The top 12 NBA players entering the new season, ranked
- The 2021-22 NBA season is almost here.
- We've ranked the top 12 players in the NBA entering the season.
- For the first time since we've done these rankings, LeBron James is not No. 1.
The 2021-22 NBA season is almost here.
It feels like the league is entering a new era, where some top stars are aging out, and some new players are taking control.
Here are the top 12 players entering the 2021-22 season.
Honorable mentions: Jayson Tatum, Paul George
12. Jimmy Butler, G/F
Team: Miami Heat
Age: 32
2020-21 stats: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 50% FG
Where he stands right now: Coming off an All-NBA 2nd Team season, few players own as unique of a game as Butler. He is a bullying, cat-like point-forward who knifes into the paint, doesn't shoot threes, and harasses opponents on defense. The Heat played like a top-5 team with him on the floor last season - impressive considering they ranked 17th in net rating on the season.
11. Damian Lillard, G
Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Age: 31
2020-21 stats: 29 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 45% FG, 39% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Few players can match a Dame Time hot streak - those thrilling moments at the end of the game when Lillard decides he is going to take over. Whether it's launching deep, pull-up threes, hitting step-backs, or skirting around defenders to get to the basket, Lillard can carry an offense on his shoulders for long stretches of time - ask the Denver Nuggets. Owner of a ridiculous 51-39-94 shooting slash in the "clutch" last season, there is arguably no player you'd rather have taking the last-second shot over Lillard.
10. Anthony Davis, F/C
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Age: 28
2020-21 stats: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 49% FG, 26% 3FG
Where he stands right now: How do we view Anthony Davis? He played some of the best basketball of his career in the bubble to help the Lakers win the championship, then followed it up with the worst season of his career. Last year was weird for everybody! Assuming Davis can stay healthy and get his jump shot back on track, he should resemble the top-five player he usually is - a two-way, unguardable, walking mismatch.
9. James Harden, G
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Age: 32
2020-21 stats: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 47% FG, 36% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Perhaps the best playmaker in the NBA, Harden was thriving in a true point guard role in Brooklyn last season. Unfortunately, Harden got injured in the playoffs and, though he tried to play through it, was clearly not himself. Fair or not, Harden's ability to play his best basketball late into the postseason has been in question for years now. He'll have an opportunity to prove critics wrong as the lead ball-handler for the title-favorite Nets.
8. Kawhi Leonard, F
Team: LA Clippers
Age: 30
2020-21 stats: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 51% FG, 40% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Leonard will miss most of this season with a torn ACL but is hoping to return late in the year. A brute force on the court, bumping and shouldering his way for midrange jumpers and shots in the paint, Leonard has also expanded his playmaking since joining the Clippers. He delivered back-to-back classes in last year's playoffs to stave off elimination in the first round - 45 points in Game 6, then a 28-10-9 line in a victorious Game 7.
7. Luka Doncic, G/F
Team: Dallas Mavericks
Age: 22
2020-21 stats: 28 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 48% FG, 35% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Doncic shook off a slow start to last season and turned in his most efficient shooting season of his young career. In the playoffs, Doncic showed he is an all-world offensive talent capable of carrying a team in a series if he gets just a little help from his teammates. The 22-year-old wunderkind looks poised to take home multiple MVPs and is good enough now that his Mavs are a darkhorse Finals pick.
6. Joel Embiid, C
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Age: 27
2020-21 stats: 29 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 51% FG, 38% 3FG
Where he stands right now: An old-school big man with modern-day flair, Embiid was the best version of himself in 2020-21. In perhaps the best shape of his career, Embiid continued to bully opponents in post while taking more midrange jumpers and shooting a career-high 37.7% from three-point range. He did it all while anchoring the league's second-best defense. He was a deserving MVP candidate, if only there wasn't a center having an even more impressive year in Denver...
5. Nikola Jokic, C
Team: Denver Nuggets
Age: 26
2020-21 stats: 26 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 57% FG, 39% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Jokic put together one of the most dominant offensive seasons the NBA has ever seen. He joined Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, and Russell Westbrook as the only players to average 20-10-8 - but those three players never did it while shooting nearly 40% from three. With Jokic on the floor, the Nuggets scored at a rate that would have led the NBA in offensive rating by nearly three points. The plodding, 7-foot Serbian can do it all on the floor and makes his teammates better, too. If the Nuggets are healthy come spring, Jokic looks like the centerpiece for a possible contender.
4. Stephen Curry, G
Team: Golden State Warriors
Age: 33
2020-21 stats: 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 48% FG, 42% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Curry was so good in 2020-21 that he nearly forced voters to reconsider who can win MVP. The two-time winner carried the Warriors in every way; he was the tipping point between a respectable, .500ish team and a sure-fire lottery squad. Curry showed he could shoulder an offense by himself, averaging a career-high in points while posting the third-most efficient shooting mark of his career. There have only been two seasons in NBA history where a player has averaged over 30 points per game with a 60% eFG: Curry has both of them.
3. LeBron James, G/F
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Age: 36
2020-21 stats: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 51% FG, 37% 3FG
Where he stands right now: For the first time, King James does not sit atop our rankings. James is still as devastating an offensive player as ever (though he's lost a step or two) and a defensive weapon, but injuries may now be part of his reality. He has missed major time in two of the last three seasons and will turn 37 in December. When healthy, James is still a game-warping orchestrator capable of dictating pace and shots like no other, but for the first time in years, it doesn't necessarily feel like he's the obvious pick if you need to win a single game.
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Age: 26
2020-21 stats: 28 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 57% FG, 30% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Antetokounmpo had one of the most masterful Finals in recent memory and he did it on a knee injury that even he thought would end his season. From a dagger alley-oop, to a game-saving block, to a 50-point masterpiece in the championship-sealing Game 6, Antetokounmpo was clearly the most dominant player on the floor. With a title and Finals MVP under his belt, it feels like Antetokounmpo may have unlocked a new level for himself and become more comfortable in his own skin as a true "Greek Freak."
1. Kevin Durant
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Age: 33
2020-21 stats: 27 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 54% FG, 45% 3FG
Where he stands right now: Between playing on a stacked Warriors squad, then missing a season with a torn Achilles, it became easy to look over Durant. Turns out, he is still very good. The 7-foot sniper returned to the floor last year and proved he is one of the scariest players with the ball in his hands. An impossible combination of height, length, skill, and savvy, Durant routinely baffles defenders by hitting an array of shots from all angles and distances. His 49-point explosion in Game 5 of the second round was an all-time scoring display, and his 48 points in Game 7 nearly carried a battered Nets squad over the eventual champions. The best player on the best team, it feels as if the entire league will be scheming how to slow down Durant.