Top 100 NBA players — 85. Aaron Gordon, Nuggets
Aaron Gordon’s elite versatility is crucial to the Nuggets’ defense. At 6-foot-8, he is one of the better answers to LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and some of the NBA’s most forceful and physical scorers. Gordon has also assumed outsized responsibilities on offense this season in lieu of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., to varying degrees of success. He’s a great fourth-best player, if not perfectly cast as the impromptu second-best player.
Top 100 NBA players — 84. Seth Curry, Nets
Seth Curry is pretty much untouched as a spot-up shooter. He has ratcheted up his volume this season and seen his efficiency “drop,” and he’s shooting 42.2 percent from deep. Curry’s gravity behind the 3-point line opens up so much for the Nets’ offense, and his growth attacking off the catch only makes him more difficult for defenses to contain. Curry has a legitimate pull-up and floater game now, and back in Philly, he played spot minutes at point guard early in the season. He’s a poor defender, but the offensive value is off the charts.
Top 100 NBA players — 83. Tyler Herro, Heat
Tyler Herro is going to run away with Sixth Man of the Year. He is Miami’s top scorer on a lot of nights, and while his “sixth man” label is more nominal than actual (he’s playing 32.6 minutes per game), it speaks to Miami’s depth that Herro doesn’t start games. He can traverse screens and bury off-movement 3s, or he can push the iso button and create his own offense. Herro’s quick-twitch scoring leaves a lot of defenses scrambling. Unfortunately, he falls in the Seth Curry camp of being particularly exploitable on the defensive end.
Top 100 NBA players — 82. Jalen Brunson, Mavericks
Jalen Brunson is pretty darn unique. He’s a 6-foot-1 guard who is shooting 50 percent from the field and supplying heady, irksome defense on a nightly basis. His efficiency as the secondary ball-handler next to Luka Doncic has been key to Dallas’ surge to the No. 3 seed. He’s the ultimate Villanova product — just ridiculously smart, level-headed, and competitive. The perfect complementary guard.
Top 100 NBA players — 81. Kristaps Porzingis, Wizards
The Wizards acquired Kristaps Porzingis in what feels like a half-hearted effort to sway Bradley Beal’s looming free agency decision. Porzingis isn’t really good enough to convince Beal to stay or go — ultimately, that will rest on Beal’s commitment to Washington, not the perpetually undermanned roster around him. That said, Porzingis can still produce amply on both sides of the ball. He’s a towering shot-blocker at 7-foot-3, and despite multiple injuries slowing him down, Porzingis can still score the rock in impressively varied ways.