NBA’s top 10 players 22 years old or younger: Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero for second place behind Victor Wembanyama?
As the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, we’ve compiled our annual picks here on CBS Sports Top 100 NBA Players RankingThere are many different ways to analyze such a list, including who is included in each one. The biggest rise and fall Statistics from last year, and which team has the most representatives.
At the top of the list are established All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, but the top 100 also features young players who haven’t yet reached their peak. The number of young players in the league is constantly increasing these days, so we decided to pick the top 10 players in the NBA who are 22 years old or younger entering the 2024-25 season.
These are players who have the potential to become the face of the league and multiple-time All-Stars, and also be key role players on championship-level rosters. It’s no surprise that 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama tops this list, as he earned the 12th spot in our overall rankings. One player who missed out on cracking the top 10 in this 22 and under ranking is Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., who sits at 100th in our overall rankings.
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The rest of the list features familiar faces — and no new names — but their rankings might surprise you.
age: 22
Top 100 rank: 92. Green is extremely talented and an incredible athlete, even by NBA standards. However, whether he can be an efficient or winning player is still in question. His final performance last season was as good as he’s looked as a professional player, and offered evidence that the answer could be yes on both fronts. However, the potential dilemma for the Rockets is that Green’s best games coincided with the absence of Alpern Sengun, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. This looks like a pivotal season for Green’s future in Houston. — Jack Maloney
age: 20
Top 100 rank: 90. Lively’s stats might not seem like they deserve a spot on this list, especially when the other two sophomores coming in above him have had stellar performances in their rookie campaigns. But while Lively is short on counting stats, he makes up for it in all the intangibles. He regularly posts the highest plus-minus on the Mavericks, and he’s the ultimate lob threat in the pick-and-roll with Doncic and Irving. He’s a tenacious rebounder on both ends and gives the Mavericks some much-needed rim protection when he checks in to the game. It doesn’t seem like it when you look at the box score, but Lively is routinely Dallas’ third or fourth most important player every night. — Jasmine Wimbish
age: 21
Top 100 rank: No. 83. The Warriors have resisted using Kuminga as a trade chip, believing he can be not just a future tentpole but a vital part of a team that still believes they can make one last sincere attempt at Stephen Curry before he gets too old. This is his year to really prove it after averaging more than 16 points in just 26 minutes per night last season. A top-tier athlete, Kuminga is tough to keep out of the lane and he finishes at the rim at a better clip than LeBron James. His 3-point shooting declined last season, but he was up at 37% two years ago. If Kuminga gets back to anything close to that number, he should be a 20 PPG player. — Brad Botkin
age: 22
Top 100 Rank: 80 Johnson averaged 16 points, eight boards and nearly four assists last season. Now is his turn to, dare I say it, make the leap into fringe All-Star territory? He has that kind of potential, and he won’t be short on opportunities. The Hawks love him, and rightfully so. Reports have indicated he was their only untouched player this summer. He can get out of the gym and shoot from deep. He can also really pass. He’s the kind of long, athletic defender that everyone wants. Johnson just needs to stay healthy. If he does, his stock will skyrocket. — Brad Botkin
age: 21
Top 100 rank: 66. The ceiling is incredibly high. Miller doesn’t turn 22 until November, and he showed as a freshman that he was ready for anything the Hornets could throw at him. He often guarded the opposing team’s top perimeter player, and, with LaMelo Ball out for most of the season and Terry Rozier traded in January, he often served as Charlotte’s primary playmaker. The 6-foot-7 wing profiles as a franchise cornerstone, a guy who can create for himself and others and defend multiple positions credibly. Let’s see just how big his leap is in year two. — james herbert
age: 22
Top 100 rank: No. 49. Cunningham has already come a long way from his rookie season, where, despite a high average, he struggled with efficiency. He’s coming off the best year of his career, but his performance didn’t get much attention because he played on a 14-win Pistons team. It’s a shame, too, because Cunningham showed all the skills of a franchise player. He shot incredibly well from everywhere, including shooting 35% from 3-point range, which was a major breakthrough in his development. He also ranked ninth in the league among guards in potential assists, which shows he’s making the right passes and reads; it’s his teammates who aren’t making shots. With a new coach, Cunningham could build on last season and gain more attention as he’s one of the league’s most promising young players. — Jasmine Wimbish
4. Alperen Şengün, Rockets
age: 22
Top 100 rank: No. 47. Sengun had a great season cut short, but he still did enough to earn third place for Most Improved Player. He’s often compared to Nikola Jokic, mainly because his court vision and passing are similar to the three-time MVP. But he’s a player in his own right, one that Houston should look at as a building block for their future. Sengun’s strength and finesse around the rim make him difficult to defend when he catches the ball on the move. He’s also a great rebounder and puts teammates in the right spot for easy shots. Statistically, his first three years are on par with Jokic, and while he may not be on the path to a perennial MVP, it’s always a positive when you’re mentioned in the same company with a future Hall of Famer. — Jasmine Wimbish
age: 22
Top 100 Rank: 30The delayed debut was worth the wait for Holmgren, as he fit seamlessly into an Oklahoma City team that was built for continued 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 that 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
age: 21
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
1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
age: 20
Top 100 rank: 12. After the All-Star break, Victor 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 in 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. Remind you that 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 this sport has never seen before, the next step in its evolution. He’s the ultimate marriage of size and skill, the culmination of everything this sport has built for the past decade. The scariest thing about that ridiculous stat line after the break isn’t how great it is, but how disappointing it will look in comparison. In all likelihood, this will be his worst performance in a long time. Maybe in 15 years we’ll release a list that leaves him outside the top 10. — Sam Quinn
