The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
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The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
HERE IT IS: THE TOP 25, AT LONG LAST, BEFORE THE WORK WEEK STARTS, WE ARE DROPPING IT AT ASHES-ONLY HOURS (and also Jordo hours if you're Jordo and you are in Greece, sup dude).
No time for intros this time -- let's get into it. Here are the 25 best players in the league with a little extra analysis for each since cool players deserve more of our time and love. I will probably wait a long time before doing another one of these but honestly it was a pretty useful exercise and fun to dive boxes and stats. Enjoy, I'm going to go to sleep.
100-76 RANKINGS
75-51 RANKINGS
50-26 RANKINGS
***
25. Jonathan Isaac, PF, Hornets
Much like his less-Republican and somewhat less-athletic brother Ryan, Isaac is a defensive unicorn who racks up stocks, boards, and takes care of the ball without being overly damaging on offense. The only place where my man is not conservative is on the defensive end, let me tell ya. It's probably a testament to him that the Hornets have had as much success as they've had in the last six seasons without having a great presence next to him up front other than their brief Boogie Cousins experiment.
Isaac probably doesn't have the strength to be a true consistent counter to all the best offensive bigs in the league, but every single team in the league would love to have him. Most days he can be a game-changer in ways that matter quite a bit, but he's always giving you something regardless. He never quite developed plus offense, but the all-around package is excellent and he's won quite a lot of games in Charlotte, so he gets ranked much higher than your typical big butt. He is the biggest butt.
24. Cade Cunningham, SG/PG, Pistons
Cade made the leap this year as an elite wing scorer, but I still think his best position will ultimately be point guard, something the Pistons have pivoted away from for the time being, but that I would guess they eventually return to. He's probably in the 3TO ballpark at the point, but we've now seen he can be mega-efficient on the wing — he's kind of the Deron Williams of this era at the moment. He's not a useful defender but the idea of a legit B+/A scorer at point guard is in theory very broken (probably 30 per game type stuff) as long as the turnovers are manageable.
Having the ability to be a top scorer at the 2 or the 3 gives him some off-ramps to being a stud even if that never develops, but for Cade to take the next step, I think we need to see what he does as a lead guard for a full season as he approaches his prime years — the two box scores he just put up against the Knicks as a starting PG should be evidence enough. Haliburton needs to get traded so MotorCade can shine!
23. De'Aaron Fox, PG, Pacers
Fox does most of what you want from an FBB point guard and does it at a pretty high level: he's a good scorer, steals the ball a ton, keeps his turnovers under three per game and shoots it extremely well from three. The Pacers have asked him to do a ton the past few seasons and he's mostly answered the call, playing a gigantic role offensively for a team that's been competitive year to year. The main hiccup here is his average jump shot (or at least, his yips at the FT line), something that might be contributing to his swings in FG% year to year. He's also a shitty rebounder, but smart team building can help cover for that.
After a lot of debate and comparison internally (I promise I don't talk to myself out loud), I wound up with Fox a hair ahead of SGA and Jrue Holiday, but I think those three guys are somewhat comparable ultimately depending on your preferred PG flavor. Tong would say he is 20 spots too low, but this ain't Tong's list!
22. Darius Bazley, PF, Pistons
Hands-down the best rebounder in the league in an era of rebound deflation, Bazley was almost definitely an Ashes sleeper and has developed amazingly since being selected in the second round by Portland. That rebounding is so valuable (and coupled with lots of stocks) that you give him a pass for the turnovers.While you don't want to make him an option, Bazley also does make some threes and chip in from time to time. A+ rebounding is no fucking joke and there literally just aren't players who do that. So as I made the list, Darius was someone who gradually just rose when I was thinking "who would you rather have in a vacuum?"
Being able to pencil him in at power forward creates all kind of team-building possibilities. He raises his team's floor in a huge way, something that has borne out nicely in Detroit as the Pistons have put good pieces in place for a team that should now fight for the playoffs every year. He would start anywhere. Imagine signing this guy and then immediately trading him away before he broke out!
21. Deandre Ayton, C, Suns
Ayton is a hair ahead of Towns based on performance over the past few years, but wound up several spots behind him with the caveat that we know he needs to play in an inside offense to be maximized. He gets to the line a ton, makes free throws well for a big, has flat-A rebounding, and his turnovers seem to come along with the higher usage, rather than presenting a constant issue if you were to just have him be more of a rebounder and not an option. Can he do it in balanced? Probably. But if you have to play inside for him to be efficient, that's probably a limiting factor in some way. At least he can do it, though.
Tyler made the point that he compares pretty favorably to peak DeMarcus Cousins and while I think Boogie was better/more versatile offensively, it's not that far off as a comp to me. Ayton proved this year that he can be a stud even after the Suns traded away Jokic and Aaron Gordon, and at age 27, he's a cornerstone for any team that can play to his strengths effectively.
20. Otto Porter Jr. SF, Bulls
Fake Otto Porter has been one of the better second bananas in the league for the last five seasons in Chicago. He's an A+ shooter, can get up near 30 PPG on the right team, he's always efficient, he doesn't turn it over much at all, and he's an above-average rebounder with competent defensive indicators. He is boring and amazing and I wish we still had him but whatever. The guy has had an amazing peak.
Wings who use this many possessions well with low turnovers and legitimate and consistent splits are really hard to find, suffice it to say. While this is probably his peak as he enters his age-33 season, I think he's pretty comfortably a Top 25 player, at least for another season or two. There's nobody else currently doing the type of all-around positive lines he puts up, and what he does is universally helpful. I think he may have gotten the potential boost, too? Someone check my memory there. Maybe he really is Wilt Chamberlain's bastard son.
19. Domantas Sabonis, PF, Sonics
I feel like Sabonis has been one of the more polarizing stars in the league during his time — he's been traded a bunch and played for (I think) five teams in four seasons, pointing to the specificity of his fit and skillset. BUT, a significant notch in his belt is that he's proven he can be the best player on a title team. Props to Jesse for building a vehicle uniquely suited to Sabonis, who is factually one of the most consistent offensive engines in the entire league. His much-discussed weakness is that he doesn't win as many extra possessions as some other top players, due to the lack of stocks and the way his turnovers have spiked the last two seasons. He's a great rebounder, draws a lot of fouls, and makes his free throws — he does pretty much everything else he can to cover for that — but it takes work to optimize for it.
Regardless, I think he's one of the best bigs in the league, as somewhat of a lesser Jokic who can play the four — but he's just a trickier fit than a lot of others due to the variance in turnovers and lack of blocks. Because of his title pedigree I couldn't drop him much further than this, but I rate the more defense-oriented bigs a notch ahead of him. He was a really hard player to place and he did just make first-team All-League, so what do I know.
18. Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Timberwolves
I am of the school of thought that Karl Towns is actually very good, but I think the fact he has toiled away in relative obscurity in a Minnesota team that's been defined more by Giannis's struggles has kind of dimmed some of the talk about KAT's quality. Like some of the other elite bigs in this league, you have to be able to live with the turnovers, but I think he does more than enough to make up for it on a team that's built around him. He's a top-flight rebounder, blocks three shots a game, makes free throws at an elite clip, and I think he'd score a lot more on a team that didn't have Giannis/committed to playing balanced and focusing the offense around him.
Towns has shot 47ish percent in four of the last six seasons, and I think he's capable of a lot more than he's shown, frankly — if I were Pankin I would have sold Giannis at peak value and pivoted around KAT for funsies. His turnovers need to tick back the other way, ideally, but Embiid and Wemby are over the threshold for happily dealing with those mistakes -- and my guess is that KAT should be too. While he might not ever wind up as the A1 lead star on a contender, he has the ability to outplay any center in the league on the right night, and his free agency will be of interest since I don't think the Timberwolves can accept that enormous contract, nor should they probably.
17. Zach LaVine, SG, Sonics
LaVine had a strangely down year statistically speaking, but I'm willing to write it off as a fluke — he remains one of the best wings in the league and has gotten his turnovers largely under control in Seattle, playing primarily small forward. He'll probably never reach his insane 34PPG 50/40/90 peak from his Cleveland days, but LaVine has hovered around that area more often than not in his prime years. The question has always just been how much can you win if he's maxed out and turning it over a lot — I think the answer is a lot, if you're smart about it
Though he's now on the wrong side of 30, I would expect him to be plenty relevant for a while — the hope is his handles don't regress, but he's been so incredibly efficient and consistent that you can kind of live with it at a certain point, particularly if you put the right point guard next to him. His defense and boards help add extra substance here. It's a giant contract but LaVine the player is still damn good.
16. Jalen Brunson, SG/PG, Sonics
If you took the best parts of Tyrese Maxey and Tyus Jones and put them together, you get Jalen Brunson. He is a perfect point guard except for the middling defense. He averages 30, does less than two turnovers, has an incredible jump shot — he just plays small, which makes sense considering he's Jalen Brunson. My question when splitting hairs here is whether or not he's good enough to be the best player on a title team (kind of like real life, right?)
I think the answer is probably yes, but it's just less of an emphatic yes than with some other guys above him on the list because of the defense, boards, and good but not quite elite efficiency. Again, he's scoring 30 a game, so none of it is especially problematic. It's a bonus that all the Knicks homers in this league will give Nick their left nut for him if Seattle ever makes him available. Nick will for sure say this ranking is too low.
15. Kawhi Leonard, SF, Nuggets
Kawhi hasn't quite been as good from an efficiency standpoint since landing in Denver four seasons ago, but at age 34 he's still arguably the best true two-way wing in the league. Look no further than what he's doing in this current playoff series against Phoenix, where he terrorized the Suns and led an upset. I still don't totally get why he's not more efficient in the regular season, but knowing how elite his defense is and the way he can take games over (A/A outside and defense are not easy to find), I'd still take him over the vast majority of wings in the league to win a game today.
He's a bit overpriced — and might be an interesting trade target for a team that needs to compete next year — but Kawhi has been pretty underappreciated for most of his career and doesn't really have any meaningful weaknesses. He might be best off as the second banana and not the top option on a contender at this stage, but he's still a beast and I think he probably doesn't get appreciated enough. There is maybe a little bit of bias here because of the fact he was just the best player in a hard playoff series and won that series, but I think it was a relevant reminder of this guy being fucking sick.
14. Kristaps Porzingis, PF, Bucks
I would put Porzingis ahead of Sabonis and Towns and, but I view them all similarly in terms of statistical output and winning impact. Porzingis is the most consistent and well-rounded of that trio and played a lot of small forward this season in Milwaukee which probably impacted his production to an extent (likely diminishing his blocks and boards). Porzingis is another guy who you think would be more efficient due to the fact his jump shot is elite, but I also can't remember if anyone has ever tried to really feature him in balanced (I swear to god it helps, lol).
His Mavs line from last season playing the four is sort of where I'm valuing him, and he's a guy who's pretty much good at everything and adds value in myriad ways across the box score. Not sure if he'll ever get back to his 49% FG peak, but he should be good for a while longer — albeit making a ton of money on this new contract. Side note — I hate the "Zinger" nickname and I confess that I get mad whenever someone writes "The Zinger," just keeping it a buck, no pun intended, goddammit it's so late and I'm tired. Kristaps plays fake basketball real good.
13. Semi Ojeleye, SF, Hornets
Semi doesn't have the sexiest ratings in the league, but my god, is he still insanely dominant. My guess is some of the ratings stuff was just built in by Ashes when he initially hid him as a sleeper, because there's been no regression the past few years as Ojeleye has entered his 30s. He's one of the most broken players in the league, frankly: the mega-efficiency, strong volume, elite wing rebounding, plus stocks, and most importantly, the complete refusal to ever turn the ball over. 0.9 TOs per game for a featured scorer is absolutely ridiculous — he probably has max handles and zero passing.
While Semi is not a plus three-point shooter and would probably be even more dominant in balanced or inside — the guy shoots 50% from the field on volume pretty much every season, so you're taking it. It's possible his perimeter defense is a weakness, but considering the success Charlotte has had with him on some teams that haven't been especially deep, I think it's pretty clear how incredible Semi is. With three years left on his deal, I'm curious if and when the Hornets opt to rebuild and ultimately move him, but he's certainly good enough to put a team over the top immediately.
12. LaMelo Ball, PG, Kings
I had Ball, Fultz and Murray in a similar tier as the league's best non-Luka, non-Kyrie lead guards. This was ultimately splitting hairs — LaMelo is amazing and coming off the most efficient season of his career, He's a great rebounder and very stealy defender. I'm still not entirely sure why he's been traded so many times at age 24 (off-court behavior???) but you get the point. He won MVP a season ago and Jesse is actually justified in not wanting to trade him unless it's for a godfather offer.
Melo's turnover variance was ultimately what put him just behind Fultz and Murray for me as I looked at these guards comparatively. But he's a no-doubt franchise-caliber player whose prime years are still ahead of him, so you get the picture. To be honest I'm surprised he's never requested a trade out of Sacramento since Jesse took out commissioner LaVar in cold blood and sent him off to pasture. RIP KING WE MISS YOU
11. Victor Wembanyama, C, Raptors
I know what you're thinking, this might seem a little high for Wemby to some readers this early in his career, and I admit I'm biased because I see every single one of his box scores, but once his scoring consistency took off as top option around Day 55, he was doing absolutely goofy shit almost every game. His best lines impact seemingly every facet of FBB, capable of ~30PPG, drawing tons of fouls, finishing as a top rebounder despite B+ ratings, and contending for defensive player of the year with three blocks and a silly 1.7 steals per game as a big man. His turnovers were much better this season after a handles camp, and I think you happily live with them, or at least, I do. He just averaged 33 and 17 in his first ever playoff series, come on now fellas.
Wemby is capable of all this in just his third season, putting him on track to be on the shortlist of dominant players of this era as we transition into SLN's future. Consistency is an area for improvement as his TCs continue — his FT% coming up would help matters a ton — but the sheer talent is obvious now that his breakout year is all on paper. I'm not sure he's ready to be the best player on a contender, but he's trending in that direction, and he changes games in so many ways. I didn't want to put him in the top 10 — bad for the ego — but we're headed that way.
10. Jamal Murray, SG/PG, Magic
Jamal Murray appeared to be doomed to the Lou Williams "Please Play This Man At PG" zone after several seasons where he played the two because he was on the same team as...Lou Williams. I didn't bother to run all his stats as Orlando's starting PG from Day 100 on (maybe Merv did) but, surprise, this guy is fucking terrifying. He's efficient, he can get 30-40 in any game, he can do it at both guard spots. Plus, he doesn't even turn it over all that much at point guard. Murray is sporting B inside scoring with A outside as a guard, plus he's a good defender, I don't know what else you'd want from him really. He's also Canadian!
The Magic are going to be scary when he gets healthy, good lord almighty, Jesus Mary and Joseph — but intriguing subplot, SCOOT is coming up next year and will potentially relegate Jamal back into the LOU WILLIAMS ZONE!!! I can't believe this shit man. Solidarity to the Magic for Murray's really shitty playoff injury, been there.
9. Anthony Davis, C, Bullets
Put some respect on Anthony Davis, who has been especially phenomenal the past few seasons and in my opinion is the best defensive big man in the league. He racks up stocks and can slow down star big men (look what he did to Porzingis in the first round), he led he league in rebounding, he plays overall positive offense and has cut back on his turnovers, and basically has no weakness other than that he should probably be more efficient than he is due to the fact he is a total machine from the foul line (maybe some strength/inside scoring combo is a little lower than it needed to be for him to be offensively dominant).
Regardless, he strikes fear into opponents (or at least me) and in my mind is a bonafide Top 10 player right now with all the ways he impacts the game — this trade has worked out nicely for Wes in the long run. Davis and Azubuike are a truly elite frontline from a strength, boards, and blocks standpoint, giving the Bullets a pretty amazing backbone. As I wrote this I dove into Davis and I think the Bullets will give the Knicks a close series, the issue probably being that Maxey has to defend Kyrie, but anyway — Davis is a game-wrecker and has blossomed nicely in Washington.
8. Markelle Fultz, PG, Suns
I'm still surprised Fultz got traded at all to be totally honest — keep that shoulder in bubble wrap and you've got the best young PG in the league, pretty clearly. The stip is literally Fultz's only weakness — he was even a stud running inside offense on the Suns for much of this season, which speaks to the fact he's probably very strong and quick with excellent inside for a lead guard. He's stealy but not above two per game which means he's probably also loaded with sweet, sweet positional defense.
I can't say enough good things about Fultz; the only reason he's not higher is that all the guys in front of him are totally broken players and Fultz is more elite in a conventional way, which is a dumb way of saying he's just not a unicorn big or better than Luka or Kyrie. I think you could argue some of these other guys over him, but I just have a hard time finding things to not like about him, which is to say that if Tyler ever blocks him with Dylan Harper waiting to take over at PG, it should be a pretty huge haul. Fultz is a generational player in our world, which is hilarious.
7. Rui Hachimura, PF, Magic
Rui is SLN's premium foul-baiting machine, starring in a supersub role in Orlando where he bullies people across positions, forces his way to the line, carries the offense and is just a complete matchup nightmare. I don't know why there was a narrative that Rui wasn't that good, he has pretty much always been insane — I get that his FG% is maybe somewhat of an eyesore based on what you'd expect, but the rate at which he draws fouls and converts, and the overall crazy volume, is amazingly impactful on winning.
How would a full season as a starter impact Rui's stats? Not sure. But he's a likely great positional defender in lieu of the below-average stocks, and he's an excellent rebounder in an era where rebounding is widely down. Having a guy like this who can sponge up minutes across positions and just create problems that GMs can't properly target for matchup-wise is pretty sick. You forget he's only 27. I debated putting Fultz ahead of him but felt the unique skillset here was a hair more valuable.
6. Myles Turner, SF, Knicks
Turner is carrying the Knicks in an insanely tough conference and seems to be at his absolute peak now and my foot is in my mouth for constantly talking about how centers shouldn't play small forward (I mean, twist my arm, if this game is truly about vibes then this man is not a wing, what the fuck man). In our universe Myles Turner became IRL Kevin Durant. He's among a few luminaries in search of a ring and has the reputation of being lit up by wing scorers in the playoffs, but the guy just keeps getting better and pretty much does everything else at an elite level.
The incredible volume and efficiency here despite what is probably not a lot of quickness is pretty remarkable overall and always has been. The B defense on the wing becomes A up front, but he's a wing by all accounts so I rated him as such. Having said that I wonder if Nav would ever toss him up front in a playoff series, but he's also played him at shooting guard at times so I doubt it. Regardless, Turner is one of the best players of this era and there's no level of nitpicking that erases that — he's awesome. Whether it was right to trade Embiid and keep Turner or vice versa is a fun discussion to look back at — it's still crazy the Knicks had both of them. This may be the year Turner overcomes his playoff hurdles and gets a ring, now that there's a new sheriff running the team.
5. Aaron Gordon, SF, Nets
Little did we know when young Aaron walked into our facility a decade ago that he would emerge as a true generational talent of this era of SLN. Unshackled from an inside offense, spent much of this season flirting with 50-40-90 at age 30 on a career-high 32.7 points per game, while still supplying tons of stocks and getting the Nets to .500 basically on his back. AG did that while only doing 1.4 turnovers per game and adding his usual sturdy rebounding at small forward. He's fucking incredible.
While he's still in search of his first championship, Gordon is more or less cemented as one of the best players of this era, having been dominant across contexts after being overlooked and undervalued for the first stretch of his career. He is best at small forward at this point due to the fact he never developed rebounding, but that +20 pot hit like crack and AG is probably going to do this for a while longer. He's an unstoppable scorer who also wins you tons of possessions; I prefer him slightly to Turner just because I trust his ability to defend the three and value the boards a little more than the extra volume. He's also my son so I prefer him all the time.
4. Joel Embiid, C, Rockets
This didn't get talked about much on the boards (BECAUSE WE DON'T TALK ENOUGH ON THE BOARDS ANYMORE, STOP BEING SILENT, LET THE COMMENTS RIP GUYS) but Embiid just had the finest season of his distinguished career, posting career-highs in points (29.8) and FG% (51.3), slashing 50-40-90, and making his third straight All-League first team. His turnovers pretty much don't matter anymore because he's so dominant in all areas. As proof, Embiid absolutely took it to Giannis and Towns in the first round. He's not crazy stocky, but does plenty defensively and on the boards, where he's now a Flat A guy.
While he's yet to win a title at age 31, the Rockets are going to have a real crack at it over the next few seasons if Joel keeps playing at this level. Honestly I'm not sure why we don't discuss Embiid more — maybe we've been taking this for granted as a league — but he has developed incredibly over time and has a case as the best big in the league. I kind of just forgot how good he was until writing this article. It's late and I'm just fawning now so I'll stop with this paragraph.
3. Nikola Jokic, C (SF), Raptors
Jokic continues to make a strong case as the best offensive big in league history, with his FG% taking a 20% leap back toward his career average after we traded for him and put him in a balanced offense. Embiid had a better season but has historically been more mercurical as a scorer year-to-year. Joker is just insanely consistent, currently the only true big man in the league with flat-A outside scoring, and also as someone who probably has like zero jumping which nerfs his inside letter grade. I have admired this guy for so long, and yet I didn't know exactly how much I was going to love having him on my team.
I think the lesser turnovers, better outside shooting, and bankability of what he does as effectively a one-man offensive system is slightly preferable to Embiid's extra stocks and boards, although that can be debated both directions for sure based on what Embiid did this year. I love that this is still a debate like 12 seasons later. His notes say he has amazing post defense, so I can live without stocks in his case. I'm very curious to see how the long-term SF camps impact the way Jokic ages — hoping that it won't lead to premature rebounding decline, which will be important — but all in all, the fact he got the +20 potential boost will probably elongate his prime in a real way. Tip of the cap to Ashes for nailing the Jokic construction — the guy is a wagon unto himself.
2. Kyrie Irving, PG, Knicks
He can't keep doing this! Will Kyrie finally retire after the season? How do you value the mystery of his stip? Big questions all. But this list is a pure on-court evaluation, and Kyrie has remained the most dominant scorer in the league for most of his career, now in search of a second title before *maybe* hanging it up. I don't really know what to say about him that hasn't been said before: he's perfect except for the fact he might have multiple personality disorder and comes with fun yet unpredictable and scary risk. It's easy to say "I don't care and I want him anyway" but then you remember how many times he's been traded and, well, this ended up being pretty realistic after all.
Playing against Kyrie in the playoffs is a unique level of fear that no other player truly strikes in the league. I can't wait for him to retire just so e can pod with Ashes and unveil the stips — it could be soon! But also he could just come back for more and terrorize everyone until he's Uncle Drew. Anyway...it's 2:15 AM central time and I'm ready to put the keyboard down and go for a walkabout — later guys.
1. Luka Doncic, PG/SF, Bulls
Rarely do we end up with a true consensus best player in the league at any point in time. There's almost always a fun debate amongst us. Despite a powerful Kelly Oubre marketing campaign taking the streets of the SLN-verse... I think Luka has achieved that status. He's tapped into pretty much every aspect of his potential and maximixed all his strengths, coming closer than anyone to averaging a triple-double, doing it with insane efficiency and solid turnover control, and basically just turning into a better player than LeBron, who would be his closest comp. Luka's defense is somehow A- thanks to huge growth that Ashes probably didn't even intend.
Suffice it to say that Luka's free agency and $15m base max salary is the biggest free agent decision in league history; if he changes teams it instantly tilts the balance of power and makes things interesting. As I wrote this paragraph I was simultaneously thinking about my playoff DC to stop him — not fun! It's pretty crazy actually that Luka and now Kyrie have huge playoff stakes this week considering the possibility of free agency and retirement. This is one of the juiciest playoffs in a long time, at least in the East. Anyway, on that note, going to go to sleep and pray we can slow this man down. Luka makes No. 1 a pretty uncomplicated decision, even if he needs to get in shape.
Thanks for reading — this has taken me way longer than I imagined it would but it was fun to write and it's been cool to get feedback from people. Going to sleep now lol
No time for intros this time -- let's get into it. Here are the 25 best players in the league with a little extra analysis for each since cool players deserve more of our time and love. I will probably wait a long time before doing another one of these but honestly it was a pretty useful exercise and fun to dive boxes and stats. Enjoy, I'm going to go to sleep.
100-76 RANKINGS
75-51 RANKINGS
50-26 RANKINGS
***
25. Jonathan Isaac, PF, Hornets
Much like his less-Republican and somewhat less-athletic brother Ryan, Isaac is a defensive unicorn who racks up stocks, boards, and takes care of the ball without being overly damaging on offense. The only place where my man is not conservative is on the defensive end, let me tell ya. It's probably a testament to him that the Hornets have had as much success as they've had in the last six seasons without having a great presence next to him up front other than their brief Boogie Cousins experiment.
Isaac probably doesn't have the strength to be a true consistent counter to all the best offensive bigs in the league, but every single team in the league would love to have him. Most days he can be a game-changer in ways that matter quite a bit, but he's always giving you something regardless. He never quite developed plus offense, but the all-around package is excellent and he's won quite a lot of games in Charlotte, so he gets ranked much higher than your typical big butt. He is the biggest butt.
24. Cade Cunningham, SG/PG, Pistons
Cade made the leap this year as an elite wing scorer, but I still think his best position will ultimately be point guard, something the Pistons have pivoted away from for the time being, but that I would guess they eventually return to. He's probably in the 3TO ballpark at the point, but we've now seen he can be mega-efficient on the wing — he's kind of the Deron Williams of this era at the moment. He's not a useful defender but the idea of a legit B+/A scorer at point guard is in theory very broken (probably 30 per game type stuff) as long as the turnovers are manageable.
Having the ability to be a top scorer at the 2 or the 3 gives him some off-ramps to being a stud even if that never develops, but for Cade to take the next step, I think we need to see what he does as a lead guard for a full season as he approaches his prime years — the two box scores he just put up against the Knicks as a starting PG should be evidence enough. Haliburton needs to get traded so MotorCade can shine!
23. De'Aaron Fox, PG, Pacers
Fox does most of what you want from an FBB point guard and does it at a pretty high level: he's a good scorer, steals the ball a ton, keeps his turnovers under three per game and shoots it extremely well from three. The Pacers have asked him to do a ton the past few seasons and he's mostly answered the call, playing a gigantic role offensively for a team that's been competitive year to year. The main hiccup here is his average jump shot (or at least, his yips at the FT line), something that might be contributing to his swings in FG% year to year. He's also a shitty rebounder, but smart team building can help cover for that.
After a lot of debate and comparison internally (I promise I don't talk to myself out loud), I wound up with Fox a hair ahead of SGA and Jrue Holiday, but I think those three guys are somewhat comparable ultimately depending on your preferred PG flavor. Tong would say he is 20 spots too low, but this ain't Tong's list!
22. Darius Bazley, PF, Pistons
Hands-down the best rebounder in the league in an era of rebound deflation, Bazley was almost definitely an Ashes sleeper and has developed amazingly since being selected in the second round by Portland. That rebounding is so valuable (and coupled with lots of stocks) that you give him a pass for the turnovers.While you don't want to make him an option, Bazley also does make some threes and chip in from time to time. A+ rebounding is no fucking joke and there literally just aren't players who do that. So as I made the list, Darius was someone who gradually just rose when I was thinking "who would you rather have in a vacuum?"
Being able to pencil him in at power forward creates all kind of team-building possibilities. He raises his team's floor in a huge way, something that has borne out nicely in Detroit as the Pistons have put good pieces in place for a team that should now fight for the playoffs every year. He would start anywhere. Imagine signing this guy and then immediately trading him away before he broke out!
21. Deandre Ayton, C, Suns
Ayton is a hair ahead of Towns based on performance over the past few years, but wound up several spots behind him with the caveat that we know he needs to play in an inside offense to be maximized. He gets to the line a ton, makes free throws well for a big, has flat-A rebounding, and his turnovers seem to come along with the higher usage, rather than presenting a constant issue if you were to just have him be more of a rebounder and not an option. Can he do it in balanced? Probably. But if you have to play inside for him to be efficient, that's probably a limiting factor in some way. At least he can do it, though.
Tyler made the point that he compares pretty favorably to peak DeMarcus Cousins and while I think Boogie was better/more versatile offensively, it's not that far off as a comp to me. Ayton proved this year that he can be a stud even after the Suns traded away Jokic and Aaron Gordon, and at age 27, he's a cornerstone for any team that can play to his strengths effectively.
20. Otto Porter Jr. SF, Bulls
Fake Otto Porter has been one of the better second bananas in the league for the last five seasons in Chicago. He's an A+ shooter, can get up near 30 PPG on the right team, he's always efficient, he doesn't turn it over much at all, and he's an above-average rebounder with competent defensive indicators. He is boring and amazing and I wish we still had him but whatever. The guy has had an amazing peak.
Wings who use this many possessions well with low turnovers and legitimate and consistent splits are really hard to find, suffice it to say. While this is probably his peak as he enters his age-33 season, I think he's pretty comfortably a Top 25 player, at least for another season or two. There's nobody else currently doing the type of all-around positive lines he puts up, and what he does is universally helpful. I think he may have gotten the potential boost, too? Someone check my memory there. Maybe he really is Wilt Chamberlain's bastard son.
19. Domantas Sabonis, PF, Sonics
I feel like Sabonis has been one of the more polarizing stars in the league during his time — he's been traded a bunch and played for (I think) five teams in four seasons, pointing to the specificity of his fit and skillset. BUT, a significant notch in his belt is that he's proven he can be the best player on a title team. Props to Jesse for building a vehicle uniquely suited to Sabonis, who is factually one of the most consistent offensive engines in the entire league. His much-discussed weakness is that he doesn't win as many extra possessions as some other top players, due to the lack of stocks and the way his turnovers have spiked the last two seasons. He's a great rebounder, draws a lot of fouls, and makes his free throws — he does pretty much everything else he can to cover for that — but it takes work to optimize for it.
Regardless, I think he's one of the best bigs in the league, as somewhat of a lesser Jokic who can play the four — but he's just a trickier fit than a lot of others due to the variance in turnovers and lack of blocks. Because of his title pedigree I couldn't drop him much further than this, but I rate the more defense-oriented bigs a notch ahead of him. He was a really hard player to place and he did just make first-team All-League, so what do I know.
18. Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Timberwolves
I am of the school of thought that Karl Towns is actually very good, but I think the fact he has toiled away in relative obscurity in a Minnesota team that's been defined more by Giannis's struggles has kind of dimmed some of the talk about KAT's quality. Like some of the other elite bigs in this league, you have to be able to live with the turnovers, but I think he does more than enough to make up for it on a team that's built around him. He's a top-flight rebounder, blocks three shots a game, makes free throws at an elite clip, and I think he'd score a lot more on a team that didn't have Giannis/committed to playing balanced and focusing the offense around him.
Towns has shot 47ish percent in four of the last six seasons, and I think he's capable of a lot more than he's shown, frankly — if I were Pankin I would have sold Giannis at peak value and pivoted around KAT for funsies. His turnovers need to tick back the other way, ideally, but Embiid and Wemby are over the threshold for happily dealing with those mistakes -- and my guess is that KAT should be too. While he might not ever wind up as the A1 lead star on a contender, he has the ability to outplay any center in the league on the right night, and his free agency will be of interest since I don't think the Timberwolves can accept that enormous contract, nor should they probably.
17. Zach LaVine, SG, Sonics
LaVine had a strangely down year statistically speaking, but I'm willing to write it off as a fluke — he remains one of the best wings in the league and has gotten his turnovers largely under control in Seattle, playing primarily small forward. He'll probably never reach his insane 34PPG 50/40/90 peak from his Cleveland days, but LaVine has hovered around that area more often than not in his prime years. The question has always just been how much can you win if he's maxed out and turning it over a lot — I think the answer is a lot, if you're smart about it
Though he's now on the wrong side of 30, I would expect him to be plenty relevant for a while — the hope is his handles don't regress, but he's been so incredibly efficient and consistent that you can kind of live with it at a certain point, particularly if you put the right point guard next to him. His defense and boards help add extra substance here. It's a giant contract but LaVine the player is still damn good.
16. Jalen Brunson, SG/PG, Sonics
If you took the best parts of Tyrese Maxey and Tyus Jones and put them together, you get Jalen Brunson. He is a perfect point guard except for the middling defense. He averages 30, does less than two turnovers, has an incredible jump shot — he just plays small, which makes sense considering he's Jalen Brunson. My question when splitting hairs here is whether or not he's good enough to be the best player on a title team (kind of like real life, right?)
I think the answer is probably yes, but it's just less of an emphatic yes than with some other guys above him on the list because of the defense, boards, and good but not quite elite efficiency. Again, he's scoring 30 a game, so none of it is especially problematic. It's a bonus that all the Knicks homers in this league will give Nick their left nut for him if Seattle ever makes him available. Nick will for sure say this ranking is too low.
15. Kawhi Leonard, SF, Nuggets
Kawhi hasn't quite been as good from an efficiency standpoint since landing in Denver four seasons ago, but at age 34 he's still arguably the best true two-way wing in the league. Look no further than what he's doing in this current playoff series against Phoenix, where he terrorized the Suns and led an upset. I still don't totally get why he's not more efficient in the regular season, but knowing how elite his defense is and the way he can take games over (A/A outside and defense are not easy to find), I'd still take him over the vast majority of wings in the league to win a game today.
He's a bit overpriced — and might be an interesting trade target for a team that needs to compete next year — but Kawhi has been pretty underappreciated for most of his career and doesn't really have any meaningful weaknesses. He might be best off as the second banana and not the top option on a contender at this stage, but he's still a beast and I think he probably doesn't get appreciated enough. There is maybe a little bit of bias here because of the fact he was just the best player in a hard playoff series and won that series, but I think it was a relevant reminder of this guy being fucking sick.
14. Kristaps Porzingis, PF, Bucks
I would put Porzingis ahead of Sabonis and Towns and, but I view them all similarly in terms of statistical output and winning impact. Porzingis is the most consistent and well-rounded of that trio and played a lot of small forward this season in Milwaukee which probably impacted his production to an extent (likely diminishing his blocks and boards). Porzingis is another guy who you think would be more efficient due to the fact his jump shot is elite, but I also can't remember if anyone has ever tried to really feature him in balanced (I swear to god it helps, lol).
His Mavs line from last season playing the four is sort of where I'm valuing him, and he's a guy who's pretty much good at everything and adds value in myriad ways across the box score. Not sure if he'll ever get back to his 49% FG peak, but he should be good for a while longer — albeit making a ton of money on this new contract. Side note — I hate the "Zinger" nickname and I confess that I get mad whenever someone writes "The Zinger," just keeping it a buck, no pun intended, goddammit it's so late and I'm tired. Kristaps plays fake basketball real good.
13. Semi Ojeleye, SF, Hornets
Semi doesn't have the sexiest ratings in the league, but my god, is he still insanely dominant. My guess is some of the ratings stuff was just built in by Ashes when he initially hid him as a sleeper, because there's been no regression the past few years as Ojeleye has entered his 30s. He's one of the most broken players in the league, frankly: the mega-efficiency, strong volume, elite wing rebounding, plus stocks, and most importantly, the complete refusal to ever turn the ball over. 0.9 TOs per game for a featured scorer is absolutely ridiculous — he probably has max handles and zero passing.
While Semi is not a plus three-point shooter and would probably be even more dominant in balanced or inside — the guy shoots 50% from the field on volume pretty much every season, so you're taking it. It's possible his perimeter defense is a weakness, but considering the success Charlotte has had with him on some teams that haven't been especially deep, I think it's pretty clear how incredible Semi is. With three years left on his deal, I'm curious if and when the Hornets opt to rebuild and ultimately move him, but he's certainly good enough to put a team over the top immediately.
12. LaMelo Ball, PG, Kings
I had Ball, Fultz and Murray in a similar tier as the league's best non-Luka, non-Kyrie lead guards. This was ultimately splitting hairs — LaMelo is amazing and coming off the most efficient season of his career, He's a great rebounder and very stealy defender. I'm still not entirely sure why he's been traded so many times at age 24 (off-court behavior???) but you get the point. He won MVP a season ago and Jesse is actually justified in not wanting to trade him unless it's for a godfather offer.
Melo's turnover variance was ultimately what put him just behind Fultz and Murray for me as I looked at these guards comparatively. But he's a no-doubt franchise-caliber player whose prime years are still ahead of him, so you get the picture. To be honest I'm surprised he's never requested a trade out of Sacramento since Jesse took out commissioner LaVar in cold blood and sent him off to pasture. RIP KING WE MISS YOU
11. Victor Wembanyama, C, Raptors
I know what you're thinking, this might seem a little high for Wemby to some readers this early in his career, and I admit I'm biased because I see every single one of his box scores, but once his scoring consistency took off as top option around Day 55, he was doing absolutely goofy shit almost every game. His best lines impact seemingly every facet of FBB, capable of ~30PPG, drawing tons of fouls, finishing as a top rebounder despite B+ ratings, and contending for defensive player of the year with three blocks and a silly 1.7 steals per game as a big man. His turnovers were much better this season after a handles camp, and I think you happily live with them, or at least, I do. He just averaged 33 and 17 in his first ever playoff series, come on now fellas.
Wemby is capable of all this in just his third season, putting him on track to be on the shortlist of dominant players of this era as we transition into SLN's future. Consistency is an area for improvement as his TCs continue — his FT% coming up would help matters a ton — but the sheer talent is obvious now that his breakout year is all on paper. I'm not sure he's ready to be the best player on a contender, but he's trending in that direction, and he changes games in so many ways. I didn't want to put him in the top 10 — bad for the ego — but we're headed that way.
10. Jamal Murray, SG/PG, Magic
Jamal Murray appeared to be doomed to the Lou Williams "Please Play This Man At PG" zone after several seasons where he played the two because he was on the same team as...Lou Williams. I didn't bother to run all his stats as Orlando's starting PG from Day 100 on (maybe Merv did) but, surprise, this guy is fucking terrifying. He's efficient, he can get 30-40 in any game, he can do it at both guard spots. Plus, he doesn't even turn it over all that much at point guard. Murray is sporting B inside scoring with A outside as a guard, plus he's a good defender, I don't know what else you'd want from him really. He's also Canadian!
The Magic are going to be scary when he gets healthy, good lord almighty, Jesus Mary and Joseph — but intriguing subplot, SCOOT is coming up next year and will potentially relegate Jamal back into the LOU WILLIAMS ZONE!!! I can't believe this shit man. Solidarity to the Magic for Murray's really shitty playoff injury, been there.
9. Anthony Davis, C, Bullets
Put some respect on Anthony Davis, who has been especially phenomenal the past few seasons and in my opinion is the best defensive big man in the league. He racks up stocks and can slow down star big men (look what he did to Porzingis in the first round), he led he league in rebounding, he plays overall positive offense and has cut back on his turnovers, and basically has no weakness other than that he should probably be more efficient than he is due to the fact he is a total machine from the foul line (maybe some strength/inside scoring combo is a little lower than it needed to be for him to be offensively dominant).
Regardless, he strikes fear into opponents (or at least me) and in my mind is a bonafide Top 10 player right now with all the ways he impacts the game — this trade has worked out nicely for Wes in the long run. Davis and Azubuike are a truly elite frontline from a strength, boards, and blocks standpoint, giving the Bullets a pretty amazing backbone. As I wrote this I dove into Davis and I think the Bullets will give the Knicks a close series, the issue probably being that Maxey has to defend Kyrie, but anyway — Davis is a game-wrecker and has blossomed nicely in Washington.
8. Markelle Fultz, PG, Suns
I'm still surprised Fultz got traded at all to be totally honest — keep that shoulder in bubble wrap and you've got the best young PG in the league, pretty clearly. The stip is literally Fultz's only weakness — he was even a stud running inside offense on the Suns for much of this season, which speaks to the fact he's probably very strong and quick with excellent inside for a lead guard. He's stealy but not above two per game which means he's probably also loaded with sweet, sweet positional defense.
I can't say enough good things about Fultz; the only reason he's not higher is that all the guys in front of him are totally broken players and Fultz is more elite in a conventional way, which is a dumb way of saying he's just not a unicorn big or better than Luka or Kyrie. I think you could argue some of these other guys over him, but I just have a hard time finding things to not like about him, which is to say that if Tyler ever blocks him with Dylan Harper waiting to take over at PG, it should be a pretty huge haul. Fultz is a generational player in our world, which is hilarious.
7. Rui Hachimura, PF, Magic
Rui is SLN's premium foul-baiting machine, starring in a supersub role in Orlando where he bullies people across positions, forces his way to the line, carries the offense and is just a complete matchup nightmare. I don't know why there was a narrative that Rui wasn't that good, he has pretty much always been insane — I get that his FG% is maybe somewhat of an eyesore based on what you'd expect, but the rate at which he draws fouls and converts, and the overall crazy volume, is amazingly impactful on winning.
How would a full season as a starter impact Rui's stats? Not sure. But he's a likely great positional defender in lieu of the below-average stocks, and he's an excellent rebounder in an era where rebounding is widely down. Having a guy like this who can sponge up minutes across positions and just create problems that GMs can't properly target for matchup-wise is pretty sick. You forget he's only 27. I debated putting Fultz ahead of him but felt the unique skillset here was a hair more valuable.
6. Myles Turner, SF, Knicks
Turner is carrying the Knicks in an insanely tough conference and seems to be at his absolute peak now and my foot is in my mouth for constantly talking about how centers shouldn't play small forward (I mean, twist my arm, if this game is truly about vibes then this man is not a wing, what the fuck man). In our universe Myles Turner became IRL Kevin Durant. He's among a few luminaries in search of a ring and has the reputation of being lit up by wing scorers in the playoffs, but the guy just keeps getting better and pretty much does everything else at an elite level.
The incredible volume and efficiency here despite what is probably not a lot of quickness is pretty remarkable overall and always has been. The B defense on the wing becomes A up front, but he's a wing by all accounts so I rated him as such. Having said that I wonder if Nav would ever toss him up front in a playoff series, but he's also played him at shooting guard at times so I doubt it. Regardless, Turner is one of the best players of this era and there's no level of nitpicking that erases that — he's awesome. Whether it was right to trade Embiid and keep Turner or vice versa is a fun discussion to look back at — it's still crazy the Knicks had both of them. This may be the year Turner overcomes his playoff hurdles and gets a ring, now that there's a new sheriff running the team.
5. Aaron Gordon, SF, Nets
Little did we know when young Aaron walked into our facility a decade ago that he would emerge as a true generational talent of this era of SLN. Unshackled from an inside offense, spent much of this season flirting with 50-40-90 at age 30 on a career-high 32.7 points per game, while still supplying tons of stocks and getting the Nets to .500 basically on his back. AG did that while only doing 1.4 turnovers per game and adding his usual sturdy rebounding at small forward. He's fucking incredible.
While he's still in search of his first championship, Gordon is more or less cemented as one of the best players of this era, having been dominant across contexts after being overlooked and undervalued for the first stretch of his career. He is best at small forward at this point due to the fact he never developed rebounding, but that +20 pot hit like crack and AG is probably going to do this for a while longer. He's an unstoppable scorer who also wins you tons of possessions; I prefer him slightly to Turner just because I trust his ability to defend the three and value the boards a little more than the extra volume. He's also my son so I prefer him all the time.
4. Joel Embiid, C, Rockets
This didn't get talked about much on the boards (BECAUSE WE DON'T TALK ENOUGH ON THE BOARDS ANYMORE, STOP BEING SILENT, LET THE COMMENTS RIP GUYS) but Embiid just had the finest season of his distinguished career, posting career-highs in points (29.8) and FG% (51.3), slashing 50-40-90, and making his third straight All-League first team. His turnovers pretty much don't matter anymore because he's so dominant in all areas. As proof, Embiid absolutely took it to Giannis and Towns in the first round. He's not crazy stocky, but does plenty defensively and on the boards, where he's now a Flat A guy.
While he's yet to win a title at age 31, the Rockets are going to have a real crack at it over the next few seasons if Joel keeps playing at this level. Honestly I'm not sure why we don't discuss Embiid more — maybe we've been taking this for granted as a league — but he has developed incredibly over time and has a case as the best big in the league. I kind of just forgot how good he was until writing this article. It's late and I'm just fawning now so I'll stop with this paragraph.
3. Nikola Jokic, C (SF), Raptors
Jokic continues to make a strong case as the best offensive big in league history, with his FG% taking a 20% leap back toward his career average after we traded for him and put him in a balanced offense. Embiid had a better season but has historically been more mercurical as a scorer year-to-year. Joker is just insanely consistent, currently the only true big man in the league with flat-A outside scoring, and also as someone who probably has like zero jumping which nerfs his inside letter grade. I have admired this guy for so long, and yet I didn't know exactly how much I was going to love having him on my team.
I think the lesser turnovers, better outside shooting, and bankability of what he does as effectively a one-man offensive system is slightly preferable to Embiid's extra stocks and boards, although that can be debated both directions for sure based on what Embiid did this year. I love that this is still a debate like 12 seasons later. His notes say he has amazing post defense, so I can live without stocks in his case. I'm very curious to see how the long-term SF camps impact the way Jokic ages — hoping that it won't lead to premature rebounding decline, which will be important — but all in all, the fact he got the +20 potential boost will probably elongate his prime in a real way. Tip of the cap to Ashes for nailing the Jokic construction — the guy is a wagon unto himself.
2. Kyrie Irving, PG, Knicks
He can't keep doing this! Will Kyrie finally retire after the season? How do you value the mystery of his stip? Big questions all. But this list is a pure on-court evaluation, and Kyrie has remained the most dominant scorer in the league for most of his career, now in search of a second title before *maybe* hanging it up. I don't really know what to say about him that hasn't been said before: he's perfect except for the fact he might have multiple personality disorder and comes with fun yet unpredictable and scary risk. It's easy to say "I don't care and I want him anyway" but then you remember how many times he's been traded and, well, this ended up being pretty realistic after all.
Playing against Kyrie in the playoffs is a unique level of fear that no other player truly strikes in the league. I can't wait for him to retire just so e can pod with Ashes and unveil the stips — it could be soon! But also he could just come back for more and terrorize everyone until he's Uncle Drew. Anyway...it's 2:15 AM central time and I'm ready to put the keyboard down and go for a walkabout — later guys.
1. Luka Doncic, PG/SF, Bulls
Rarely do we end up with a true consensus best player in the league at any point in time. There's almost always a fun debate amongst us. Despite a powerful Kelly Oubre marketing campaign taking the streets of the SLN-verse... I think Luka has achieved that status. He's tapped into pretty much every aspect of his potential and maximixed all his strengths, coming closer than anyone to averaging a triple-double, doing it with insane efficiency and solid turnover control, and basically just turning into a better player than LeBron, who would be his closest comp. Luka's defense is somehow A- thanks to huge growth that Ashes probably didn't even intend.
Suffice it to say that Luka's free agency and $15m base max salary is the biggest free agent decision in league history; if he changes teams it instantly tilts the balance of power and makes things interesting. As I wrote this paragraph I was simultaneously thinking about my playoff DC to stop him — not fun! It's pretty crazy actually that Luka and now Kyrie have huge playoff stakes this week considering the possibility of free agency and retirement. This is one of the juiciest playoffs in a long time, at least in the East. Anyway, on that note, going to go to sleep and pray we can slow this man down. Luka makes No. 1 a pretty uncomplicated decision, even if he needs to get in shape.
Thanks for reading — this has taken me way longer than I imagined it would but it was fun to write and it's been cool to get feedback from people. Going to sleep now lol
free healthcare has never been more important
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
I still wonder what my team would be like if i had kept Sabonis and Tatum together. Still remember Ashes easing my fall to the the 3rd pick that year by calling Sabonis “dominant” on his board. Nice that his SC really took and Jesse put him on full display in the league
Santa Cruz Warriors NDL Champs: 2008, 2012, 2014
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
I've had 7 of the top 25 players on my team but not sure if I should feel glad or sad about it
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
Embiids run since joining the league is crazy. All-league first team every year except 2021 (62 games) and second team in 2022 (70 games).
If he wasn't a huge bitch in real life I would propagate much more
If he wasn't a huge bitch in real life I would propagate much more
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mantypas/CavsCzar
- General Manager
- Posts: 2576
- Joined: December 20th, 2023, 12:06 pm
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
so..... no colin sexton? I've been bamboozled
FOR THE LAND - believe!
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
As the guy who drafted both Turner and Embiid, Turner >>>>
Turner impacts winning more (and prob easier to build a team around Turner than JoJo), although both are awesome
Turner impacts winning more (and prob easier to build a team around Turner than JoJo), although both are awesome
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
I’m obv biased but would also have Turner over Gordon considering the scoring volume, true shooting efficiency, and defense
The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: The Top 25!
Anthony Davis still too low. Now that his FG% is up and TO rate down, he's top 5. Him in a balanced offense would be filthy
