Best NBA player #25 — Khris Middleton
Perpetually underrated, Khris Middleton is not a throwaway second star. He’s a perennial All-Star candidate who contributes to one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive attacks. If it weren’t for limited playing time due to Milwaukee’s tendency to wrap games up in the third quarter, Middleton’s counting stats would draw more attention. He’s deadly at every level, and a versatile wing defender, to boot.
Best NBA player #24 — Kyle Lowry
A cagey, rough-and-tumble point guard who has every intangible, Kyle Lowry has long deserved more credit than he receives. He’s a brilliant on-ball defender and a savant facilitator, operating as the key cog in Toronto’s smooth, movement-heavy offense. Lowry could stand to do more as a scorer sometimes, but that has more to do with attitude than talent. Lowry is a bucket when he wants to be.
Best NBA player #23 — Zion Williamson
Health is a question here, as well as sample size. We haven’t seen much of Zion Williamson in the NBA, but what we have seen is enough to instill confidence. If he’s on the floor, Williamson will probably cement New Orleans in the playoff race. He’s the most exciting rookie in recent memory — a 6-foot-6 linebacker who glides through air like a comic book hero. He almost doesn’t need spacing. Just enough room to squeeze into the paint and euro-step his opponent.
Best NBA player #22 — Pascal Siakam
A former Most Improved Player who almost won the award a second time last season, Pascal Siakam has filled the role of top scorer admirably in Toronto. Some limitations were laid bare in the postseason, but Siakam remains a skilled athlete at 6-foot-9. He leverages a good 3-point stroke into ample effectiveness as a slasher. He kills smaller or slower defenders on straight-line drives, and his defense is highly underrated.
Best NBA player #21 — Donovan Mitchell
And here begins my gauntlet of “guards who may or may not have totally over-performed in the Bubble who are either due for a breakout or due for a regression to the mean.” Donovan Mitchell looked the part of a future MVP candidate in the Bubble. Unfortunately, the Bubble was highly favorable to scorers, and he will need to prove his mettle outside the Bubble to maintain this high a ranking.