Summer is nearing its end, and we’re nearing the start of another NBA season. Training camps are right around the corner. The preseason tips off on Oct. 4, and the start of the 2024-25 season is just five weeks away. To help hold you over until then we’ve put together our annual list of the league’s top 100 players.
Before there’s any real outrage about where everyone is ranked, we should note this list is projecting the upcoming season. This is our staff’s ranking of how we think these players will perform over the next seven-plus months.
While we all try our best to be prognosticators, we can’t truly predict how this season will play out, so players are sure to rise and fall during the course of the season. Maybe someone like Jalen Brunson will take another step into the top 10, or perhaps this is the year we see Father Time finally catch up to LeBron James.
Looking for more analysis of CBS Sports’ Top 100 list? Listen and subscribe to the Beyond the Arc podcast for breakdowns, debates and more.
Ten CBS Sports analysts voted to compile this year’s list: Brad Botkin, James Herbert, Jack Maloney, Sam Quinn, Jasmyn Wimbish, Bill Reiter, John Gonzalez, Ashley Nicole Moss, Adam Finkelstein, and Avery Johnson. Some other things of note: Every team has a representative this year, unlike last year’s ranking. Also unlike last year’s list, there are no rookies featured in our Top 100. OK, enough summarizing. Let’s get to it.
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The Boston Celtics are gearing up for another championship run in 2025 with the help of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Meanwhile, Zion Williamson had an impressive season in 2023-24, playing a career-high 70 games. Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama narrowly missed out on the top 10 players list. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant remain top-10 players as they enter the 2024-25 NBA season. Nikola Jokic was unanimously chosen as the No. 1 player by a panel of experts.
In terms of the top 100 players by NBA team, every team has at least one representative in the list. The Knicks, Pelicans, Thunder, and Timberwolves each have six players in the top 100, while the Celtics have five players. Additionally, the Bucks, Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Kings, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Pacers, and Rockets each have four players in the top 100. The list goes on to show the distribution of players from various NBA teams in the top 100 rankings.
This article showcases the talent and depth across different NBA teams as they prepare for the upcoming season. The rankings are based on expert opinions and player performances, highlighting the diversity and competitiveness of the league.