Because the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, we right here at CBS Sports activities compiled our annual High 100 NBA participant rankings. There’s so many alternative methods to investigate a listing like that, from who the greatest risers and fallers are from the earlier yr, to breaking down which groups have probably the most representatives.
The highest of the listing is crammed with established All-Stars and future Corridor of Famers, however littered all through the High 100 are younger gamers who have not reached their prime but. With a league that continues to skew youthful lately, we determined to pinpoint the NBA’s high 10 gamers who’re 22 and youthful getting into the 2024-25 season.
These are gamers who vary from having the potential to turn into the face of the league and multiple-time All-Stars, to key position gamers on championship-level rosters. It is no shock that 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama tops this listing, as he earned the No. 12 spot in our general rating. One participant who simply missed the High 10 on this 22 and youthful rating is Rockets ahead Jabari Smith Jr., who occupies the No. 100 spot in our general rating.
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The remainder of the listing has acquainted faces — and doesn’t function any rookies — however the place they rank might shock you.
Age: 22
High 100 rank: 92. Inexperienced is supremely proficient and an unbelievable athlete, even by NBA requirements. Whether or not he might be an environment friendly or profitable participant, nonetheless, continues to be in query. His closing stretch final season was nearly as good as he is appeared as a professional, and supplied proof that the reply might be sure, on each fronts. The potential dilemma for the Rockets, although, is that Inexperienced’s greatest play coincided with Alperen Sengun’s absence as a result of a season-ending knee harm. This looks like a make-or-break season for Inexperienced’s future in Houston. — Jack Maloney
Age: 20
High 100 rank: 90. Vigorous’s stats might not seem to be they warrant a spot on this listing, particularly after two different incoming sophomores above him put up monster numbers of their rookie campaigns. However what Vigorous lacks in counting stats, he makes up for in all the intangibles. He usually posts the best plus-minus on the Mavericks, and he is the last word lob menace in pick-and-rolls with Doncic and Irving. He’s a tenacious rebounder on each ends and provides the Mavericks some much-needed rim safety when he checks within the recreation. It could not seem to be it whenever you take a look at the field rating, however Vigorous is routinely Dallas’ third- or fourth-most essential participant each night time. — Jasmyn Wimbish
Age: 21
High 100 rank: No. 83. The Warriors have all resisted Kuminga as a commerce chip, believing he might be not only a future tentpole however a key piece of a workforce that also believes it could possibly make one final run at sincere competition earlier than Stephen Curry ages out. That is his yr to essentially show it after averaging over 16 factors per recreation in simply 26 minutes an evening final season. A top-tier athlete, Kuminga is a handful to maintain out of the lane and he completed on the rim at a greater clip than LeBron James. The three-point taking pictures dipped final season, however he was at 37% two years in the past. If Kuminga will get again nearer to that quantity, he must be a 20 PPG man. — Brad Botkin
Age: 22
High 100 rank: 80 Johnson averaged 16 factors, eight boards and nearly 4 assists final season. Now comes the leap into, dare I say, fringe All-Star territory? He has that type of means, and he will not be missing for alternative. The Hawks love him, and rightfully so. Experiences have indicated he was their solely untouchable participant this summer time. He can soar out of the gymnasium and shoot from deep. He can actually cross, too. He is the type of lengthy, athletic defender everybody covets. Johnson simply wants to remain wholesome. If he does, his inventory goes to soar. — Brad Botkin
Age: 21
High 100 rank: 66. The ceiling is extremely excessive. Miller does not flip 22 till November, and he confirmed as a rookie that he was prepared for all the things the Hornets threw at him. He usually guarded the opposing workforce’s high perimeter participant, and, with LaMelo Ball out for many of the season and Terry Rozier traded in January, he usually functioned as Charlotte’s main playmaker. The 6-foot-7 wing profiles as a franchise cornerstone, a man who can create for himself and others and credibly defend a number of positions. Let’s examine how massive his second-year leap is. — James Herbert
Age: 22
High 100 rank: No. 49. Cunningham’s already come a good distance from his rookie season the place, regardless of excessive averages, he struggled closely with effectivity. He is coming off a profession yr, however his efficiency went largely unnoticed as a result of he performed on a 14-win Pistons workforce. That is a disgrace, too, as a result of Cunningham displayed all of the instruments of a franchise participant. He shot the ball extremely properly from all over the place, together with 35% from 3-point vary, which was an essential breakthrough in his growth. He additionally ranked ninth within the league amongst guards in potential assists, displaying that he is making the precise passes and reads; his teammates simply aren’t making the photographs. With a brand new coach, Cunningham can construct upon final season and achieve extra consideration as he is one of the promising younger gamers within the league. — Jasmyn Wimbish
4. Alperen Sengun, Rockets
Age: 22
High 100 rank: No. 47. A breakout season was minimize quick for Sengun, however he nonetheless did sufficient to complete third for Most Improved Participant. He is usually in comparison with Nikola Jokic, primarily as a result of his courtroom imaginative and prescient and passingecho that of the three-time MVP. However he is his personal participant, one which Houston ought to see as a constructing block for its future. Sengun’s power and finesse across the rim make it troublesome to defend him when he catches the ball on the transfer. He is additionally a fantastic rebounder and places teammates in the precise spot for straightforward photographs. Statistically talking, his first three years are on par with what Jokic did, and whereas he is probably not on the perennial MVP trajectory, it is all the time a constructive whenever you’re talked about in the identical firm as a future Corridor of Famer. — Jasmyn Wimbish
Age: 22
High 100 rank: 30. The delayed debut for Holmgren was properly well worth the wait, as he match seamlessly into an Oklahoma Metropolis workforce constructed for sustained success via at the least the following decade. He is 7-foot-1 and but has the deal with of a guard. He can drain a 3-pointer simply so simple as he can again somebody down within the paint. He has already established himself as the most effective rim protectors within the league, with a knack for completely timing blocks, one thing we not often see out of gamers his age. Holmgren’s on a profession trajectory to be a mainstay on the All-Star Sport, in addition to end-of-season awards like All-NBA and All-Protection. — Jasmyn Wimbish
Age: 21
High 100 rank: 29. After a season that noticed Banchero turn into the primary Magic participant since Mike Miller in 2001 to win Rookie of the Yr, the No. 1 general choose within the 2022 Draft adopted that up with a season that noticed his effectivity enhance dramatically. He is nonetheless not a constant menace from 3-point vary, however that does not matter a lot when he can muscle his method to the rim and do injury from mid-range. He earned his first All-Star nod and led Orlando to its first playoff look in 4 years. — Jasmyn Wimbish
1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Age: 20
High 100 rank: 12. After the All-Star break, Victor Wembanyama averaged 23.5 factors, 12 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per recreation. I am unable to think about you may be stunned to listen to nobody has ever accomplished that for a full season. Nobody has even come shut. In the event you trim each a type of numbers by 10%, it is nonetheless solely been accomplished as soon as… by peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a reminder, Wembanyama was a rookie. He was taking part in on a workforce that was constructed to lose. We’re not simply speaking concerning the subsequent nice NBA participant right here. We’re speaking concerning the form of participant this sport has by no means seen, the following step in its evolution. He’s the last word marriage of measurement and talent, the end result of all the things this sport has been constructing towards for the previous decade. What’s scariest about that absurd post-break stat line is not how nice it’s, however how underwhelming it should look as compared. In all probability, that is the worst he’ll be for a protracted, very long time. It is perhaps 15 years earlier than we submit one other one in all these lists that has him outdoors of the highest 10. — Sam Quinn
