Ranking the top 100 NBA players — 25. Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown’s rate of improvement from his rookie year until now is one of the most impressive storylines in basketball. He entered the NBA toolsy and raw, and has since become one of the league’s most diversely skilled offensive wings. Brown is not only a perennial All-Star, but a go-to weapon on a possible contender. He can score effortlessly at all three levels, and continues to assert his presence on the defensive end too.
At 6-foot-6, Brown’s explosive athleticism makes him difficult to contain. He’s strong, can change speeds on a dime, and has perfected his pull-up jumper from just about any angle. He slashed .484/.397/.764 from the field last season, averaging 24.7 points and 6.0 boards. He’s bona fide.
Ranking the top 100 NBA players — 24. Jrue Holiday
Even after a championship run, you will struggle to find a more perpetually underrated star than Jrue Holiday. It starts on the defensive end, where very few perimeter players can come close to matching him. Holiday is arguably the premier on-ball defender in the NBA, with a brick wall’s strength and an eel’s flexibility. At 6-foot-3, he can swallow guards whole, or defend wings several inches taller than him. It seldom matters. He shuts them down all the same.
Holiday is great offensively too. That’s where the misconceptions begin. Some viewed him as an offensive liability, or a player the Bucks needed more from in the playoffs. While that was true in some moments, Holiday put together a mostly strong postseason on the offensive end. For the season as a whole, he averaged 17.7 points and 6.1 assists, shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 39.2 percent (!!!) from deep.
Ranking the top 100 NBA players — 23. Trae Young
Trae Young put on a fireworks display in the postseason, to the point where even his biggest skeptics couldn’t help but applaud. The Hawks deserve credit as one of the deepest teams in the NBA, but Young was the engine that drove them to a conference finals appearance. He makes that offense tick. Not many players can single-handedly orchestrate a system like Young. He’s the conductor, and Atlanta is his opera.
Defense remains the big drawback for Young, who is actively atrocious on that side of the ball. He’s so good offensively, however, that it doesn’t dock him any further than this. He’s one of the NBA’s elite playmakers, with the ball on a string and unrivaled creativity on the move. Add on top his deep pull-up range, and defenses have a tough time stopping him. Young averaged 25.3 points and 9.4 assists in his third NBA season, slashing .438/.343/.886 from the field.
Ranking the top 100 NBA players — 22. Karl-Anthony Towns
The Minnesota purgatory has been a disservice to Karl-Anthony Towns’ greatness. He is arguably the most versatile shooting big in NBA history. His offensive repertoire is on par with the best players in basketball, even if the defense lags behind somewhat.
Towns can dominate every level of the offense. He’s the pick-and-pop big. In the post, he’s a ballerina, with feather-light feet and the softest touch. From mid-range, he can face up and shoot off the dribble. His improvement as a passer has been notable too. He does just about everything you can ask for from an offensive centerpiece. Hopefully the Wolves can give him the necessary help to start winning games.
Ranking the top 100 NBA players — 21. Donovan Mitchell
The Jazz earned the best record in basketball last season, in large part due to Donovan Mitchell’s continued ascension. He seems to always step up in big moments. Clutch shots, you bet. Big stops, you can count on it. On top of his generally elite scoring, Mitchell also grew as a facilitator last season, averaging a career-high 5.2 assists per game.
Mitchell’s explosive first step, deadly pull-up jumper, and constantly evolving in-between game make him one of the deadlier individual scorers in basketball. Even at 6-foot-3, he doesn’t meet many defenders who can match him beat-for-beat off the bounce. Some would argue Mitchell was the best player on the NBA’s best team. That’s no small feat.