25-under-25: The best of the rest

The 25-under-25 is a celebration of the best young players in the NBA, but 25 is never enough. Here are the best players who just missed the cut.

For the fifth year in a row, The Step Back is honoring the best young players in the NBA with our 25-under-25. The list is exactly that long because it sets up the clever name but it’s also an arbitrary cut-off that leaves off many young players on the rise. And, if previous years have taught us anything, we’re probably wrong about a few players and will have left someone off who was more than deserving. That’s why we’re going to go just a touch deeper.

Who just missed the cut on this year’s 25-under-25 list?

26. P.J. Washington

Why he missed: Washington does a lot of things well but nothing dramatically enough to capture your attention. He’s a strong spot-up shooter who can finish around the rim, and keep the ball moving on offense but he relies heavily on his teammates to buoy his efficiency — more than 80 percent of his 2s and 95 percent of his 3s were assisted upon last season. Washington is capable on defense but his versatility — can hang with some 3s on the perimeter but also slide up and play small ball 5 — is more important than his individual impact. He’s the quintessential glue guy but he might not be much more than that.

Why we might look stupid: Washington is a guy who relies on his teammates to get him open looks and one of those teammates is LaMelo Ball. His true shooting percentage was significantly higher with Ball on the floor last season (58.1) as opposed to when Ball was sitting (52.3) and he played less than half his minutes with him last season. The Hornets are a young team on the rise, still gelling and building synergy. As the team collectively gets better, Washington is likely to be one of the primary beneficiaries.

27. Matisse Thybulle

Why he missed: The perception of Matisse Thybulle is still mostly of a good perimeter defender whose extremely limited offensive game cancels out a lot of his value. And it’s not that far from reality. Thybulle made just 30.1 percent of his 3s last season and was assisted on every single one of them. Inside the arc, 72 percent of his non-putback makes were assisted on. He’s shown almost no ability to create offense for himself and his shaky shooting means he’s mostly a non-threat off the ball.

Why we might look stupid: The popular perception of Thybulle misses at least two key factors — he really an elite perimeter defender and he’s not that far away from being someone teams have to pay attention to off the ball. He made 37.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s as a rookie and even at 35 or 36 percent on three or four attempts per game he’s going to draw attention, especially with his burgeoning ability as a cutter. And then there is his propensity for creating chaos on defense. As a 6-foot-5 guard, he became the shortest player in NBA history to play at least 1000 minutes and record a block percentage of 4.0 or better. He’s also one of just seven players in history to play at least 1000 minutes with a block and steal percentage of 3.0 or better. And he’s done it twice. Thybulle is not just a good defender he’s a game-changer.

28. Tyler Herro

Why he missed: Herro landed at No. 25 on the 2020 list but slipped after a season in which he struggled with injury and saw his 3-point percentage fall off a cliff. For all the flash he’s displayed as a creator there are still questions about whether he’s dynamic enough to function as a primary ball-handler when his true shooting and effective field goal percentages have been below average in both of his seasons.

Why we might look stupid: Development is rarely linear and, as mentioned above, Herro was hampered by injury for most of last season. But despite that, he improved his assist percentage and 2-point percentage fairly significantly, all without a corresponding rise in turnovers. Those numbers may be better indicators of his ceiling as a primary creator and three-level scorer and they’re looking positive. And the addition of Kyle Lowry and a hopefully healthy Victor Oladipo should lighten the load on him and make him look even more efficient with more dangerous ball-handlers around him.

29. Anthony Edwards

Why he missed: Edwards put up some monster scoring totals and some eye-popping highlights as a rookie but his game still has a lot of rough edges to be sanded down. His true shooting percentage was well below league average and he frequently bailed opponents out with questionable shot attempts. For a player with his physical tools, it seems absurd that more than a quarter of his shots were pull-up jumpers — he even attempted more pull-up jumpers than free throws. Edwards’ rookie season demonstrated his immense potential but he still has a long way to go before he’s fully translating his tool into positive on-court impact.

Why we might look stupid: It’s possible Edwards develops a lot faster than anyone is expecting. His true shooting percentage improved every single month last season, settling at 65.4 percent across eight games in April. You could almost see him putting things together in real-time last season and when it clicks, it clicks.

30. Lu Dort

Why he missed: Lu Dort is a bit like a fuzzy Xerox copy of Matisse Thybulle — strong defender, head-scratcher on offense. He announced his arrival in the NBA during the 2020 playoffs, with suffocating defense on James Harden and 12-of-46 shooting from the field (5-of-32 from beyond the arc) in the first four games of the Thunder’s first-round loss to the Houston Rockets. His second season occurred mostly in the anonymity afforded by a rebuilding Thunder team but he still finished the season shooting under 40 percent from the floor. Until he’s a threat to score with even middling efficiency, his value is capped.

Why we might look stupid: Dort’s defensive value doesn’t appear to be quite as extreme as Thybulle’s but he may be further ahead on offense. Dort made 36.9 percent of his 3-pointers through the first 20 games of last season before an ice-cold February cratered his percentages. Ignoring that month, he shot 37.2 percent on 3s for the rest of the season and looked much improved as a creator off the dribble. If he keeps progressing on offense, he could easily become one of the better two-way wings in the league by the end of this season.