Meet the 2021 NBA 25-under-25

The Step Back is excited to share our picks for the 25 best players in the NBA this season, under the age of 25. Let us know what we got right and wrong!

The 2021-22 NBA season is fast approaching and a wild summer has set up a fascinating season where any of a dozen teams could credibly come away as champion. But every team, from the contenders to the bottom-dwellers, will be watching their young players for growth and development.

For the fifth year in a row, The Step Back is helping you get ready to follow these up-and-comers, rolling out our selections for the 25 best players in the NBA, under the age of 25.

A panel of our contributors ranked every player who is likely to play in the NBA this season, under the age of 25, on a scale from 1-10 based on how valuable we expect them to be during the 2021-22 season. The ranking criteria are purposefully a little bit vague so voters could define value for themselves, possibly including generating buzz and fan excitement, in addition to just production. We used Basketball-Reference‘s age parameters which means we only considered players who players who would still be 24 or younger on Feb. 1, 2022.

Over the rest of this week, we’re going to be rolling out our top players, five each day. You can keep up with the final list on this landing page as we reveal our list and find links to our analysis of each of the players. You can also tab over to see our list for the last four seasons. If you’re curious about which players didn’t make our list, you can check out our look at the best of the rest.

As always, make sure to let us know what you agree and disagree with in our selections. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the comments below. If last year’s list is any indication, we’ve gotten plenty of things wrong so make sure to point it all out!