Jason kicks off the Hoops Tonight 2026 NBA Player Rankings with an explanation of the criteria, plus listing out all the players who were just outside the top 25, including Jalen Williams (OKC Thunder), Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs), Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers), Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers), and many more.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, well, good to hoops to night here at
the volume Heavy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you
guys are having a great week so far. Gonna jampacks
show for you guys. Today we are starting our annual
player rankings. We've done this one so twenty two, three, four, five, six,
So this is our fifth edition of player rankings. We're
gonna be doing this for the next couple of months.
This is our big thing that we do every single summer. Today,
(00:36):
we're gonna be starting with I want to break down
kind of the rules of the list, how we actually
do the rankings. I want to talk a little bit
about how the progression of the episodes will be over
the course of the summer, and then we have our
first batch of players today. I'm starting outside the top
twenty five though, so I've got seven players who were
considered for the top twenty five but that just missed
(00:59):
the cut. But I think they're all deserving of a
shout out anyway. So we're going to be hitting those
seven players today. Then on Friday we will start the
actual top twenty five with players twenty five, twenty four,
and twenty three. You guys know the joke before we
start to subscribe to the hoopsent on YouTube channels, you
don't miss any more of our videos. We're trying to
get to one hundred and fifty thousand subs and we
need about seven thousand more. So you guys can help
(01:20):
us a lot by scrolling down hitting that subscribe button.
If you already subscribe like this video, sign up for
post notifications. That helps us a lot. And then mail bags.
We will be doing mail bags, not this week, but
starting next Friday through the entire player rankings series. And
the idea of our mail bags is I want them
to feel like a debate. So if you disagree with
the ranking a player that you think should have been
(01:41):
on the list, or a player that you think shouldn't
have been on the list, or a player that you
think is too high too low, a specific debate between
two players that you disagree with, right mail bag, call
in underneath the full episode and give a breakdown why
you disagree, and we will be going through those debates
in our mail bags on Fridays throughout series. All right,
let's talk some basketball. So there are so many different
(02:04):
ways to do a player rankings list. You could have
like a who's the best regular season player? Obviously that's
more or less what our MVP debate is every year, right,
who's the best player to have for you know that
famous like Okay, the Aliens have come to Earth and
we need to.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Save the world with a basketball.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Player playing, you know, one on one, or a player
to lead a team that's going five on five against
the aliens, like for one game to save the world,
Like who's your one dude that you want for that environment?
Who's the best player for a playoff run? There's a
very much like a who's doing the most winning right
now kind of thing. Like Bill Simmons has always referred
to this as like the belt right. We've had this
(02:41):
conversation on the show before, like bragging rights, like who's
the player that's winning the most right now that has
best claim based solely on like their impact on teams success.
There's a bunch of different ways to have these sorts
of lists, right, and last year we ended up settling. Finally,
I've had very different criteria over the years, but last
(03:02):
year we ended up settling on a new criteria that
is stuck for me and what I think makes the
most sense. And we're gonna stick with that again for
this year. But again, this is just my way of
doing the rankings. I don't expect you guys to rank
players in the same way, and I don't expect you
to agree with this list. The new criteria from last
year that we're repeating this year is very simple, who
(03:22):
is the best player to lead a basketball team, regardless
of surrounding circumstances, from the start of training camp all
the way through to the end of the playoffs. There
are several things to keep in mind with that criteria.
One regardless of surrounding circumstances. So again, like a player
(03:44):
that is playing on a better roster could have more
team success, could be more efficient because the basketball that's
taking place around them is just easier. I am going
to consider that player on the same playing field as
a player that's playing on a very flawed roster. I'll
use Luca and Shae here as an example, and I'm
not saying anything about where I have them ranked, But
(04:05):
like Shay is playing on a top tier contender roster
with like better jump shooting talent, better perimeter defense, talent,
better rimp protecting talent, Luca's playing with no starting small
forward and no power forward on his team, no starting
power forward. So like the roster differences between them, I
can't just go, oh, okay, See wins more games every year,
therefore Shay is better. It's a more complicated discussion that
(04:27):
I'm gonna have about the basketball, and I'm going to
factor all those things in when I'm making that ranking. Secondly,
from the start of training camp to playoffs. So durability
matters here. Can you carry a team through the eighty
two games and keep them high in the standings? Can
you physically survive a playoff runt? Sticking with the Luca
(04:49):
and Shae comp in the same way that Lucas gonna get,
you know, somewhat graded on a curve because his roster
isn't as good, Luca's going to hurt. It's gonna hurt
Luca in that debate when we talk about durability, Do
I trust Shae Gills Alexander more to play through the season,
play more games, and to be physically in shape when
(05:10):
they get to a big playoff game. I do trust
Shaye more than Luca. There So, again, we're gonna be
talking about these things in a vacuum and we're considering
durability when we talk about the entire campaign from the
start of training camp through to potentially mid June. But
I am giving a large boost to playoff upside. Ultimately,
(05:32):
we're trying to win the championship, right, Sticking with the
Shaye and Luca kamp. Like Shay Gills, Alexander has had
a repeated history of going down a level when he
gets into the postseason. His scoring efficiency falls off of
a cliff when he gets into the playoffs. Every year,
that's gonna hurt him compared to like a player we're
going to talk about today, look at like a Palo Boncaro,
(05:53):
who every single year in the postseason becomes a better
version of the player he was in the regular season. Now,
Palo's not in the same stret his sphere of Shay.
I'm just using him as an example of like, guys
who are playoff risers to me are going to get
a boost, and guys who are playoff droppers to me
are going to get a little bit of a drop.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then lastly, projecting forward, I am not talking about
what just happened in the last campaign. This is a
list that is meant to signify who I think is
the best from October of twenty twenty six through June
of twenty twenty seven. Now, the biggest indicator of future
performance is past performance, so we're certainly going to look
(06:32):
at recent data. But we know that young basketball players
tend to improve in leaps and bounds, so I will
factor that in some young players that I expect to
be much better this year. Old basketball players, they just
get older, you know, Like Lebron had sciatica last year.
Steph Curry literally said at the end of last season that, like,
the stuff with his knee is kind of just something
(06:53):
he has to deal with. Now, that's part of the
story when you have Lebron, when you have Lebron or
Steph leading your team from October to mid June. So again,
those are the kinds of things that I want you
to keep in mind as we work through this list.
I'm not considering the talent that is surrounding them. I'm
thinking about literally, like a fantasy draft. Okay, starting from scratch,
(07:13):
who's the best player for me to build a team around,
regardless of the surrounding circumstances they currently have durability from
the start of camp to playoffs. I'm giving a boost
to players that perform at a high level in the postseason,
and we are projecting forward to the upcoming campaign, so
young players and old players will experience some of those
(07:34):
shifts accordingly. Now, how the list will go. We'll have
honorable mention today. I have seven different players we're hitten today.
We're gonna go three at a time for the next
five videos, so that will take us through twenty five
all the way through eleven. Okay, then we're going to
go one at a time through the top ten. We
will have mail bags every Friday starting next Friday. So
(07:54):
this whole thing should last about eight weeks and then
we'll be in late September and we'll be into our
season previews and gearing up for another campaign. So that's
how this list will go. Now, a little breakdown of
the entirety of the list. We have a lot of
talent in the NBA this season, even just compared to
last year. I was pulling up last year's rankings when
I was done. I didn't even pull up last year's
until I was finished, kind of making the list this year.
(08:16):
But last year's breakdown, we had four top tier superstars,
ten second tier superstars, and twenty six third tier stars. Now,
before I kind of break that, before I go to
the next season, I want to kind of explain what
I mean by that. Top tier superstars to me are
players that you can just bank on them being awesome
night in and night out. They are perennial MVP candidates.
(08:39):
They are they operate at a level of consistency that
separates them from the players below them. Okay, and again
that always is going to be a really short list
to me, But that's what a top tier superstar is
in my book. A second tier superstar is a player
that on any given night can match the level of
(09:00):
impact of those top tier superstars, but they struggle to
be consistent with it for one of three reasons. Either one,
they've reached some sort of like talent plateau where they
just don't quite have the talent as of those guys,
so they need a certain swing factor in their game,
like their jump shot for example, to be going in
at a super high level to be able to match
(09:21):
the high level the high players in the league, right
or Two they're older, so like this is your Steps,
your Lebron's, your Kd's, your your Kawhi Leonard, your your
Joel embiads where like whether it's through age or injury history,
they're at a point where just physically they struggle to.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stay at that level.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But on any given night, any one of those dudes,
if their legs feel great like that, they can just
they can absolutely match the top players in the league,
even the Lucas and the Shay's and the Jokic's and
the Wemby's. Right going to that, the last type of
second tier superstar, the young up and coming superstar, meaning
like they still have the potential to join that top tier,
(10:02):
but they're still inconsistent or have some sort of skill
gap that they need to rectify before they can enter
that group. So that's what our second tier superstars are.
Any given night, they could be a top tier guy.
They struggle to be consistent, usually because they're too young,
they're too old, or they've reached a plateau that just
kind of prevents them from reaching that level. But they
have a swing skill that if it goes in, it
pushes them up to that level. Third tier stars, these
(10:25):
are just really, really really good basketball players. Yes they're
capable of scoring thirty points in a game. Yes they're
capable of having all around impact in some way, shape
or form, but they just lack that ceiling of being
able to reach the level of the top tier superstars
in the league.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Now again, last year I had four.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Top tier guys okay, that was Luka Sha, Lukasha, Jokic,
and Jannis Okay, we have a fifth this year. You
can probably take a while guess at who that's going
to be, but we'll get to that when we get
higher up in the list. We had ten second tier superstars,
twenty six third tier stars that I can considered for
forty total players that we considered for the top twenty
five this year, five top tier superstars, thirteen second tier
(11:08):
superstars as we've had several players a break into that group,
and then I had thirty three players that I considered
third tier stars, so fifty one players that I considered
for the top twenty five. It's just extremely difficult to
make a list like this, Like go ahead and try
just sketch out, grab a piece of paper or open
up your notestap and just just rough draft put together
(11:28):
a top twenty five.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You'll find out pretty.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Quickly that there's a lot of guys in the late twenties,
early thirties, where you're like, man, it's hard to argue
this guy this lower, this high, or so on and
so forth.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
It's tough.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But I started with those fifty one players. You start
breaking guys off, right, Like I breaked. I broke off
my top tier stars, I broke off my second tier
stars from there. I had because I had eighteen players,
I had seven spots left, but I had thirty three
players to consider for those seven spots. So I broke
that list into two groups that I very seriously considered
(12:02):
and players that I never really strongly considered for that
top twenty five, beyond just viewing them as in that
tier of players.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So here's thirty three through fifty one. So these are
all the players that I considered third tier stars, but
that I did not strongly consider for the top twenty five. Again,
really important here. These are not in order. The rest
of this list will be in order. These are not
in order. I'm just listing them. But thirty three through
fifty one Lauri Markinen, Jamal Murray, Keyante, George James Harden,
(12:31):
Austin Reeves, Jalen Johnson, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randall, Zion Williamson, Alprin, Shangoon,
Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, LaMelo Ball, Jimmy Butler, Jaron Jackson,
Darius Garland, Dearon Fox, Trey Young, Jayden McDaniels.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
But just random guy in there. Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
A reason why he's this far down in the list
because again we're talking about training camp twenty twenty six
through June of twenty twenty seven, and he's rehabbing an
ac eltair, right, so his value is lesser in this
particular season. But again, those are the guys that I
considered third tier stars, but I didn't strongly consider for
the top twenty five. So that left fourteen players left
(13:11):
that I was considering for spots nineteen through twenty five.
Right today, we're gonna be hitting the seven guys who
did not make the cut, but I did strongly consider them,
so they're worthy of a shout out anyway, not any
further Ado, Let's start with number thirty two, and again
these guys are in order for me number thirty two.
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New Jersey, or Tennessee. Pala Bancaro one of the biggest
gaps between floor and ceiling of any star in the
(15:19):
NBA the last four games of his first round series
against Detroit to the perfect example. In Game four, he
goes for eighteen points on four for eighteen shooting. Game five,
he goes for forty five on seventeen of thirty one shooting.
Game six he goes for seventeen points on four for
twenty and in Game seven he goes for thirty eight
on fourteen for twenty five. He's just an absolute physical monster,
(15:41):
which makes him very well suited for the playoff environment. Right,
just gets so physical and it's just hard to keep
him from getting to his spots. And when he has
his jump shot going, he's basically unguardable because you kind
of have to let him shoot to have any hope
of keeping that big, physical presence in front of you. Right,
and when he's making shots, he tends to get confident
all of a sudden, and his command of the floor
(16:01):
goes up a level. It's pretty incredible to watch. He
just becomes a completely different player in that postseason environment
than he is in the regular season. And he's had
some games like that were borderline superstar level performances. It's
how bad he was in the other games that prevent
him from being one of those second tier stars. But
we talked about those two games he had in Game five.
(16:22):
In Game seven, he had a twenty five twelve and nine.
In Game three, in that series, agains some pretty high
level performances. But we're now heading into year five for Pallo,
he's made literally zero progress as an over the top score,
like in terms of mid range jump shooting, long range
jump shooting, hook shots, things along those lines. And then
he's made very little progress as a processor in the
(16:43):
half court, and so that has prevented him from reaching
the level that he's capable of getting to. But he's
earned a reputation as one of the best playoff risers
in the NBA. He had nineteen playoff games so far
through his career after last season twenty seven nine to
five in those nineteen playoff games. But until he can
figure out that inconsistency, until he can develop the refined
(17:04):
offensive skill, he'll struggle to reach his full potential.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
That said, if you're.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
A Magic fan, of really any of us who have
been watching, it's hard to not still believe in him
at least to some extent because the playoff rising is
just so ridiculous and his physical tools are so off
the charts thirty one and thirty I'm lumping together Steph
Castle and Dylan Harper. I have both both of the
Spurs guards here I'm extremely high on them, just for
(17:31):
different reasons. Steph Castle had a lot on his plate
as a ball handler in this playoff run in a
way that kind of exposed how unrefined he is at
this point, probably more than his fare for a player
of his age. It's not a lot of players who
are like second year guards who are taking on significant
ball handling responsibility, you know, in the Western Conference finals
and then still in the NBA Finals, like it's just
a lot to ask, and so it led to like ugly,
(17:53):
sloppy turnovers, some really bad high turnover games. He took
seventy This is crazy. I was blown when I looked
at this number this morning. He took seventy pull up
jump shots in the playoffs. That's a lot, and he
wasn't efficient on them, but it's because he was in
such a high usage role and the jump shot in
general is kind of like streaky for him right now
(18:14):
uses his opposite hand quite a bit, so he just
you know, has some left right misses. There's no doubt
that he has a ton to work on, but he's
already one of the apex perimeter defenders in the NBA.
Did the best job on shake kills as Alexander we've literally
ever seen a defender to do on him. He's a
great rebounder for guard. And then when it came to
like stan still three point shooting when he was unguarded,
he was thirty eight percent on forty five attempts in
(18:36):
that postseason run. This is why he's received Drew Holiday
comps like he's going to be a legit ball handler
in this league eventually, even with all of his flaws.
He had eighteen points per game and six assists on
fifty nine percent sure shooting in that playoff run. That's
high level stuff, and you left feeling like he's barely
(18:56):
scratching the surface and he's still super flawed. That's the
crazy part. He plays off with two feet, He's always
on balance. He never seems to have any problem getting
by his man and getting into the paint at will.
He has all sorts of upside as a passer. He's
very good at the skip pass and pick and roll
and taking advantage of Wenby's role gravity, very good lob passer,
and again that's just the stuff he's going to be
(19:19):
great at in the future. Right now, he's already a
legit two way role player. He's literally in the very
top tier of perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. He
can knock down open catch and shoot threes. He can
rebound at a high level. I just think he's gonna
have an incredible season this year. I think we're going
to see in a legit offensive leap out of him,
(19:40):
continued all defense level contributions on the other end of
the floor. I'm just a big believer in Steph Castle.
I had him at thirty one, number thirty. Dylan Harper
just a superstar gard in to making. Every year we
have guys who take big leaps right Like this year
you'll see in our list like Kay Cunningham and Tyrese
Maxi both took big leaps for me compared to last
year's list. I think Harper is going to be one
(20:02):
of our biggest leaps in next year's list. In the
twenty twenty seven list, I'd be shocked if he wasn't
in like the top seventeen, top eighteen. I always talk
about how in the playoffs it's difficult for players to
get to their spots. We were just talking about this
with Palo Right. The defenders are all awesome. The physicality
is off the charts because the refs let a lot go.
The schemes are advanced and built around your weaknesses that
(20:22):
are super tough to handle. So when you see a
player who can comfortably get separation from playoff defenses, it
always gets my attention. All playoff run last year, Dylan
Harper was smoking dudes off the dribble, breaking dudes off
in the mid range with pullback dribbles and spin moves
and other counters. Now, finishing is another story. We know
(20:42):
that his jump shot came and went like I do
I have that in my burned in my memory that
Game five layup that he missed at the end of
the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
I could have tied it.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But again, you look at it, it's like he was
smoking everybody in transition, just dribbling right around them and
elevating over.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Everybody was right there.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
He just happened to miss a lot ye And he
shot sixty five percent in the playoffs at the rim,
which is an insane number for his small guard. But
he was consistently getting by people getting good looks at
the rim, even the mid rangers and stuff that he missed.
It's like they were open because you can't stop him
from getting to the basket without taking these massive retreat
steps where he just gets into your body and bounces
(21:21):
off with that pullback dribbler, that spin move, and he
has like ten feet of separation in the mid range,
like once the play finishing comes around, He's going to
be a problem. I think both Steph Castle and Dylan
Harper are going to take big leaps next year. I
think Steph is going to just continue to develop into
that super versatile two way player, kind of a Swiss
(21:42):
Army knife guard, and I think Dylan is just this
textbook superstar shot creator on the rise. Good time to
be a Spurs fan. I think there's a very good
chance that both of those players crack our top twenty
five next year. Number twenty nine Pascal Siakam. Pascal was
under the radar last year for obvious reasons on that
terrible Pacers team that was very much having a gap year. Predictably,
(22:04):
his scoring volume went up because of the loss of
Haliburton in the additional usage, but his efficiency went down
under the tougher shot quality. But I still very much
view him as one of the most useful role players
in the NBA. He brings an extremely useful combination of traits.
Great size for his position and length, extremely mobile for
his size. He's got this like shaking of Alexander escability
(22:26):
to kind of split gaps and find angles to the rim,
great offensive versatility, can legitimately score from all three levels,
and can do it both on and off the ball.
He's a good defender, a good rebounder. Like I mean,
we're talking about a guy who's the second best player
on a finals team literally just one year ago. I
looked at the three different guys that kind of fit
this archetype for me, like really high level role player
(22:49):
talent on a list that is otherwise made up of
you know, centers in ball handlers. Right, And the three
guys that I looked at were Jada McDaniel's, Pascal Siakam,
and Ogannanobi. And they all ended up in diff groups, right,
Like Jada McDaniels, as you guys heard, didn't even make
my top thirty two, right, Like he was one of
those guys who was not very seriously considered. Siakam comes
(23:10):
into at twenty nine. You guys will see where Ognobi
ends up. But like they're all kind of they're they're
in that ilk of like three four hybrid role player
who is like a like clearly worth a hell of
a lot more than your traditional like three and D
wing because they bring more to the table. Jaden's probably
the best defender in the group, and Pascal Siakam is
(23:33):
obviously a much better offensive player than Jaden McDaniels Ognobi,
And the reason why he ended up better than both
of them, and you'll see where he ends up on
the list, has to do with the fact that he
can do both. Like I thought, Og kind of brings
the best of both of those guys to the table
as like a legitimate defensive weapon, but also this like
very versatile offensive player with high level shot creation, which
(23:53):
you guys will hear about when we get up in
the list. But Pascal Siakam seriously considered at number twenty nine.
Number twenty eight Evan Mobley. Evan's lack of development on
offense has been frustrating yet another season or teams just
dare him to shoot threes in the playoffs and he
can't knock them down consistently. And he hit some big ones,
he had some really important ones over the course of
that playoff run, but he finished just nine for twenty
(24:15):
five on unguarded catch and shoot threes, just six for
eighteen on picking pop threes, famously missed a bunch of
those of you guys remember in that crunch time collapse
against the Knicks in Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.
His shot creation one on one hasn't really come around.
He was okay in the playoffs with thirty eight points
on forty one on one so post ups and ISOs
including passes. We're still waiting on an offensive leap from
(24:38):
Evan Mobley. But just like I talked about with Siakam,
just an incredibly useful basketball player. I think he's actually
a tiny bit overrated on defense, but I still think
he's insanely good there. I just you know, you won
a defensive Player of the Year, and I don't view
him like, as you know, one of the very very
best defensive players in the NBA the way I do
some of the other guys that we've talked about on
(24:59):
the show. But I do think he's insanely good on
defense as a rim protector and as a help side guy,
and as a versatile perimeter athlete that can switch a
little bit onto ball handlers, and he's skilled enough on
offense that he's a legit two way player. I still
believe in Mobiley in the long run, even though it's
been frustrating to this point. There's really the big question
with him is going to be this, like are you
(25:20):
gonna be bam Adebayo or are you gonna be something
more than that? And I don't mean that as an insult,
because Bam for the records in our top twenty five,
and I think Bam is better than Evan, but like,
I feel like that would be a disappointing plateau for
Evan Mobley to hit in that like just being you know,
one of the top ten defensive players in the NBA,
(25:42):
even though Bam I think is a better defender than Evan,
but like one of those like upper level defenders. But
then also like just underwhelming on offense and just kind
of hovering in the high teens low twenties for his
entire career with no real consistent efficient go to move
in one on ones or reliable shooting on the perimeter,
Like is he going to be Bam or is he
(26:04):
going to turn into something more than that? That really
is the trajectory that we're talking about with Evan Mobley,
and I'm rooting for him and I think he has
the potential. I don't think it's over yet, but we're
like a couple of years away from this just being
bam at a Bio two point zero Number twenty seven
Jay Dub Jalen Williams. What made him a top twenty
five player last year is pretty simple, insane rim pressure,
(26:27):
especially with the head of steam. I don't think he
has the best first step quickness in the world, but
he's got enough strength that, like when he does get
an angle.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
He's really difficult to stop. So especially with the head.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Of steam, like semi transition transition stuff just got to
the rim a ton reliable jump shooting, really started to
knock down jump shots over the final two playoff rounds
last year. Solid playmaking and then just really really good
defense is elite versatle defense.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
That was what made.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Jalen Williams a top twenty five player in the league.
But health has just become a major question mark for him.
It wasn't just oh, he missed the most of the
playoff run. It was peded injuries to the hamstring right
that has made him and We've seen this over the years,
whether it was with James Harden or Devin Booker, like
we've seen guys when they start to have their recurring
I'm worried about this for Luka Doncics, for example. When
(27:13):
we see guys have these like recurring soft tissue injuries,
it kind of just becomes something that limits their mobility
over the course of the next phase of their careers.
And so even though a big believer in Jadubb strongly
considered him for the top twenty five, I do think
he'll have a bounce back season. I think he'll be
healthier this year, more available. I expect him to be
an important part of OKC in the postseason, but that
health has just become enough of a question mark that
(27:34):
it knocked him off the top twenty five for this season.
Last guy for today Denny Hovdia at number twenty six.
I thought Denny's offseason or offensive season last year was
super impressive twenty four point seven rebound, seven assists on
sixty percent truugh shooting, and it didn't quite hold up
to that level in the postseason. But I didn't think
that was an indictment of him as much as it
(27:55):
was the roster Portland was twenty eighth in the NBA
last year and catch and shoot efficiency. They're literally one
of the worst spacing teams in the league. Their bigs
can't shoot, their wings can't shoot, their guards can't shoot.
Especially against a Victor Women Yama led defense, that's gonna
be problematic. Like Shae Yovis, Alexander was surrounded by way
more offensive talent, and even he experienced a massive drop
(28:19):
off in scoring volume and efficiency against Victor Women Yama.
Denny is, in my opinion, one of the very best
up and coming offensive engines in the NBA. Reflected in
the numbers. The Blazers really struggled to score when he
was off the floor.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Last year.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
They were about six points better per one hundred possessions
on offense when Denny was on versus off. And it
comes down to his foundational skill, which is he is
just ridiculous at beating people off the dribble. That he's
big and strong and has a nasty handle, like a
quick like like like just he changed dribbled combinations together
super fast in freezes defenders, and then he just shoots
(28:56):
the gap with a nasty first step in a ton
of size and strain think that makes him really difficult
to regain leverage on once he gets an angle on you.
He combines that with the ability to change pace in
the middle of the floor, and he can slow down
short of the rim for a little short mid Rangers
had to do a lot of that last year because
of their lack of spacing. He gets the foul line
(29:16):
a ton, He can playmate out of the middle of
the floor. He can run kind of methodical pick and rolls,
putting defenders in jail. Because he's big and strong enough,
He's got enough of that little short range scoring finishing
to kind of kind of tie together the scoring piece
of his pick and role play. I just think he's
I just think he's a really high level offensive player
playing in a system that's not really built around his strength. Really,
(29:40):
the biggest hole in his game right now is his
pull up shooting. He's got a little bit of a
hitch in his shot that shows up more off the
dribble than it does off the catch. But if he
figures that out, I think he's going to be a
top fifteen ish guy in the league. I just think
Denny's really really good, and I'm a big believer in
his skill set. All right, guys, it's all I have
for today again. We will be back on Friday with
twenty five to twenty four. We're in twenty three.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I will see you guys then
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, well, good to hoops to night here at
the volume Heavy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you
guys are having a great week so far. Gonna jampacks
show for you guys. Today we are starting our annual
player rankings. We've done this one so twenty two, three, four, five, six,
So this is our fifth edition of player rankings. We're
gonna be doing this for the next couple of months.
This is our big thing that we do every single summer. Today,
(00:36):
we're gonna be starting with I want to break down
kind of the rules of the list, how we actually
do the rankings. I want to talk a little bit
about how the progression of the episodes will be over
the course of the summer, and then we have our
first batch of players today. I'm starting outside the top
twenty five though, so I've got seven players who were
considered for the top twenty five but that just missed
(00:59):
the cut. But I think they're all deserving of a
shout out anyway. So we're going to be hitting those
seven players today. Then on Friday we will start the
actual top twenty five with players twenty five, twenty four,
and twenty three. You guys know the joke before we
start to subscribe to the hoopsent on YouTube channels, you
don't miss any more of our videos. We're trying to
get to one hundred and fifty thousand subs and we
need about seven thousand more. So you guys can help
(01:20):
us a lot by scrolling down hitting that subscribe button.
If you already subscribe like this video, sign up for
post notifications. That helps us a lot. And then mail bags.
We will be doing mail bags, not this week, but
starting next Friday through the entire player rankings series. And
the idea of our mail bags is I want them
to feel like a debate. So if you disagree with
the ranking a player that you think should have been
(01:41):
on the list, or a player that you think shouldn't
have been on the list, or a player that you
think is too high too low, a specific debate between
two players that you disagree with, right mail bag, call
in underneath the full episode and give a breakdown why
you disagree, and we will be going through those debates
in our mail bags on Fridays throughout series. All right,
let's talk some basketball. So there are so many different
(02:04):
ways to do a player rankings list. You could have
like a who's the best regular season player? Obviously that's
more or less what our MVP debate is every year, right,
who's the best player to have for you know that
famous like Okay, the Aliens have come to Earth and
we need to.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Save the world with a basketball.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Player playing, you know, one on one, or a player
to lead a team that's going five on five against
the aliens, like for one game to save the world,
Like who's your one dude that you want for that environment?
Who's the best player for a playoff run? There's a
very much like a who's doing the most winning right
now kind of thing. Like Bill Simmons has always referred
to this as like the belt right. We've had this
(02:41):
conversation on the show before, like bragging rights, like who's
the player that's winning the most right now that has
best claim based solely on like their impact on teams success.
There's a bunch of different ways to have these sorts
of lists, right, and last year we ended up settling. Finally,
I've had very different criteria over the years, but last
(03:02):
year we ended up settling on a new criteria that
is stuck for me and what I think makes the
most sense. And we're gonna stick with that again for
this year. But again, this is just my way of
doing the rankings. I don't expect you guys to rank
players in the same way, and I don't expect you
to agree with this list. The new criteria from last
year that we're repeating this year is very simple, who
(03:22):
is the best player to lead a basketball team, regardless
of surrounding circumstances, from the start of training camp all
the way through to the end of the playoffs. There
are several things to keep in mind with that criteria.
One regardless of surrounding circumstances. So again, like a player
(03:44):
that is playing on a better roster could have more
team success, could be more efficient because the basketball that's
taking place around them is just easier. I am going
to consider that player on the same playing field as
a player that's playing on a very flawed roster. I'll
use Luca and Shae here as an example, and I'm
not saying anything about where I have them ranked, But
(04:05):
like Shay is playing on a top tier contender roster
with like better jump shooting talent, better perimeter defense, talent,
better rimp protecting talent, Luca's playing with no starting small
forward and no power forward on his team, no starting
power forward. So like the roster differences between them, I
can't just go, oh, okay, See wins more games every year,
therefore Shay is better. It's a more complicated discussion that
(04:27):
I'm gonna have about the basketball, and I'm going to
factor all those things in when I'm making that ranking. Secondly,
from the start of training camp to playoffs. So durability
matters here. Can you carry a team through the eighty
two games and keep them high in the standings? Can
you physically survive a playoff runt? Sticking with the Luca
(04:49):
and Shae comp in the same way that Lucas gonna get,
you know, somewhat graded on a curve because his roster
isn't as good, Luca's going to hurt. It's gonna hurt
Luca in that debate when we talk about durability, Do
I trust Shae Gills Alexander more to play through the season,
play more games, and to be physically in shape when
(05:10):
they get to a big playoff game. I do trust
Shaye more than Luca. There So, again, we're gonna be
talking about these things in a vacuum and we're considering
durability when we talk about the entire campaign from the
start of training camp through to potentially mid June. But
I am giving a large boost to playoff upside. Ultimately,
(05:32):
we're trying to win the championship, right, Sticking with the
Shaye and Luca kamp. Like Shay Gills, Alexander has had
a repeated history of going down a level when he
gets into the postseason. His scoring efficiency falls off of
a cliff when he gets into the playoffs. Every year,
that's gonna hurt him compared to like a player we're
going to talk about today, look at like a Palo Boncaro,
(05:53):
who every single year in the postseason becomes a better
version of the player he was in the regular season. Now,
Palo's not in the same stret his sphere of Shay.
I'm just using him as an example of like, guys
who are playoff risers to me are going to get
a boost, and guys who are playoff droppers to me
are going to get a little bit of a drop.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then lastly, projecting forward, I am not talking about
what just happened in the last campaign. This is a
list that is meant to signify who I think is
the best from October of twenty twenty six through June
of twenty twenty seven. Now, the biggest indicator of future
performance is past performance, so we're certainly going to look
(06:32):
at recent data. But we know that young basketball players
tend to improve in leaps and bounds, so I will
factor that in some young players that I expect to
be much better this year. Old basketball players, they just
get older, you know, Like Lebron had sciatica last year.
Steph Curry literally said at the end of last season that, like,
the stuff with his knee is kind of just something
(06:53):
he has to deal with. Now, that's part of the
story when you have Lebron, when you have Lebron or
Steph leading your team from October to mid June. So again,
those are the kinds of things that I want you
to keep in mind as we work through this list.
I'm not considering the talent that is surrounding them. I'm
thinking about literally, like a fantasy draft. Okay, starting from scratch,
(07:13):
who's the best player for me to build a team around,
regardless of the surrounding circumstances they currently have durability from
the start of camp to playoffs. I'm giving a boost
to players that perform at a high level in the postseason,
and we are projecting forward to the upcoming campaign, so
young players and old players will experience some of those
(07:34):
shifts accordingly. Now, how the list will go. We'll have
honorable mention today. I have seven different players we're hitten today.
We're gonna go three at a time for the next
five videos, so that will take us through twenty five
all the way through eleven. Okay, then we're going to
go one at a time through the top ten. We
will have mail bags every Friday starting next Friday. So
(07:54):
this whole thing should last about eight weeks and then
we'll be in late September and we'll be into our
season previews and gearing up for another campaign. So that's
how this list will go. Now, a little breakdown of
the entirety of the list. We have a lot of
talent in the NBA this season, even just compared to
last year. I was pulling up last year's rankings when
I was done. I didn't even pull up last year's
until I was finished, kind of making the list this year.
(08:16):
But last year's breakdown, we had four top tier superstars,
ten second tier superstars, and twenty six third tier stars. Now,
before I kind of break that, before I go to
the next season, I want to kind of explain what
I mean by that. Top tier superstars to me are
players that you can just bank on them being awesome
night in and night out. They are perennial MVP candidates.
(08:39):
They are they operate at a level of consistency that
separates them from the players below them. Okay, and again
that always is going to be a really short list
to me, But that's what a top tier superstar is
in my book. A second tier superstar is a player
that on any given night can match the level of
(09:00):
impact of those top tier superstars, but they struggle to
be consistent with it for one of three reasons. Either one,
they've reached some sort of like talent plateau where they
just don't quite have the talent as of those guys,
so they need a certain swing factor in their game,
like their jump shot for example, to be going in
at a super high level to be able to match
(09:21):
the high level the high players in the league, right
or Two they're older, so like this is your Steps,
your Lebron's, your Kd's, your your Kawhi Leonard, your your
Joel embiads where like whether it's through age or injury history,
they're at a point where just physically they struggle to.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stay at that level.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But on any given night, any one of those dudes,
if their legs feel great like that, they can just
they can absolutely match the top players in the league,
even the Lucas and the Shay's and the Jokic's and
the Wemby's. Right going to that, the last type of
second tier superstar, the young up and coming superstar, meaning
like they still have the potential to join that top tier,
(10:02):
but they're still inconsistent or have some sort of skill
gap that they need to rectify before they can enter
that group. So that's what our second tier superstars are.
Any given night, they could be a top tier guy.
They struggle to be consistent, usually because they're too young,
they're too old, or they've reached a plateau that just
kind of prevents them from reaching that level. But they
have a swing skill that if it goes in, it
pushes them up to that level. Third tier stars, these
(10:25):
are just really, really really good basketball players. Yes they're
capable of scoring thirty points in a game. Yes they're
capable of having all around impact in some way, shape
or form, but they just lack that ceiling of being
able to reach the level of the top tier superstars
in the league.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Now again, last year I had four.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Top tier guys okay, that was Luka Sha, Lukasha, Jokic,
and Jannis Okay, we have a fifth this year. You
can probably take a while guess at who that's going
to be, but we'll get to that when we get
higher up in the list. We had ten second tier superstars,
twenty six third tier stars that I can considered for
forty total players that we considered for the top twenty
five this year, five top tier superstars, thirteen second tier
(11:08):
superstars as we've had several players a break into that group,
and then I had thirty three players that I considered
third tier stars, so fifty one players that I considered
for the top twenty five. It's just extremely difficult to
make a list like this, Like go ahead and try
just sketch out, grab a piece of paper or open
up your notestap and just just rough draft put together
(11:28):
a top twenty five.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You'll find out pretty.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Quickly that there's a lot of guys in the late twenties,
early thirties, where you're like, man, it's hard to argue
this guy this lower, this high, or so on and
so forth.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
It's tough.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But I started with those fifty one players. You start
breaking guys off, right, Like I breaked. I broke off
my top tier stars, I broke off my second tier
stars from there. I had because I had eighteen players,
I had seven spots left, but I had thirty three
players to consider for those seven spots. So I broke
that list into two groups that I very seriously considered
(12:02):
and players that I never really strongly considered for that
top twenty five, beyond just viewing them as in that
tier of players.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
So here's thirty three through fifty one. So these are
all the players that I considered third tier stars, but
that I did not strongly consider for the top twenty five. Again,
really important here. These are not in order. The rest
of this list will be in order. These are not
in order. I'm just listing them. But thirty three through
fifty one Lauri Markinen, Jamal Murray, Keyante, George James Harden,
(12:31):
Austin Reeves, Jalen Johnson, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randall, Zion Williamson, Alprin, Shangoon,
Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, LaMelo Ball, Jimmy Butler, Jaron Jackson,
Darius Garland, Dearon Fox, Trey Young, Jayden McDaniels.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
But just random guy in there. Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
A reason why he's this far down in the list
because again we're talking about training camp twenty twenty six
through June of twenty twenty seven, and he's rehabbing an
ac eltair, right, so his value is lesser in this
particular season. But again, those are the guys that I
considered third tier stars, but I didn't strongly consider for
the top twenty five. So that left fourteen players left
(13:11):
that I was considering for spots nineteen through twenty five.
Right today, we're gonna be hitting the seven guys who
did not make the cut, but I did strongly consider them,
so they're worthy of a shout out anyway, not any
further Ado, Let's start with number thirty two, and again
these guys are in order for me number thirty two.
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New Jersey, or Tennessee. Pala Bancaro one of the biggest
gaps between floor and ceiling of any star in the
(15:19):
NBA the last four games of his first round series
against Detroit to the perfect example. In Game four, he
goes for eighteen points on four for eighteen shooting. Game five,
he goes for forty five on seventeen of thirty one shooting.
Game six he goes for seventeen points on four for
twenty and in Game seven he goes for thirty eight
on fourteen for twenty five. He's just an absolute physical monster,
(15:41):
which makes him very well suited for the playoff environment. Right,
just gets so physical and it's just hard to keep
him from getting to his spots. And when he has
his jump shot going, he's basically unguardable because you kind
of have to let him shoot to have any hope
of keeping that big, physical presence in front of you. Right,
and when he's making shots, he tends to get confident
all of a sudden, and his command of the floor
(16:01):
goes up a level. It's pretty incredible to watch. He
just becomes a completely different player in that postseason environment
than he is in the regular season. And he's had
some games like that were borderline superstar level performances. It's
how bad he was in the other games that prevent
him from being one of those second tier stars. But
we talked about those two games he had in Game five.
(16:22):
In Game seven, he had a twenty five twelve and nine.
In Game three, in that series, agains some pretty high
level performances. But we're now heading into year five for Pallo,
he's made literally zero progress as an over the top score,
like in terms of mid range jump shooting, long range
jump shooting, hook shots, things along those lines. And then
he's made very little progress as a processor in the
(16:43):
half court, and so that has prevented him from reaching
the level that he's capable of getting to. But he's
earned a reputation as one of the best playoff risers
in the NBA. He had nineteen playoff games so far
through his career after last season twenty seven nine to
five in those nineteen playoff games. But until he can
figure out that inconsistency, until he can develop the refined
(17:04):
offensive skill, he'll struggle to reach his full potential.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
That said, if you're.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
A Magic fan, of really any of us who have
been watching, it's hard to not still believe in him
at least to some extent because the playoff rising is
just so ridiculous and his physical tools are so off
the charts thirty one and thirty I'm lumping together Steph
Castle and Dylan Harper. I have both both of the
Spurs guards here I'm extremely high on them, just for
(17:31):
different reasons. Steph Castle had a lot on his plate
as a ball handler in this playoff run in a
way that kind of exposed how unrefined he is at
this point, probably more than his fare for a player
of his age. It's not a lot of players who
are like second year guards who are taking on significant
ball handling responsibility, you know, in the Western Conference finals
and then still in the NBA Finals, like it's just
a lot to ask, and so it led to like ugly,
(17:53):
sloppy turnovers, some really bad high turnover games. He took
seventy This is crazy. I was blown when I looked
at this number this morning. He took seventy pull up
jump shots in the playoffs. That's a lot, and he
wasn't efficient on them, but it's because he was in
such a high usage role and the jump shot in
general is kind of like streaky for him right now
(18:14):
uses his opposite hand quite a bit, so he just
you know, has some left right misses. There's no doubt
that he has a ton to work on, but he's
already one of the apex perimeter defenders in the NBA.
Did the best job on shake kills as Alexander we've literally
ever seen a defender to do on him. He's a
great rebounder for guard. And then when it came to
like stan still three point shooting when he was unguarded,
he was thirty eight percent on forty five attempts in
(18:36):
that postseason run. This is why he's received Drew Holiday
comps like he's going to be a legit ball handler
in this league eventually, even with all of his flaws.
He had eighteen points per game and six assists on
fifty nine percent sure shooting in that playoff run. That's
high level stuff, and you left feeling like he's barely
(18:56):
scratching the surface and he's still super flawed. That's the
crazy part. He plays off with two feet, He's always
on balance. He never seems to have any problem getting
by his man and getting into the paint at will.
He has all sorts of upside as a passer. He's
very good at the skip pass and pick and roll
and taking advantage of Wenby's role gravity, very good lob passer,
and again that's just the stuff he's going to be
(19:19):
great at in the future. Right now, he's already a
legit two way role player. He's literally in the very
top tier of perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. He
can knock down open catch and shoot threes. He can
rebound at a high level. I just think he's gonna
have an incredible season this year. I think we're going
to see in a legit offensive leap out of him,
(19:40):
continued all defense level contributions on the other end of
the floor. I'm just a big believer in Steph Castle.
I had him at thirty one, number thirty. Dylan Harper
just a superstar gard in to making. Every year we
have guys who take big leaps right Like this year
you'll see in our list like Kay Cunningham and Tyrese
Maxi both took big leaps for me compared to last
year's list. I think Harper is going to be one
(20:02):
of our biggest leaps in next year's list. In the
twenty twenty seven list, I'd be shocked if he wasn't
in like the top seventeen, top eighteen. I always talk
about how in the playoffs it's difficult for players to
get to their spots. We were just talking about this
with Palo Right. The defenders are all awesome. The physicality
is off the charts because the refs let a lot go.
The schemes are advanced and built around your weaknesses that
(20:22):
are super tough to handle. So when you see a
player who can comfortably get separation from playoff defenses, it
always gets my attention. All playoff run last year, Dylan
Harper was smoking dudes off the dribble, breaking dudes off
in the mid range with pullback dribbles and spin moves
and other counters. Now, finishing is another story. We know
(20:42):
that his jump shot came and went like I do
I have that in my burned in my memory that
Game five layup that he missed at the end of
the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
I could have tied it.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But again, you look at it, it's like he was
smoking everybody in transition, just dribbling right around them and
elevating over.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Everybody was right there.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
He just happened to miss a lot ye And he
shot sixty five percent in the playoffs at the rim,
which is an insane number for his small guard. But
he was consistently getting by people getting good looks at
the rim, even the mid rangers and stuff that he missed.
It's like they were open because you can't stop him
from getting to the basket without taking these massive retreat
steps where he just gets into your body and bounces
(21:21):
off with that pullback dribbler, that spin move, and he
has like ten feet of separation in the mid range,
like once the play finishing comes around, He's going to
be a problem. I think both Steph Castle and Dylan
Harper are going to take big leaps next year. I
think Steph is going to just continue to develop into
that super versatile two way player, kind of a Swiss
(21:42):
Army knife guard, and I think Dylan is just this
textbook superstar shot creator on the rise. Good time to
be a Spurs fan. I think there's a very good
chance that both of those players crack our top twenty
five next year. Number twenty nine Pascal Siakam. Pascal was
under the radar last year for obvious reasons on that
terrible Pacers team that was very much having a gap year. Predictably,
(22:04):
his scoring volume went up because of the loss of
Haliburton in the additional usage, but his efficiency went down
under the tougher shot quality. But I still very much
view him as one of the most useful role players
in the NBA. He brings an extremely useful combination of traits.
Great size for his position and length, extremely mobile for
his size. He's got this like shaking of Alexander escability
(22:26):
to kind of split gaps and find angles to the rim,
great offensive versatility, can legitimately score from all three levels,
and can do it both on and off the ball.
He's a good defender, a good rebounder. Like I mean,
we're talking about a guy who's the second best player
on a finals team literally just one year ago. I
looked at the three different guys that kind of fit
this archetype for me, like really high level role player
(22:49):
talent on a list that is otherwise made up of
you know, centers in ball handlers. Right, And the three
guys that I looked at were Jada McDaniel's, Pascal Siakam,
and Ogannanobi. And they all ended up in diff groups, right,
Like Jada McDaniels, as you guys heard, didn't even make
my top thirty two, right, Like he was one of
those guys who was not very seriously considered. Siakam comes
(23:10):
into at twenty nine. You guys will see where Ognobi
ends up. But like they're all kind of they're they're
in that ilk of like three four hybrid role player
who is like a like clearly worth a hell of
a lot more than your traditional like three and D
wing because they bring more to the table. Jaden's probably
the best defender in the group, and Pascal Siakam is
(23:33):
obviously a much better offensive player than Jaden McDaniels Ognobi,
And the reason why he ended up better than both
of them, and you'll see where he ends up on
the list, has to do with the fact that he
can do both. Like I thought, Og kind of brings
the best of both of those guys to the table
as like a legitimate defensive weapon, but also this like
very versatile offensive player with high level shot creation, which
(23:53):
you guys will hear about when we get up in
the list. But Pascal Siakam seriously considered at number twenty nine.
Number twenty eight Evan Mobley. Evan's lack of development on
offense has been frustrating yet another season or teams just
dare him to shoot threes in the playoffs and he
can't knock them down consistently. And he hit some big ones,
he had some really important ones over the course of
that playoff run, but he finished just nine for twenty
(24:15):
five on unguarded catch and shoot threes, just six for
eighteen on picking pop threes, famously missed a bunch of
those of you guys remember in that crunch time collapse
against the Knicks in Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.
His shot creation one on one hasn't really come around.
He was okay in the playoffs with thirty eight points
on forty one on one so post ups and ISOs
including passes. We're still waiting on an offensive leap from
(24:38):
Evan Mobley. But just like I talked about with Siakam,
just an incredibly useful basketball player. I think he's actually
a tiny bit overrated on defense, but I still think
he's insanely good there. I just you know, you won
a defensive Player of the Year, and I don't view
him like, as you know, one of the very very
best defensive players in the NBA the way I do
some of the other guys that we've talked about on
(24:59):
the show. But I do think he's insanely good on
defense as a rim protector and as a help side guy,
and as a versatile perimeter athlete that can switch a
little bit onto ball handlers, and he's skilled enough on
offense that he's a legit two way player. I still
believe in Mobiley in the long run, even though it's
been frustrating to this point. There's really the big question
with him is going to be this, like are you
(25:20):
gonna be bam Adebayo or are you gonna be something
more than that? And I don't mean that as an insult,
because Bam for the records in our top twenty five,
and I think Bam is better than Evan, but like,
I feel like that would be a disappointing plateau for
Evan Mobley to hit in that like just being you know,
one of the top ten defensive players in the NBA,
(25:42):
even though Bam I think is a better defender than Evan,
but like one of those like upper level defenders. But
then also like just underwhelming on offense and just kind
of hovering in the high teens low twenties for his
entire career with no real consistent efficient go to move
in one on ones or reliable shooting on the perimeter,
Like is he going to be Bam or is he
(26:04):
going to turn into something more than that? That really
is the trajectory that we're talking about with Evan Mobley,
and I'm rooting for him and I think he has
the potential. I don't think it's over yet, but we're
like a couple of years away from this just being
bam at a Bio two point zero Number twenty seven
Jay Dub Jalen Williams. What made him a top twenty
five player last year is pretty simple, insane rim pressure,
(26:27):
especially with the head of steam. I don't think he
has the best first step quickness in the world, but
he's got enough strength that, like when he does get
an angle.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
He's really difficult to stop. So especially with the head.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Of steam, like semi transition transition stuff just got to
the rim a ton reliable jump shooting, really started to
knock down jump shots over the final two playoff rounds
last year. Solid playmaking and then just really really good
defense is elite versatle defense.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
That was what made.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Jalen Williams a top twenty five player in the league.
But health has just become a major question mark for him.
It wasn't just oh, he missed the most of the
playoff run. It was peded injuries to the hamstring right
that has made him and We've seen this over the years,
whether it was with James Harden or Devin Booker, like
we've seen guys when they start to have their recurring
I'm worried about this for Luka Doncics, for example. When
(27:13):
we see guys have these like recurring soft tissue injuries,
it kind of just becomes something that limits their mobility
over the course of the next phase of their careers.
And so even though a big believer in Jadubb strongly
considered him for the top twenty five, I do think
he'll have a bounce back season. I think he'll be
healthier this year, more available. I expect him to be
an important part of OKC in the postseason, but that
health has just become enough of a question mark that
(27:34):
it knocked him off the top twenty five for this season.
Last guy for today Denny Hovdia at number twenty six.
I thought Denny's offseason or offensive season last year was
super impressive twenty four point seven rebound, seven assists on
sixty percent truugh shooting, and it didn't quite hold up
to that level in the postseason. But I didn't think
that was an indictment of him as much as it
(27:55):
was the roster Portland was twenty eighth in the NBA
last year and catch and shoot efficiency. They're literally one
of the worst spacing teams in the league. Their bigs
can't shoot, their wings can't shoot, their guards can't shoot.
Especially against a Victor Women Yama led defense, that's gonna
be problematic. Like Shae Yovis, Alexander was surrounded by way
more offensive talent, and even he experienced a massive drop
(28:19):
off in scoring volume and efficiency against Victor Women Yama.
Denny is, in my opinion, one of the very best
up and coming offensive engines in the NBA. Reflected in
the numbers. The Blazers really struggled to score when he
was off the floor.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Last year.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
They were about six points better per one hundred possessions
on offense when Denny was on versus off. And it
comes down to his foundational skill, which is he is
just ridiculous at beating people off the dribble. That he's
big and strong and has a nasty handle, like a
quick like like like just he changed dribbled combinations together
super fast in freezes defenders, and then he just shoots
(28:56):
the gap with a nasty first step in a ton
of size and strain think that makes him really difficult
to regain leverage on once he gets an angle on you.
He combines that with the ability to change pace in
the middle of the floor, and he can slow down
short of the rim for a little short mid Rangers
had to do a lot of that last year because
of their lack of spacing. He gets the foul line
(29:16):
a ton, He can playmate out of the middle of
the floor. He can run kind of methodical pick and rolls,
putting defenders in jail. Because he's big and strong enough,
He's got enough of that little short range scoring finishing
to kind of kind of tie together the scoring piece
of his pick and role play. I just think he's
I just think he's a really high level offensive player
playing in a system that's not really built around his strength. Really,
(29:40):
the biggest hole in his game right now is his
pull up shooting. He's got a little bit of a
hitch in his shot that shows up more off the
dribble than it does off the catch. But if he
figures that out, I think he's going to be a
top fifteen ish guy in the league. I just think
Denny's really really good, and I'm a big believer in
his skill set. All right, guys, it's all I have
for today again. We will be back on Friday with
twenty five to twenty four. We're in twenty three.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I will see you guys then
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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