ESPN’s Top 100 Players Ranking

Lots of questionable placements on this ranking (like Harden at #43 behind Klay and DeRozan), but interesting to see where our guys ended up.

* Lauri Markkanen – #28
* Walker Kessler – #70
* Jordan Clarkson – #77 (#85 last year)
* John Collins – #90 (#73 last year)
* Collin Sexton – #98

ex-Jazzmen

* Donovan Mitchell – #15
* Rudy Gobert – #64
* Mike Conley – #93

That’s 5 in the top 100, though 4 of them are in that 70-100 range. If I didn’t list a previous ranking, it’s because they were unranked last year.

Mad respect for Walker Kessler already. Seems like they’re already projecting a big year for him. Crazy that he and Gobert are only separated by 6 spots.

I’m not yet sure Clarkson, Collins, and Sexton will play like top 100 players. That’s not for lack of talent, though. I think we’ll have to see some of the lineup dust settle before casting judgment on their impact on the floor. We’ve already seen some of the pains of trying to fit Sexton into various lineups (with THT, and probably similarly with Clarkson).

Probably our best player at the moment not listed here is Kelly Olynyk. Looking at the other players ranked in the 90s, I can see why he’s not included, but he’s valuable to pretty much any team.

I hope Ochai and Keyonte George play well enough to crack next year’s top 100, though also understandable if they can’t quite make it given some of the solid contributors in the list.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38549013/nbarank-2023-best-players-2023-24-100-51