will benefit Young as the Hawks look to make the Finals for the first time since 1961, when the franchise was in St. Louis.