NBA’s top 10 big players, ranked: Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama lead MVP trio
One of the hallmarks of the modern NBA is its lack of traditional positions. Sure, we still write a designation next to every player’s name, from point guard to center, but those little letters on the lineup card have never meant anything.
Most of the best players perform well outside the traditional box, making an impact in the position not only from matchup to matchup but often from possession to possession. For example, point guards play away from the ball, and play off-guard. Thus, applying the broader designations is generally a more accurate representation of the role. Combo guards. Wings. Bigs.
For the purposes of this positional breakout of ours List of top 100 NBA playersWe’re going to focus on the latter. Who are the 10 best big players in the NBA? Generally, big players are centers and power forwards, Fives And Fours As such they are generally classified, but with all four it gets tricky.
For example, Zion Williamson is listed as a power forward, but is he a big man? He’s only 6-foot-6 and plays mostly from the perimeter, often as a play initiator. You might call him New Orleans’ point guard sometimes. We feel more comfortable labeling Williamson as a wing. A powerful one who can punish you in the post — similar to how Jalen Brunson can punish his positional counterparts with his back-to-the-basket — but a wing nonetheless.
Looking for more analysis on CBS Sports’ Top 100 list? Listen and subscribe to the Beyond the Arc podcast for analysis, debate and more.
On the other hand, Giannis Antetokounmpo is also a four, and he also works primarily from the perimeter starting point. But he is almost seven feet tall and can reliably guard opposing centers. He moves toward a Small Big, as strange as that may sound, but ultimately it is big.
Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns are two very different types of big players, a perimeter shooter, a lob catcher and a rim protector, but they are both big players. Incidentally, they both missed out on our top 10 big player rankings, which are below.
Top 100 Rank: 31
The Warriors fan in me hates writing this blurb, because Markkanen is awesome and it seems like Golden State could have bought him for a lot more. Instead, he’ll stay in Utah on a five-year, $238 million extension. Markkanen is 27, just reaching his peak, but the Jazz aren’t even close to competing. You wonder about the combination of those timelines, but you can bet Danny Ainge has a plan and Markkanen, a seven-foot sniper who averaged 23 and 8 on a better true-shooting clip than Kevin Durant last season, is central to it. — Brad Botkin
Top 100 Rank: 30
The delayed debut was worth the wait for Holmgren, as he fit seamlessly into an Oklahoma City team built for sustained success for at least the next decade. He’s 7-foot-1 and yet has the handle of a guard. He can drain a 3-pointer just as easily as he can get behind someone in the paint. He’s already established himself as one of the best rim protectors in the league, with an ability to time blocks in a way we rarely see in players his age. Holmgren is on a career path to being a mainstay in the All-Star Game, as well as season-ending awards like All-NBA and All-Defense. — Jasmine Wimbish
Top 100 Rank: 29
After a season in which Banchero became the first Magic player to win Rookie of the Year since Mike Miller in 2001, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft followed a season in which his efficiency improved dramatically. He’s still not a consistent threat from 3-point range, but that doesn’t matter much when he can get to the rim with his strength and do damage from the mid-range. He earned his first All-Star nod and led Orlando to its first playoff appearance in four years. — Jasmine Wimbish
Top 100 Rank: 28
Sabonis led the league in rebounds last season and finished eighth in assists. The only other player in the top-10 in both categories was Nikola Jokic. In addition, he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to average at least 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a season. Of course, these are arbitrary cutoffs, but it emphasizes how unique Sabonis’ game is for a big man. He is a true playmaking hub for the Kings, as well as an efficient scorer in the paint and a force on the glass. However, like many of his teammates, defense remains an issue. — Jack Maloney
Top 100 Rank: 23
Adebayo has been a full-time starter for the past five years and has never missed an All-Defense selection during that time. He is a great passer who would be praised if he didn’t live in the Jokic era. He rebounds when the Heat need him, he scores when the Heat need him, and now that Udonis Haslem has retired, he leads when the Heat need him.
All of that makes for a great player, but one notable development last season was that Adebayo was willing to expand his range as a jump-shooter. The volume is still fairly low, but he did attempt a career-high 42 3-pointers and 189 mid-range shots last season. That continued in the Olympics, where he looked absolutely comfortable from deep. If Adebayo adds any consistent measure of floor-spacing to his already deep arsenal, his upside jumps from top-25 to top-15, or maybe even higher. — Sam Quinn
Top 100 Rank: 12
After the All-Star break, Wembanyama averaged 23.5 points, 12 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. I can’t imagine you’d be surprised to hear that no one has done that over an entire season. No one has even come close. Even if you break down each of those numbers by 10%, it’s only been done once… topped by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
As a reminder, Wembanyama was a rookie. He was playing on a team that was built to lose. We’re not just talking about the next great NBA player here. We’re talking about a player the likes of which the sport has never seen before, the next step in its evolution. He’s the perfect blend of size and skill, the culmination of everything the sport has been missing for the past decade.
The scariest thing about the absurd stats after the break isn’t how great they are, but how disappointing they will look in comparison. In all likelihood, this will be his worst showing in a long time. It might be 15 years before we post a list that leaves him outside the top 10. — Sam Quinn
Top 100 Rank: 11
The 2023-24 season was a season of acceptance for Anthony Davis. Nearly 75% of his shot attempts came in the paint. This is the highest figure of his Lakers tenure, and there were also years when he barely made 50% of his passes. After averaging more than five mid-range attempts per game at his Lakers peak, Davis finished below three last season.
Davis may still want to be a power forward, but he has finally accepted the fact that the Lakers need him to play like a center. Despite the physical strain the position puts on his body, the results speak for themselves. Davis had his best season since winning the 2020 championship, dominating the interior and single-handedly holding an otherwise miserable Laker defense afloat. — Sam Quinn
Top 100 Rank: 5
On top of being the most impressive individual scorer in the league, Embiid has made great strides as a hub in Nick Nurse’s more motion-oriented offense. He’s also able to anticipate and pass double teams with greater effectiveness. Embiid’s combination of a face-up jumper and bruising post game that guarantees, at the very least, a trip to the free-throw line is as irresistible as it gets, and he remains a super effective rim protector, even if his defensive range and speed aren’t always the best. — Brad Botkin
Top 100 Rank: 2
There was a sense of déjà vu for the Greek Freak last season, as he put together another historic campaign by finishing in the top-15 in scoring, rebounding and assists, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players in history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in multiple seasons. But once again, he was unable to play a significant role in the playoffs due to injury. Things haven’t gone as planned for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks the past few years, but he remains one of the most dominant forces in the league on both sides of the ball. — Jack Maloney
Top 100 Rank: 1
The only player in the world who can guarantee his team the best shot every time, Jokic’s dominance is evident and even at the most inconspicuous margins. There is no matchup he can’t take advantage of, whether inside or outside, whether he’s a scorer or a facilitator. His defense has made tremendous strides. The fact that he has no interest in being recognized as the best player in the world is, to some extent, what actually makes him the best player in the world. His every game is free of agenda and ego. Jokic is the purest embodiment of a basketball player. — Brad Botkin
The next five: Karl-Anthony Towns (Wolves), Rudy Gobert (Wolves), Kristaps Porzingis (Celtics), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
