Another year brings another resounding chorus of groans and outrage at ESPN’s annual top-100 NBA Rank. While these lists’ primary functions are to generate discourse and clicks, thinking through a top-100 NBA player ranking is a fascinating exercise that deserves thought and intentionality.
This is my second year (of hopefully many!) writing this column. Last season, my predictions fared well. Not counting players who rose and slid due to injury and non-basketball reasons (Herbert Jones, Zion Williamson, etc.), 11 of the 12 players I tabbed as underrated rose up the list this year while nine of the 10 I thought were overrated dropped or left the list.
I’m feeling a bit of pressure to continue those strong results this year, so let’s dive into some players I feel were under- or over-ranked in ESPN’s top 100.
TOO LOW
Payton Pritchard (97)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (96)
Norman Powell (82)
Andrew Nembhard (81)
Brandon Ingram (77)
Jaden McDaniels (75)
Coby White (71)
Tyler Herro (68)
Deni Avdija (66)
Lamelo Ball (63)
Austin Reaves (60)
Jamal Murray (46)
Darius Garland (38)
Franz Wagner (32)
Jaren Jackson Jr (31)
TOO HIGH
Jonas Valanciunas (87)
Bradley Beal (86)
Jonathan Kuminga (83)
Jabari Smith Jr. (74)
Josh Hart (69)
Myles Turner (57)
Paul George (54)
Aaron Gordon (40)
De’Aaron Fox (35)
Jaylen Brown (19)
Paolo Banchero (17)
As I wrote last season, the list consistently underrates ascending young players and those on bad teams, and tends to overrate older players and role players on great teams. It was fairly obvious players like Cade Cunningham, Alperen Sengun and Jalen Williams would rise above the top 40 in 2024-25, just as it’s clear some players will rise in 2025-26.
A few players I labeled as over-ranked last season, like Klay Thompson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart, have inflated positions because of their team’s success or reputation. Building an NBA top 100 is no easy feat and any list is bound to have mistakes and inconsistencies, but let’s dive into a few of the specific cases I find most egregious in either direction.
Deni Avdija
While this list doesn’t feature as many slam-dunk underrated stars as 2024-25, Avdija is the most obvious candidate to make his placement look silly next season. The 24-year-old wing quietly took another leap last year, hitting career-highs in nearly every statistical category: 16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a steal per game on plus-3.1 percent relative true shooting.
Avdija’s primary area of growth last season was his creation, as he began morphing into a more reliable half-court creator. While he’s always thrived in transition, Avdija hit career-highs last season in usage rate (23 percent) and on-ball rate (22 percent), flexing his muscles as a powerful downhill driver, sharp passer and improving off-the-dribble shooter.
Throughout his career, most regard him as a well-rounded wing who defends multiple positions, plays hard and adds some value as a connector. His improvements as an on-ball creator and floor-spacer are extremely promising for projecting forward; he’s closer to a fringe All-Star than outside the top 65 on a top-100 list.
Tyler Herro
Herro made his first All-Star team in 2025 after reaching career-highs across the board: 23.9 points and 5.5 assists per game on plus-3.0 relative efficiency while ranking 35th in Estimated Plus-Minus. Despite tangible changes to his approach and improvements to his play, the mainstream media’s perception of him is still outdated.
He indeed spent much of his early career as a high-volume, low-efficiency scorer who bleeds value on defense. Herro still has –and likely will always have — significant defensive issues, but he’s revamped his offense, managing a career-high 3-point volume and career-low long midrange volume.
The Miami Heat’s dearth of offensive talent rendered Herro a flawed but overtaxed primary engine. That isn’t his role but Herro, still 25 years old, should continue improving. But for now, he’s already blossomed into an offensive star, even if his ranking on national NBA rankings won’t reflect that.
Brandon Ingram
The pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction for Ingram, partly due to his recurring injuries. Even considering his on-court issues as a flawed creator with some off-ball offensive and defensive concerns, ranking him outside the top 75 should look fairly shortsighted once Ingram finally suits up for the Toronto Raptors.
Though he played in just 18 games last season, none of which came with the Raptors, we shouldn’t ignore his 20.8 points, 5.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds on minus-0.5 relative efficiency. He ranked 12th in the NBA in “creation” true shot attempts (isolations, pick-and-rolls, post-ups) and he’s developed into a phenomenal wing passer with point-guard quality reads in his library.
Toronto built an incongruent roster with plenty of warts, primarily scoring and creation, two non-negotiable components of offensive team-building. That team context might deflate some of Ingram’s efficiency numbers but his offensive punch will benefit the Raptors hugely, far more than a player ranked outside of the top 75 could.
Josh Hart
Over the last two seasons, Hart’s 35 minutes per game in the playoffs were a detriment to the team overall. It isn’t his fault his former head coach insisted on treating him like a bona fide postseason starter. Yet Hart, who makes the overrated section of my list for the second year in a row, hasn’t fallen out of favor with national media.
Shrewd defenses dare Hart to shoot and handle the ball in big moments and while sometimes that bears fruit (see his series against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024), his offensive limitations do more harm than good. And while he still adds some defensive value through motor and rebounding, his spacey off-ball defense causes more damage than many realize.
Hart is a solid, useful NBA player whose passing, complementary driving and aggressive defense have a place on good teams. In an ideal context, he would function as a role player and a low-end starter if needed, which shouldn’t have him placed on a top-100 list.
Paolo Banchero
Banchero’s inclusion among the top 20 of ESPN’s list reflects his massive counting stats and offensive usage; he ranked fifth last season in usage rate (33.1 percent) and ninth in points per 75 possessions (28.4) on minus-2.4 percent relative true shooting. Among the top-40 leaders in scoring volume last season, only LaMelo Ball was less efficient than Banchero.
Efficiency isn’t gospel, especially on a team as offensively devoid and injured as the Orlando Magic have been. Banchero has inarguably contributed to that problem somewhat, though, as his decision-making, weak outside shooting and lack of off-ball utility force him into a primary initiator role, which he isn’t yet dangerous enough to warrant on a title team.
I’d expect Banchero to improve in many of these areas as he matures and ages, with easy room for improvement as a rim scorer, defender and off-ball mover, if he buys in. The 22-year-old might reach top-20 heights within the next few seasons but that’s far too rich for his current impact, even projecting some growth this season.
SNUBS
These are the players omitted from ESPN’s top 100 who should have been included or could be obvious inclusions next year:
Herbert Jones
Ausar Thompson
Ty Jerome
Aaron Wiggins
Scotty Pippen Jr.
Keegan Murray
Malik Monk
Luke Kornet
Goga Bitadze
Josh Giddey
Quentin Grimes
