Our countdown of the best players for the upcoming season enters the top 50.
Who will be the NBA’s best players in the 2022–23 season? Sports Illustrated’s annual Top 100 list is back, aiming to answer that question.
This year, the rankings were determined by NBA writers Chris Herring, Rohan Nadkarni and Jeremy Woo through a combination of data and subjective evaluation. The goal remains to evaluate players in a vacuum as much as possible, without overvaluing team context in taking stock of their quality.
To be clear, these rankings are specifically for the upcoming season and do not take into account players’ long-term prospects or career arcs beyond 2022–23. As has been the tradition here, rookies were not considered. So it’s best to consider these rankings as short-term value projections. This is not a representation of a player’s trade value or contract value, and it does not account for the impact of his salary relative to his production. The possibility of growth or decline is a factor, tied to players’ age and career stage. The list attempts to account for the entirety of a player’s impact: offense, defense, structural or otherwise, and tends to favor those with the most malleable skill sets.
The biggest snubs from this year can be found here.
For further reference, explore SI’s Top 100 lists from 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Read this year's 100–51 ranking here.
(50-31 player profiles written by Chris Herring.)
50. Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics
(Previous ranking: 66)
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year is so much more than that. Remember: He was the one, way back in November 2021, who called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown—the team’s best players—for not spreading the ball around. Smart has the stature and the work ethic to call it as he sees it. And his willingness to do so, combined with his skill, speaks to why the Celtics opted against including him in a potential deal for Kevin Durant. Yes, Smart is that important to this team’s heartbeat and culture.
49. Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
(Previous ranking: 37 )
Few players will be more interesting to keep an eye on than the 24-year-old, who sat on the free-agent market longer than just about any player of his talent level. The big man is solid at just about everything. The Suns declined to give him a max extension a year ago, but this summer opted to match the four-year, $133 million offer sheet the Pacers handed him. Between how that was handled, and Ayton not having spoken to Monty Williams at all over the summer, it remains to be seen how this will all play out. Will he want out of Phoenix? Or will all of this motivate him to play better than he ever has?
David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated
48. Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
(Previous ranking: NR)
In a year where the other two contenders for Rookie of the Year missed chunks of either the beginning or the end of the season, Barnes’s availability and consistency stood out. It wasn’t just his presence that won him the award, though. He thrived despite being thrown into the deep end of the pool, serving as a ballhandler and a key cog in Nick Nurse’s interchangeable, forward-heavy system. If the 21-year-old can shoot it better from deep this year, watch out; he’ll likely be even higher on next year’s list.
47. Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
(Previous ranking: NR )
For all the credit given to Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen for holding down the Cavaliers’ defense last year, consider this stat: Cleveland was 10.6 points better per 100 possessions on offense when Garland was on the floor, the fifth-biggest differential in the league among players who logged 1,000 minutes or more this past season. Staggering him and Donovan Mitchell should make the minutes without Garland more productive this year.
46. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
(Previous ranking: NR )
Cunningham got off to a slow start after missing the beginning of the 2021–22 campaign due to injury. But he was much better after the All-Star break, averaging 21.1 points on 45.7% shooting, 6.5 assists and 5.7 boards during that stretch to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting. It may be a bit too soon to put Detroit into the playoff conversation. But if the Pistons find themselves in it this year, Cunningham will be the biggest reason.
45. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
(Previous ranking: 36 )
Sabonis should continue to be a force alongside De’Aaron Fox. What is more worth watching—particularly for a team that’s been dreadful defensively for the vast majority of its NBA-record 16-year playoff drought—is how Sabonis defends in the system Mike Brown brings over. If Sabonis shows improvement in that regard, the Kings may have a shot at making the postseason sometime soon.
44. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
(Previous ranking: NR)
The big man may have won Rookie of the Year—and the Cavs might have made the playoffs outright, without needing a play-in round—if Mobley hadn’t gotten injured with two weeks left in the regular season. Simply put, Mobley was fantastic as a first-year player, impacting both sides of the ball while drawing defensive comparisons to Kevin Garnett. Becoming more consistent as a perimeter shooter and being more vocal on defense are natural next steps for him.
43. De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
(Previous ranking: 32 )
After a season and a half of playing with another young, talented guard in Tyrese Haliburton, Fox will begin the 2022–23 campaign having the show to himself and pick-and-roll partner Domantas Sabonis, whom he jelled with toward the end of last season. The question now is whether new coach Mike Brown might add some wrinkles to give Fox yet another boost.
Chris Keane/Sports Illustrated
42. LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
(Previous ranking: 51 )
The Charlotte All-Star boosted both his usage and assist percentages in 2021–22, the product of his getting about 12 more touches per game and possessing the ball 22% more per contest than he did in his rookie year. And even more figures to be asked of him this year, given that the Hornets will likely be without leading scorer Miles Bridges, who’s facing felony domestic violence and child abuse charges.
41. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
(Previous ranking: 97)
We can’t blame you if you at some point aggressively turned away from watching the tire fire that was the Indiana Pacers last season. But if you did, you missed the youthful brilliance of Haliburton. In particular, the 22-year-old logged a 15-assist, zero-turnover game in late March and then pieced together a 17-assist, zero-turnover showing less than two weeks later in early April. He sees the floor well, is an efficient scorer and almost always makes the right play.
40. Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors
(Previous ranking: 46 )
The Toronto guard might be the smallest player on the floor for the Raptors. But that doesn’t mean he won’t do his best to match his longer-limbed teammates in making life hell for the opponent. Despite standing just 6'1", VanVleet—a first-time All-Star who also averaged 20.3 points per game—managed to lead the Eastern Conference in deflections. His resistance was a key reason the Raptors’ top-10 defense worked so well.
39. Ben Simmons, Brooklyn Nets
(Previous ranking: 31 )
The list of things Brooklyn needs to go right to win a championship is lengthy. But among those things is Simmons, who missed the entirety of last year as he dealt with not only back problems, but also mental health obstacles. The notion of a fresh start for Simmons—who now will play with a club that can use a top-notch wing defender and a low-usage ballhandler—is intriguing. Don’t be surprised if he looks himself again very early on in the campaign.
38. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
(Previous ranking: 35)
Say what you want about the hunched-backpack three-pointers or the reluctance to shoot from close range as a single-digit scorer. But the reality is that the 32-year-old Green, when healthy, remains arguably the best defender in basketball and a perfect fit for the defending-champion Warriors because of his ability to play alongside Steph Curry. It will be interesting to see how much Golden State—which has opted against offering him a max extension—values Green’s fit. Green, who can opt out of his contract after this season, has referred to this coming campaign as a “contract year.”
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37. Dejounte Murray, Atlanta Hawks
(Previous ranking: 73)
This campaign marks a sizable shift for the one-time All-Star, who goes from being The Guy with a young team to now partnering with a fellow star guard on a team just one year removed from a run to the conference finals. Murray’s defense will be a godsend for Atlanta. But how the ballhandling division of labor will work between Murray and Young remains to be seen.
36. Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets
(Previous ranking: 19)
It’s really this simple with Irving: If he’s on the court and playing, only a handful of players throughout the league are more impactful. Yet as we all know, the question of whether that will be the case is always a toss-up with the 30-year-old mystery box, who, as a 50-40-90 threat, doubles as one of the NBA’s most skilled players. He has an opportunity to change the narrative this season, and there’s ample incentive to, since this is a contract year.
Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated
35. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
(Previous ranking: 77)
Few players are more explosive than the 21-year-old Edwards, who can go off for 40—and a show-stopping dunk—on any given night. He took a much-needed step up from an efficiency standpoint in Year 2. The next steps for him are to lock in more consistently on defense and to cut down on his turnovers, which crept up as he got more opportunities as a ballhandler.
34. CJ McCollum, New Orleans Pelicans
(Previous ranking: 38)
McCollum played at an elite level following his trade to New Orleans last season, shooting almost 50% overall and nearly 40% from three while averaging 24.3 points and 5.8 assists per night for the Pelicans. With Zion Williamson returning to flank Brandon Ingram and McCollum, the shots figure to be less plentiful. But the quality of McCollum’s looks figures to improve by leaps and bounds.
33. Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
(Previous ranking: 29)
If there was any question about whether the Bulls’ swingman’s game would fundamentally change once DeMar DeRozan came on board, LaVine put those to rest by essentially matching his stat line from 2021. His efficiency dipped, but the clean-out of his left knee—which hobbled him last season—is reason to believe an uptick is on the way for the bouncy 27-year-old.
32. Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
(Previous ranking: 44 )
After a rough, injury-marred 2021, the Cameroon native pieced together a fantastic ’22 campaign in which he earned his first All-NBA selection. Coach Nick Nurse often let Siakam run the offense—his time of possession per game was up 21.4% from the year before—and the choice paid huge dividends in helping Toronto get back to the playoffs.
31. Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
(Previous ranking: 49 )
Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets have sorely missed Jamal Murray’s playmaking and shotmaking since he tore his ACL almost a year and a half ago. With him back in the mix, and a couple of key defensive upgrades on the wing, Denver should be able to jump right back into the title picture if and when Murray returns to near–All-Star level form.
Coming Wednesday: Players 30-11
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