Between the aprons decimating rosters, the ever-present threat of injuries and the impossibly high bar each postseason sets for who is and is not playable on the biggest stage, we have officially reached the depth era of NBA history. It’s not enough to have one or two stars. You have to have a team full of elite contributors. Every year, we rank the top 100 players in the NBA, and lately, those rankings have been pretty predictive of how that season plays out.
At the time of our rankings last season, three teams tied with six selections apiece. They were the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder as well as the conference finalist New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Ironically, two of those teams, New York and Minnesota, went on to make a blockbuster trade after that list was initially published last September that pushed the Timberwolves up to seven selections, giving last year’s Western Conference finals a total of 13 Top 100 players. Our previous champion, Boston, had all five starters ranked in the top 62, and the year prior, Denver won it all with four players in the top 75.
The lesson here is relatively straightforward. As tempting as it is to fixate on the top handful of slots on a list like this, every single slot ultimately matters. We’ve moved beyond an NBA in which a top-five player or two can win a title on their own. They need players scattered throughout these rankings to stand by their side when gut-check time arrives in May and June.
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Eight CBS Sports analysts submitted ballots: Sam Quinn, Brad Botkin, James Herbert, Jack Maloney, John Gonzalez, Colin Ward-Henninger, Jasmyn Wimbish and Robby Kalland. Players who are likely to miss most or all of the upcoming season — like the three star players who tore Achilles tendons in the playoffs last season in Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard as well as Fred VanVleet and his torn ACL — were all excluded from the process. Players who are recovering from injury but should still make an impact in the 2025-26 season — like Kyrie Irving — were included on the list but graded knowing they will miss significant time.
So with that, let’s dive into our ranking of the 100 best players in the NBA moving into the 2025-26 season.
CBS Sports’ Top 100 NBA players
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CBS Sports’ Top 100: By the numbers
Top 100 by team
- 7 players: Thunder
- 6 players: Knicks
- 5 players: Nuggets, Wolves, Clippers, Hawks, Pelicans
- 4 players: Warriors, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Magic, Heat, Raptors
- 3 players: Lakers, Rockets, Celtics, 76ers, Pacers, Kings, Trail Blazers
- 2 players: Bucks, Spurs, Pistons, Suns, Grizzlies, Hornets, Bulls, Nets
- 1 player: Jazz
- 0 players: Wizards
Biggest risers from 2024 list
- Amen Thompson (+66 spots)
- Ivica Zubac (+54)
- Jalen Johnson (+43)
- Cam Johnson (+39)
- Cade Cunningham (+36)
- Dyson Daniels (+34)
- Tyler Herro (+32)
- Austin Reaves (+27)
- Andrew Nembhard (+26)
- Lu Dort (+26)
Biggest fallers from 2024 list
- Jrue Holiday (-47 spots)
- Kyrie Irving (-39)
- Dejounte Murray (-36)
- Michael Porter Jr. (-30)
- Paul George (-23)
- Joel Embiid (-21)
- DeMar DeRozan (-18)
- Kristaps Porziņģis (-18)
- Josh Hart (-17)
- Zion Williamson (-17)
