The FanSided NBA team — myself, Matt Moore, Wes Goldberg, Chris Kline, Lior Lampert and Quinn Everts — is excited to share our ranking of the 99 best players in the NBA. These rankings are a living document, updated regularly throughout the year, exploring how each player has carved out their NBA niche and how it is evolving over time.
Our rankings included blended assessments of both present and future value, keeping players on the list who are currently injured but moving them down based on the severity of their injury and how long we expect them to be off the court. We did not consider any information about salary or contract status.
These kinds of NBA Player Rankings are inherently subjective, and we thought it would be a fun exercise to compare our list to that of The Ringer. We saw things very differently on a handful of players but also timing is a factor here — The Ringer's ratings were last updated on Jan. 16, more than a month ago and a lot has happened since then.
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5 players FanSided was higher on The Ringer
Amen Thompson (NBA99: No. 35 — The Ringer: No. 73)
We're not just drinking the Kool-Aid, we're bathing in it. Yes, his jumper is a hot mess, but Thompson is already a strong candidate to make First-Team All-Defense. He's an electric finisher and a burgeoning playmaker who could very well be the primary creator and ball-handler on the Rockets sooner rather than later. This may look like jumping the gun but we're pretty confident we're ahead of the curve here.
Joel Embiid (NBA99: No. 16 — The Ringer: No. 41)
We are certainly sympathetic to the instinct to drop Embiid much further in NBA Player Rankings given how disastrous this season has been for him and the 76ers. But when he's on the court, in the regular season, there are still only a handful of players in the league with as much potential for devastating two-way impact.
Austin Reaves (NBA99: No. 56 — The Ringer: No. 86)
Lakers and teammates of LeBron's tend to get the benefit of the doubt everywhere except with die-hard Celtics fans, but I promise, there's more to that in Reaves' ranking. The Luka trade will affect his role but up to the trade deadline, Reaves had taken a big leap in scoring and assists, carrying more responsibility for offensive creation than he ever had before. He did all that with only a slight drop in efficiency. He really is taking a leap.
Trey Murphy III (NBA99: No. 45 — The Ringer: No. 71)
The Pelicans were already determined to trade Brandon Ingram but the emergence of Trey Murphy III this season made the decision that much easier. We had him ranked significantly higher than The Ringer, and ahead of players like Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Mikal Bridges, Desmond Bane and Ingram. Brown is the only player in that group averaging more points per game than Murphy this season, and just barely — but Murphy is significantly more efficient. He's a rising star and this one might not seem as shocking by the end of the season.
Josh Hart (NBA99: No. 60 — The Ringer: No. 77)
Hart gets the least attention and adulation of the Knicks three two-way wings, but you can make an argument he's been as essential as OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges this season. He's nearly averaging a double-double, along with over five assists per game. He's not quite the individual defender that Anunoby or Bridges is but he's a definite plus at that end and his rebounding, at 6-foot-4, is as important to the Knicks lineup flexibility as anyone else.
5 players FanSided was lower on than The Ringer
Jrue Holiday (NBA99: No. 86 — The Ringer: No. 48)
Holiday was instrumental in the Celtics' championship run last season but he's taken a clear step back this year. His points, assists and minutes are the lowest since his rookie season and his 3-point percentage has slid from over 40 percent last season to under 35 percent this season. There's a very good chance he picks it up in the playoffs and gives the Celtics exactly what they need, but we leaned production over reputation with his ranking.
Jaylen Brown (NBA99: No. 46 — The Ringer: No. 15)
Yes, he's the reigning Finals MVP. Yes, he's made strides every year as a playmaker and creator. But his shooting percentages are way down and he does have the benefit of playing with the best collection of wing and guard talent in the NBA. He's very good, we just liked other guys better.
Paolo Banchero (NBA99: No. 44 — The Ringer: No. 16)
Banchero has an incredible collection of skills and physical tools but we just couldn't ignore the fact that the offense of which he's the ostensible centerpiece is among the worst in the league. His jumper just isn't reliable enough right now — an effective field goal percentage of 46.7 percent on all shots outside the paint. Better shooters around him would undoubtedly make things better but he just needs to make more or take less.
Derrick White (NBA99: No. 61 — The Ringer: No. 40)
Weird, this is the third member of the Boston Celtics which we have ranked 20+ spots lower than The Ringer. Ah, well, nevertheless, probably just a coincidence.
White is still among the best two-way role players in the league and, like Brown and Holiday, was essential to delivering another title to Boston. But his shooting percentages are down this season and he just hasn't been as good this regular season as he was last year.
Kyrie Irving (NBA99: No. 40 — The Ringer: No. 24)
Did Kyrie ever play for the Celtics? I can't remember. Anyway, he remains an exquisite ball-handler and one of the most creative offensive players in the league, all with fantastic numbers this season. But the Mavericks barely have a positive point differential when he's been on the floor without Luka and even with this deep supporting cast the Mavericks may not even make it out of the Play-In with him as the centerpiece.
11 players FanSided had on our NBA99 rankings that didn't make The Ringer's list
Andrew Wiggins (NBA99: No. 73 — The Ringer: Unranked)
Wiggins' reputation took a major hit last season and his inclusion in the Jimmy Butler trade had way more to do with his contract and matching salaries than any particular desire by the Heat to plug him into their rotation. But Wiggins had been so much better this year — his 3-point percentage was back up, his true shooting percentage was as good as it had been in any season for the Warriors. He was healthy, aggressive and consistent and could still be a very important piece for a contending team.
Malik Monk (NBA99: No. 76 — The Ringer: Unranked)
I'm not really sure how to explain the disconnect here. Monk has missed some games, his shooting percentages are down a tick from last season and the Kings have been disappointing. But his scoring and assists are career-highs, he's become a full-time(ish) starter for the first time in his career and he's carrying a much larger offensive load than ever before.
Jaleen Green (NBA99: No. 80 — The Ringer: Unranked)
There is an enormously wide range of opinions on Green and rightly so. He scores a ton of points but his efficiency is middling and his defense is shaky. He also has a tendency to disrupt the flow of an offense — he averages 4.53 dribble per touch, 11th-most in the league and more than Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic and his own point guard, Fred VanVleet. But he has made some distinct improvements this season and his general impact stats like Box Plus-Minus are trending toward positive.
Walker Kessler (NBA99: No. 87 — The Ringer: Unranked) and Onyeka Okongwu (NBA99: No. 88 — The Ringer: Unranked) and Daniel Gafford (NBA99: No. 91 — The Ringer: Unranked)
I'm looping these three together because they're all similar players — defensive anchors, interior finishers who rely on their ball-handlers to create opportunities for them. We ended up with a quite a few of these guys, clustered closely together, where The Ringer's list went to the other end of the positional spectrum with role-playing wings and guards like Dillon Brooks, Russell Westbrook, Caris LeVert, Jaden McDaniels and Payton Pritchard.
Aaron Wiggins (NBA99: No. 93 — The Ringer: Unranked)
As we were building our list we went back and forth on giving this spot to Wiggins or to Lu Dort, who was ranked No. 87 on The Ringer's list. It's a six-of-one, half-dozen of the other situation but we gave the nod to Wiggins for his superior scoring efficiency and secondary creation ability.
Deni Avdija (NBA99: No. 94 — The Ringer: Unranked)
Avdija has been a very solid rotation player for two season now, but you can be forgiven for missing it since he was playing for the Wizards and Trail Blazers. His outside shot is still a work in progress but he's a plus defender and 6-foot-9 playmaker scoring about 14 points per game. It's a matter of preference at this range but we liked him more than players like Jakob Poeltl or Caris LeVert — ranked No. 93 and No. 97, respectively, on The Ringer's list but left off ours.
Guerschon Yabusele (NBA99: No. 95 — The Ringer: Unranked)
The Ringer had Brook Lopez at No. 95, who ranked a little higher on our list, clearing a spot for Yabusele. He washed out of his first NBA experience but returned from a multi-season stint much more polished and prepared. The 76ers have been an absolute mess but Yabu is one of their few reliable contributors — averaging about 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game, shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc and ranking third on the team in minutes played.
Christian Braun (NBA99: No. 96 — The Ringer: Unranked)
The Ringer has Bennedict Mathurin, who was left off our list, at No. 96. He and Braun have fairly interchangeable numbers but there's an argument that Braun gives more value on the defensive end and he's playing for a much more competitive team, even if Mathurin might have a higher ceiling.
Jordan Poole (NBA99: No. 99 — The Ringer: Unranked)
I threw up in my mouth a little bit when Jordan Poole's name was suggested in our list-building meeting but ... he's been fine ... I guess. His per-game numbers are way up and he's on track to have the best year of his career from beyond the arc. The context is, of course, that he's doing it for the worst team in the league and it's certainly not contributing to winning games. But credit where credit is due — he's no longer the messiest volume scorer in the league.