With the 2025-26 NBA regular season complete, The Athletic presents its end-of-season NBA Player Tiers, a look at determining and slotting the top 125 players in the league.

These are not rankings but more so a hard look at the value of the league’s best players, and the project is a subjective exercise. My evaluation process differs from that of my former colleague Seth Partnow, though this version is inspired by the foundation he built. Because of that subjectivity, I intended to resist creating an echo chamber. There were players I liked that my selected network wasn’t nearly as high on, while there were others I was encouraged to reconsider for inclusion or placement.

When Seth started this, he asked: What do we have? What do we need? What do we have to do to get there?

My question is simple: How close is this player to helping you get to winning — especially a championship?

I’m retaining the same five tiers as 2025, my first season with this project, with tweaks to the sub-tiers:

Putting players in tiers is an acknowledgment that similar players are generally a product of preference, fit and situation, though it’s impossible to fully remove the factors around a player’s environment to get to where that player’s place in the league is in a vacuum.

Many factors go into how a player is valued. Is the team a contender, a pretender or rebuilding? Is the player a guard, a wing or a big? Basketball is a team game with so many different skill sets and body types throughout rosters and lineups — and yet, we are here evaluating individuals.

How it works

The methodology for this project can be broken down into three parts.

Part 1: Impact in minutes played. I considered every player in the NBA who is playing at least 30 minutes per game, and I excluded all players who did not play 20 minutes per game this season. Of the players who played at least 10 games this season:

  • 84 players averaged at least 30 minutes per game.
  • 181 players averaged at least 25 minutes per game.
  • 278 players averaged at least 20 minutes per game.

Twenty minutes is generous — on average, each team has about six players who play 25 minutes per game. The number of 20-minute players comes out to just over nine players per team on average, which is the number most teams use in a rotation. About 45 percent of the players who played legitimate rotation minutes at some point in the season are on the list.

From there, I wanted to look at how good players are regarding how much better they make their teams on both ends when they are on the floor compared to when they are off it, and how good those teams are in general when those players are on the floor.

Of note: There were significant injuries that canceled entire seasons of notable players whom I tiered in 2025. Those players were considered this season without the obvious privilege of getting their production from this year.

Part 2: There is only one ball, and this game is about buckets. Said another way: Shot creation makes this world go around, and teams are trying to create advantages. Offenses are trying to exploit space, and defenses are trying to contain it.

There is a great deal of responsibility in being a player whom teams play through. It is important to not only identify which players are used as primary playmakers and top scoring options the most, but also how effective those players are at scoring in the actions that feature stars the most: pick-and-roll ballhandling, isolations and post-ups. Are you the type of player who gets most of the touches in your team’s offense? Are you the type of player who can be effective with your touches?

Part 3: Aside from the above, I am also heavy on what players actually do in a variety of roles.

I’m a believer in five positions: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center. That doesn’t mean players should be stuck in a box. I am more interested in determining where a player fits best and how many positions a player can reasonably play based on their size, skill set and ability to complement other players within a scheme. Defense validates lineups, and offenses require players who can dribble, pass and shoot. I look at these five skill sets for all players, regardless of position:

  • How well players guard in isolation, per Synergy.
  • How well players protect the rim, per Second Spectrum.
  • Free-throw attempts per game, the true mark of a scorer.
  • Assist-turnover ratio: How well do primary playmakers take care of the ball, and how well do lower-usage players make sound decisions?
  • Catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage, which is often the primary contribution a role player makes on offense in the 2020s.

There is no one-size-fits-all number I prefer. Players who are in strong lineups on teams prone to having awful lineups on the floor in the same games are prone to having skewed impact numbers. Offensive skill can be easier to determine, but defensive numbers are harder to trust. It is really important to watch what players are asked to do defensively and whom they are capable of guarding and see how well they fit into how a team defends consistently.

Other considerations

  • This is my second season using my criteria, so I have added last year’s tier placement for those players who made it.
  • This is not a lifetime achievement award. This is also not about predicting specific numbers for next season. While this season is my primary foundation for evaluation, I do consider how the previous three seasons have gone, especially in the postseason. And we are projecting ahead to value between now and the next year, so age and availability matter. Young players may have reasonable upside, while players in their 30s are at risk of falling off the cliff. Players with existing or chronic serious injuries can’t impact teams as well as players who are consistently durable.
  • Things like draft status and contract are minor factors. Pedigree and salary play a role in how many quality players a team can reasonably expect to have. But I’m not trying to draft players, sign players or trade players.
  • Players are not ranked within their sub-tier and are listed alphabetically.
  • Minutes per game stats are for the 2025-26 regular season; ages listed are as of July 1, 2026, when free agency gets rolling.

Let’s break down Tier 5, with the other four tiers to follow in the coming days:

Tier 5A

I called this the exclusion tier this season. Putting 125 players on here is an act of inclusion. This is the “best of the rest” tier, players I have outside of the top 100.

The point guards are two players whose value has fluctuated in recent years. Coby White was finally traded after alternating between both backcourt positions and being a starter before landing as Charlotte’s bench gunner to end the season. His limitations as a primary playmaker and defender make him far more valuable as a second-unit weapon, and it will be interesting to see both what his next deal looks like and if he can get his explosion back after a season interrupted by calf issues.

Collin Gillespie should earn himself a multi-year deal with how well he played his role in Phoenix. He’s small and isn’t much of a scorer, but he has a nose for the ball, makes sound decisions and was one of 10 40 percent 3-point shooters (minimum 50 games) to make at least 2.5 3s per game.

Christian Braun, like White, had a year marred by multiple injury issues. He was still one of the more impactful Denver Nuggets when available, and he is a solid connector who makes strong decisions as a passer. He also escaped Jaden McDaniels’ loud name drop of bad Denver defenders; though Braun could be better on that end, he did a decent job on Anthony Edwards in the first round of the playoffs. Braun’s biggest issue is that his shooting fell off, and he has to be more of a difference-maker with his contract extension kicking in next season.

Braun’s teammate Cameron Johnson wasn’t bad in his first year in Denver, but his impact was underwhelming relative to the expectations of many. I’m not surprised that Johnson had a quieter season; he went from a touch-heavy role for a bad team in Brooklyn to a precise role with a good team in Denver. Johnson is a clean offensive player who shoots the ball very well, but he had his fewest shot attempts in five years and failed to play 60 games for the fourth straight year. He’s also a poor rebounder for a forward, and while he isn’t a poor defender, he’s not exactly a playmaker either.

The power forward group includes John Collins, Draymond Green and Tobias Harris. All three are intriguing and versatile forwards who are all entering at least their 10th seasons next year.

Collins is the kind of play finisher that theoretically fits any team: he’s made 53.8 percent of his field goals and 39.1 percent of his 3s over the last three seasons. But his struggles as a passer and as a consistent defender at both power forward and center have caused his role to fluctuate. Green has a lot of respect for how well he can reach his peak defensively. He’s always been useful as a playmaker as well. But Green gets turnover-prone, and when he has no one to pass it to, he’s borderline unplayable offensively. This year was the first time Green failed to average at least one steal or one block per game since his rookie season. Harris is Detroit’s second option outside of the paint offensively, which explains why the Pistons offense can seem delicate at times. He has used the post more as he gets deeper into his 30s, and he reached another level of aggression at times this postseason after some disappearing acts in years past. But after 15 seasons, it’s fair to wonder what Harris’ best role is if his touches decline.

The centers are former 2024 Celtics champions Kristaps Porziņģis and Neemias Queta. Porziņģis is in this tier because, for all of his impact, he’s too frail to get through seasons; his games played have declined for three straight seasons, and he hasn’t played 65 games in a season since his 2018 ACL tear. He hasn’t lost skill, and he’s still 7 foot 2. But relying on him isn’t wise. Queta held down the starting job in Boston with Porziņģis and Al Horford departing. He was a replacement-level player offensively, but Queta was very good as a 75-game starter for a top-five defense.

Tier 5B

The line for 5B was such that I did not really consider any of these players to be very close to the top 100, especially after consulting with my focus group.

This was a group heavy on shooting guards. Grayson Allen filled a variety of roles as a second-unit on-ball option, and while he showed more as a playmaker than ever on both ends of the floor, he also had his worst season as a shooter since his rookie year. Allen also missed 31 games and wasn’t healthy to begin the playoffs, and he’s 30 years old now.

Lu Dort is a champion and an All-NBA defender, but his offense has been reduced to making assisted 3s, and he could be looking at a new situation next season for the first time in his career.

Tari Eason is an excellent defender who plays with a ton of energy and can be dangerous when his shot is falling. But he isn’t very durable, and he struggled with his offense; he needs to be in a situation where he can drive more often and play fast, and that might not be in Houston.

Duncan Robinson handles the ball more than most “typecast shooters,” and that is quite important to Detroit’s offensive ecosystem; it barely outweighs Robinson’s negative defensive impact.

Ryan Rollins was one of the only bright spots from Milwaukee’s season, providing great value as a playmaker and shooter who competes defensively and has a nose for the ball.

Shaedon Sharpe is one of the lower-placed 20-point scorers; he’s young and explosive, but he has to become much more reliable when it comes to durability and awareness on both ends of the floor, and the postseason made that very clear.

I put Keldon Johnson and Cason Wallace as small forwards, though they can be categorized as guards as well. Johnson is the 2026 Sixth Man of the Year, but he’s more of a high-floor play finisher and not a particularly imposing one at that. Wallace is another player best suited to come off the bench, and because he plays with a plethora of other players who are more likely to create shots, he can be slotted as a wing, where he uses his energy to be one of the best havoc creators in the league. No player had more total steals than Wallace this season, but for him to reach the next step, he needs to either reach another level as a shooter or be more threatening as a pick-and-roll ballhandler.

The three centers are all decent but have a glaring restriction. Nic Claxton is a player many would be interested in seeing in a competitive setting, and he’s added some strong passing (3.7 assists per game) to go with his finishing and rim protection. But he’s thin at 215 pounds, and he finally just got over 60 percent free throws (61.6 percent) for the first time in his career. Donovan Clingan anchored the league’s best defense over the last quarter of the regular season in Portland, and he averaged a double-double with 1.7 blocks while leading the league in offensive rebounding. But Clingan is ill-suited to consistently take advantage of his size offensively, and he’s a pick-and-roll target. Onyeka Okongwu has improved his shooting to the point where he made nearly as many 3s this past season as his previous five seasons combined. But he’s a tad undersized, and despite his nose for the ball, he hasn’t been a strong defender as a starter.

Tier 5C

This was the final cut — the last five players on the list. Players under consideration who didn’t make it included Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Davion Mitchell, Rui Hachimura, Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith and Miles Bridges.

Donte DiVincenzo was going to be higher on this list as an 82-game performer who complemented his teammates extremely well in a 30-minute role. But he’s going to turn 30 while rehabbing a torn Achilles tendon in the last year of his contract. DiVincenzo is an easy player to plug into a variety of lineups, as the last few years have shown, but that’s a difficult injury to be at a crossroads for.

Ajay Mitchell has gone from second-round pick out of Santa Barbara to one of a few players capable of compiling 10 field goals and 10 assists in a playoff game this season; he needs to become a more comfortable shooter, but he’s an emerging offensive threat.

Ayo Dosunmu is another player who has had a major postseason moment, scoring 43 points off the bench against the Nuggets after DiVincenzo went down. He isn’t physically overwhelming, but his percentages are sublime, and he’s a strong decision-maker.

Marcus Smart had two seasons that were a complete wash in Memphis and Washington, he’s on the other side of 30, and he has trick-or-treat tendencies offensively. But the Lakers would have been in a tough spot without Smart this season, a player who still defends multiple positions at a high level and has a knack for making critical plays on both ends.

Julian Champagnie took over Harrison Barnes’ starting spot in San Antonio and has been an athletic upgrade who is durable and reliable while providing accurate volume shooting. Fitting next to Victor Wembanyama is great for job security.