The 2025-26 SLN Top 100: Nos. 75-51

[jwoo]

Greetings leaguemates. I got a lot of good feedback on yesterday's article which was awesome to hear, glad people are enjoying this. I have been plugging away on the rest of the list and am trying to drop one of these per day, but am heading on a work trip next few days so we'll see how well I can keep this pace up.

The first installment of the article which can be read here covered 76-100, which was kind of an interesting mix of up-and-comers, good role players, and guys I just generally find to be good and interesting. The further we go down the list the more fun but also challenging it gets, because I have to make arbitrary differentiations between players we can generally all agree are good.

75-51 is a much meatier list of players. I think with few exceptions, all of these guys would either start or be heavily featured on just about any team. It's really hard to decide who goes where but I think it's a reasonable representation of player quality. Anyway, nobody likes reading intros, so here we go.

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75B. Cory Joseph, PG, Magic

Well, I fucked up my process and forgot to include Jonathan Kuminga on the list and thusly I have inserted him below. This makes Cory Joseph player 75B, or player 76, depending on how you feel about Caleb Martin's personal feelings if he were to get booted off the list. My bad.

Cory Joseph has regressed but he's still pretty damn good and got the Magic to the Finals last year. He turns it over a bit but still has the A shooting and solid defense. He's only two seasons removed from averaging 26 per game! I kind of had Joseph in a similar group with Dyson Daniels and Lonzo Ball who are technically right after him on the list so anyway, here he is. If I could redo this he'd probably be a hair behind them but you get the idea. He's boring and gets the job done god dammit.

75A. Josh Hart, SF, Clippers

I go back and forth between thinking Josh Hart is overrated and viewing him as one of the best role players in the league. I think this is roughly the right spot for him purely because of the versatility — not many SFs are sporting the A- rebounding, not to mention A- ratings everywhere but inside. Having said that, he is quite inconsistent as a scorer, turns it over a decent amount, and isn't all that stocky. Because he was built with sort of a balanced blueprint, we have no idea how much of his defense is tilted toward the three versus the four and where some of it went. As I write this I'm thinking maybe he should have been lower on the list...but anyway. Versatilty and a rare skillset that plays across positions has value and Hart is fun. I have tried to acquire him like 15 times and always talk myself out of it. Vibes are great, though.

74. Ricky Rubio, PG, Nets

Rubio has legitimately had the two best offensive seasons of his career the last two years at ages 34 and 35. What the fuck! I've always enjoyed following this man's box scores since I birthed him into this league amidst a pretty unsuccessful tank operation in the early 2010s, and he actually holds the single-season steals record still. He's probably bad at defense but what he does do really well is control turnovers, assist teammates (style points baby) and evidently, score the basketball. He might be a little too high on the list too but that's kind of the zone we are in — not a lot separating people from 75 and on or whatever. I think he was an excellent pickup for the Nets as a short-term value add and we'll see if he slows down and/or retires. It's honestly awesome that he's been good for this long.

73. Jonathan Kuminga, PF, Mavericks (traded to Hawks)

I didn't realize until yesterday that Kuminga is doing nearly two steals and a block-and-a-half per game at age 23, making him kind of like a poor man's Aaron Gordon when you factor in the rebounding and offense. Young AG was kind of similar in terms of offensive production, but I also juiced him with boosts. Kuminga went to the NDL for two seasons which surely will help his longevity. He also turns it over a lot and could end up as more of a balanced SF in the long run, I don't know. But I do know that he is really cool and fits into a very fun small-ball four mold that might come en vogue over time.

72. Udoka Azubuike, C, Bullets

Of the bigs in this clump of the list, Azubuike is currently showing the best combination of elite boards, lack of turnovers, and a modicum of efficiency (if you've ever seen this guy, you can infer he probably has top-tier strength which makes him sort of decent at scoring despite being a totally abysmal shooter). It's kind of eye of the beholder — he has a lower defensive grade than Zubac and Bitadze — but the production and role on a recent title team has made Doke a well-reputed starting five-man anyway. His strength makes him a tough matchup and he can foul people out in the right situation (but hates making free throws). I'm generally a fan.

71. Fred Van Vleet, PG, Jazz

What I wish I knew about Fred Van Vleet is whether he can still play point guard and win games — the Jazz have basically not tried him there at all for the last two seasons, which neutered his volume and steals but not his efficiency, surprisingly. FUN FACT: FVV played 10 games at point guard in preseason 1 and posted this stat line: 36.1 15.3 5.2 8.7 2.4 0.3 2.5 with a .475/.955/.450 slash line. I absolutely have no idea what settings Utah was running and it figures that more volume spikes those TOs back closer to 3, but the guy is a PG with A+ outside scoring, A- defense and strong rebounding and in my opinion has been completely misused (even though the Jazz made the playoffs last season, to their credit).

For what it's worth, I thought about trading for him instead of Lonzo this year, but ol' Fred made too much money. He will be 33 when he hits his next contract, but some team that needs to win desperately should take a flier on him next year and see what he does at PG. This ranking is hedging that but could be wildly wrong if his handles are problematic — but it sticks out to me that after just one season doing 3.1 TOs FVV may have been moved off the ball hastily. Fun fact, I once sat next to Fred Van Vleet at a random college game in New York and it took me about 20 minutes to realize I was sitting next to him.

70. Lauri Markkanen, SF, Blazers

I'm totally unsure why Markkanen has been so bad the past two seasons (I think he's been playing some power forward?) but my Markkannen > Tatum take didn't age that well. As of a few seasons ago, Lauri did a lot of useful shit: he has A- inside scoring, would probably kill in a balanced offense, and rebounds well at the three. His turnovers are a much bigger issue now that he hasn't been efficient, and he's probably not a great defender, but I do think he's probably a well-constructed player who is capable of doing more. It's just a little unclear as to why he hasn't been better since he peaked during the Big Baller Bubble. Maybe it was the lack of distractions in there. I just don't get why he's been so inconsisent, but I feel like there's a bounce-back waiting and didn't wanna put him too much lower than this.

69. Blake Griffin, PF, Sixers

Have you looked at Blake Griffin's stats lately? I'm not sure how he's doing it but my man is having a role player season for the ages. Efficient points, solid boards, good defense, useful stocks and less than a turnover per game? That will play just about anywhere. If you dive his box scores it's actually wild. He's not washed yet, and he could retire at any time, but Blake has had a pretty underappreciated career — his last two seasons have been incredibly valuable but he hasn't been able to find his way back to a winning roster. However - what I am NOT going to do is give 36-year-old Blake his flowers because one of my strongest beliefs is that nobody should ever be given their flowers. It is a horrendous expression. Just say give him credit. Nobody wants flowers, I will die on that goddamn hill, find a better way to express yourself and say nice things about other people more often.

68. Jalen Suggs, PG/SG, Sixers

Jalen Suggs' current line is probably a lot like what Fred Van Vleet's line would be at point guard. The difference is Suggs is a better defender and worse rebounder and also seems to have very low passing, which leaves some hope that handles growth might help him reach a higher peak. It's hard to find elite defensive PGs who can also score adequately and that's what Suggs is right now; we will see whether he can make another leap as a scorer or cut turnovers in the future and vault himself into stardom. Right now he's a very solid starter if you can manage the turnover wart. I I guess the Van Vleet you know is better than the one you don't, we just haven't seen Suggs do it in a true winning context yet so I didn't want to push him up higher than this.

67. Alperen Sengun, C, Heat

Sengun is clearly a huge FBB talent who can win a game by himself offensively when cooking. He also has some holes in his game that make him a hard player to really place on this list. He is reasonably efficient and still improving to where I think he winds up being an offensive net positive, and he's an awesome flat-A defender at center — and he's 23. The issues here are that his turnovers have spiked (probably some byproduct of inside offense experimentation by he Heat) and that he's only a B rebounder right now (he still gets 11 per game which is no joke, but the Heat don't have other good rebounders on the team, so maybe inflated a bit).

Anyway, I wonder if despite the scoring, Sengun is kind of leaking possessions right now, particularly in games where he doesn't shoot well. That creates some downside to having him in the lineup on his really bad days. I'm bullish on him long-term and I wonder if maybe he'd thrive as a non-option in balanced or outside (rather than as an offensive focal point for the time being), but I had a hard time ranking him higher than this for now. The upside is certainly there for him to eventually pop as a stud, but I also wonder if he needed some extra handles love. A jump in rebounding and/or efficiency and/or handles could vault him into Top 50 territory. I enjoy his box scores anyway.

66. Goga Bitadze, C, Pacers

Goga is an awesome rebounder and great shot-blocker who struggles with efficiency and turnovers but gets a bump for having a cool name. For the record I think Cool Name Bias is a thing that for sure happens in scouting. Guys with boring names are often forgotten about and guys with cool ones always get a bump. Does he sound like a good player? Totally. Elite. Anyway, Goga hasn't been quite as dominant since his 2022 season, but more minutes probably breed more production (and more TOs). He's a very solid role player and elite rebounders are too scarce not to appreciate him, but I get why he's become maybe a little polarizing. Drummond taking his rebounds away has maybe nerfed him a bit, I dunno what to do with him, but he's still nice. As I'm writing about all these A rebounders I realized I left Jahlil Okafor off this list, who's been outperforming some of these guys on a losing Jazz team — sorry big fella, you get spot No. 101.

65. Ivica Zubac, C, Warriors

The Zubac haters are probably having a field day this season, but he's basically Zach Edey but with better rebounding and less blocks. In a balanced or inside offense I think Zu winds up much closer to his best self, but he's never really been optimized that way to my knowledge. I maintain that this guy is good - he draws a lot of fouls and makes a ton of free throws — I think that is a key separator (nudged him ahead of some other guys on this list) that should keep his value high despite the inconsistency. He's only 28 and there should be better times ahead. It's just so hard to find the flat A rebounding and I personally give bigs some benefit of the doubt with the FG% fluctuation. He's third in the league in rebounds, he's a really solid defender, and he can score and win you games sometimes that way too. Someone try him in an inside offense!

64. Jalen Williams, SG, Pacers

I think Williams is a very strong starter in a league where there aren't as many good two-way scoring wings as you'd think — but I am not as confident in him being able to get under two turnovers a game as his current owner. Beyond that bugaboo, I think he's a very valuable player with room to improve in a lot of areas over the next few TCs. As a two-guard with A- defense and just 1.2 steals and few blocks, JDub must be loaded with perimeter defense and rebounds it well enough for a wing. His best days are likely ahead, but I had a hard time ranking him too much higher than this until the numbers start to reflect the talent a little better. He might be one good shooting camp away from being super-efficient, which would be huge for him.

63. Paul George, SF, Rockets

Rounding out this article's selection of not-quite-washed gentleman is Paul George. Did you know Paul George's parents are named Paul and Paulette? After Kyrie mysteriously erased PG's turnover bugaboo, he has been quite a reliable role player, bouncing around to four teams in the last four seasons and ultimately being pretty useful everywhere. He's now efficient and stock-positive — just not a big-time scorer on a regular basis, but he does have big splash games that remind you of how good he's been/can be. Just realized he cooked as an option in this last sim, so there's probably a lot in the tank. He's maybe close to retiring, but after his Lakers stint saved him, it has been a distinguished run as a two-way standout, albeit never becoming a legitimate superstar in his many years. Can the Rockets get him a ring?

62. Dillon Brooks, SF, Bucks

Other than a lack of top-level volume, Dillon Brooks doesn't really have any weaknesses: he's a consistently positive scorer, a plus defender, a strong wing rebounder, and turns it over an acceptable amount for the number of other things he does well. He is very much a boring player, but he's a very legit starting wing in SLN and an excellent complementary player in just about any team build. He's also on a pretty nice contract. What fake Dillon Brooks lacks in being an extremely annoying antagonist he makes up for by being a guy you can simply pencil into the lineup and not worry about. At age 30, he's sustaned pretty consistent play for the last four seasons and is probably capable of more volume on a worse team — but I think his current role feels like a sweet spot in usage.

61. Tyrese Haliburton, PG, Pistons

Haliburton was lost in the wilderness for the past two seasons while the Pistons experimented with Cade Cunningham at point guard and more or less banished Tyrese off the ball, where like 95% of FBB point guards, he is not as good. Lo and behold, he's having a very nice offensive season, playing very efficient and possession-friendly basketball and leading an improved Pistons team within striking distance of a playoff spot. He's kind of a vanilla FBB PG, but in a good way — I am overall a fan of him, and that contract should age well — but he's more of the current Ricky Rubio of this era than its Tony Parker. Regardless, he would start on a lot of teams and make them better. Sorry IRL Knicks fans!!!

60. Andre Drummond, C, Pacers

Flesh of my flesh, butt of my butt, Andre Drummond has been an elite rebounder for a decade and hasn't really slowed down at all. I had a hard time figuring out how to sort the Drummond/Goga/Zubac/Udoka hierarchy - they all do some version of the same task. He has become kind of bad offensively the last few seasons, with his turnovers ticking up and FG% trending down, but he can still dominate the glass by himself in a way that not many others can. I think it's also probably fair to assume that if Drummond and Goga were on different teams, they'd both do more rebounds than they are currently doing. I ended up rating him lower than I expected to as I dug into the numbers/trajectory, but I still think he's quite good. Not sure if I have these elite rebounding bigs too low on the list as a group or not, but if I did this in tiers it would probably make more sense.

59. Reed Sheppard, PG/SG, Celtics

Fun fact, Ashes completely hated the Reed Sheppard pick for Houston. Luckily for SLN, he didn't hold onto that attitude when he made SLN Reed, who has usurped Ja Morant (albeit maybe not as impressive as it sounds) in just his second season in Boston and become the blockiest good point guard since Jeff McInnis. I assume he gets a handles camp this off-season, and there's probably room for a volume spike as his shooting continues to progress. I was a little unsure if I should have him this many spots ahead of Jalen Suggs, but I think the efficiency/blocks/lack of TOs probably gets him there. He looks like a franchise-level player for the Celtics assuming he continues to improve, but even if he's some version of this, he's a really good starter.

58. Brandon Ingram, SF, Sixers

Brandon Ingram has always been kind of an interesting player to value — he went from overrated due to being a name brand to underrated as he made major strides, to now leveling out as a solid starting wing who isn't carrying a team alone. His ability to limit turnovers is a nice bump to his profile, which also includes positive boards, acceptable defense and effective scoring — but he's never been consistently elite on the efficiency front, nor in anyone area, really. He's not sexy at all, but his stint in Orlando proved Ingram can operate in a winning context, and I think he'd be a starter on almost every team, if not a featured one. He has been pretty huge for the Sixers this year in their quest for .500 and I think has some pretty clear positive qualities after all this time.

57. Mikal Bridges, SG, Warriors

I have struggled valuing Bridges the past few seasons, but he's now in midst of a true career year, performing well in pretty much every area and looking like a guy who could start on any team. He has solid volume, plays efficient offense (particularly at the two), gets a lot of steals and some blocks, hardly ever turns it over, and generally does everything you want but rebound at a high rate. He's toeing the line between elite role player and legit FBB stud right now, and while I think this is probably as good as it gets for him production-wise, his overall progression makes this seem pretty sustainable. I don't know if he could handle being a top option, but Clint has nailed his role and usage and has overall increased his value quite a bit in my eyes. Clint you should immediately trade him to one of the many Knicks fans in this league for a haul.

56. Isaac Bonga, SF/PG, Heat

I've been a big Bonga fan for a long time, like many of us in the league — his ratings clearly conceal a very effective player. His role in Miami has been kind of a revolving door the past few seasons, which has probably hurt his shooting splits, but I would really love to see a full season of Bonga at point guard in a balanced or inside offense, which I don't think has happened since he was on the Suns. The versatility gives him a solid bump in my mind, but his scoring just doesn't hit the same at small forward or as a supersub, particularly because he doesn't shoot threes at all. It looks like Heat have been mixing and matching DCs this season and I don't have a clear grasp on what the trends are in performance — but overall I think the fit with Bonga and Harden both probably needing to play point guard to be maxed out (and Sengun also being there) has just been a little tricky at a glance. Still, the stocks, the boards, and the ability to play PG makes Bonga pretty darn valuable and fun (and weird).

55. Derrick Jones Jr., SF/SG, Sonics

Getting traded to Seattle has been huge for DJJ, who is a true stock king, limits turnovers, and now plays generally respectable (albeit streaky) offense having settled in as a shooting guard. It's so difficult to find guys who guard the way he does and who can also play across offensive schemes and be valuable. He had the one season in Utah where he did 2.2 blocks (I believe he was either supersubbing or playing as a big?), so he's clearly capable of being even stockier, but the Sonics have put him in a role that balances his strengths and weaknesses nicely. Despite being a C rebounder, he chips in seven rebounds per game, probably a byproduct of plus athletic ratings I'd guess. I feel like he would be even better in balanced just with the way his shooting splits are tilted. Anyway, Jones has had a pretty cool career and it's been nice to see his offense come along.

54. Amen Thompson, SF, Raptors

Would love to redact this entire paragraph before my beloved boy makes his free agency decision, but there's no player in the league quite like Amen Thompson. He's one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, a good wing rebounder and seems to be on the cusp of being consistently effective as a shooter. He's developed up to A- outside which is amazing, but seems to be on the lower end in both jumper and three point shooting, so he probably needs another great TC or two to become consistently efficient. Having said that: he has been a lot better offensively since i moved him to shooting guard in balanced, and is capable of massive offensive splash games when his shot selection is consistent. It's also entirely possible he loses shooting guard eligibility if his rebounding pops to B, so you shouldn't bid on him! But yeah — I think the defense alone coupled with the offensive highs he produces makes him pretty amazing, he's definitely sporting plus strength and quickness, and I think he's capable of another leap. Hopefully it happens on my team, who can say.

53. D'Angelo Russell, PG, Nuggets

Russell has become a very attractive FBB producer in all areas of the game — the only notch missing from his belt is he's never led a consistently top-flight team. Is that his fault? It's unclear, but IRL DLo isn't exactly reputed as a big-time winner. But this is a video game, after all, and there aren't many point guards putting up his type of production on a nightly basis. If his A- defense is really coming from positional D, then that would be a big boost to his profile. It's hard to knock the season he's having in any way, but the fact Merv and Jesse both punted him to the curb kind of gives off a buyer beware vibe. Can he lead a really good team? Probably, but until he does it there is a sect of the league that will be concerned about him.

Side note, I once saw DLo walking down the street in SoHo and let me tell you, he blended in with the very trendy populace outside the Supreme store. Has anyone ever actually bought anything from Supreme and if so, why? That shit is not that cool.

52. Jayson Tatum, SF, Warriors

I wrote this article before Tatum eerily injured his Achilles during this sim, sorry Clint that shit sucks.

Anyway, after being much-criticized for the first part of his career, Tatum has finally hit a solid three-year peak, having proven he can score with the best wings in the league and help anchor winning teams. Of course, you have to be OK with the turnovers along the way, but his skillset has rounded out to a point where he holds his own in all other areas. It's possible his TOs would cut down in a different context, but they are probably always going to be a factor — regardless, he's pretty consistently turned in big scoring numbers and is a proven commodity by now. He's not quite IRL Tatum, but he's put together a highly respectable run. If he turned it over like 25% less he'd be in the Top 50, but I'm not sure he ever works through that (maybe he could be a lesser option on a team with another high-volume guy? Dunno). Anyway, it sucks he's hurt, but Tatum stacked up better than I thought he would as I kind of went through this group of players.

51. Jabari Parker, SF, Celtics

Jabari has settled in as one of the league's more effective scorers during his peak years - the efficiency is a little up and down year to year, but he's an excellent shooter who can swing a game offensively (that 90%+ FT would probably play even better in balanced). He has also, critically, developed the other parts of his game over time (the potential boost definitely helped): he now gets a steal or two a game, rebounds very well, and is a generally strong all-around contributor. I still think his perimeter defense probably sucks (I scouted him when he was a rookie and it was pretty unsalvageable), and that's probably part of why the Celtics haven't been great, but I do think he'd help a lot of teams if he can be correctly insulated by other teammates. He missed the Top 50, couldn't quite get there without him having really won much in SLN, but I'm happy he's had a solid career, and he's vaulted into the upper-echelon of volume scorers which is nothing to sneeze at.

I will try to have Part 3 (50-26) up at some point in the next couple days, but will be busier on the road so it may take a little more time. Please debate and don't be silent on your takes, this is supposed to be fun and is certainly not a ranking I will defend to the death but we need more engagement!!!

[mantypas/CavsCzar]

damn... I cant believe Colin Sexton is going to fall inside the top 50

[Merv]

There’s literally a 0.0% chance that Jwoo thinks DLo is better than Amen

[jwoo]

There’s literally a 0.0% chance that Jwoo thinks DLo is better than Amen

DLo is having a sick year tho

[jwoo]

damn no engagement this hurts

[heimer]

i care about caleb martins feelings. go knicks!

[Wes]

Cory Joseph seems too high for the numbers he’s putting up this year

[Wes]

Kuminga not that good yet

[heimer]

Kuminga not that good yet

how do i downvote ?

[jwoo]

Kuminga not that good yet

I think it’s just rare to have the stocks he has at an early stage. And think he hasn’t been fully optimized either