Predicting the Top 20 NBA Players in 5 Years (2029)

Predicting the Top 20 NBA Players in 5 Years (2029)

So a video that I love to make every single year is predicting the top players in the NBA in 5 years from now so now that we are in 2024 it’s time to predict my top 20 players in 2029 so obviously this is incredibly tough to do guys will have injuries guys will

Regress some guys will take progression leaps that we never thought they could some guys are number one options right now may become number two options and vice versa becoming a number two or three option to a number one option like Jaylen Brunson for example I also have nine honorable mentions as well

Including two players that are not even in the m ba yet and yeah obviously this is a prediction like always I don’t really have those alltimers that are kind of in their mid-30s right now like there’s no LeBron there’s no KD there’s no Curry there’s no Kawai it’s really

Tough to predict who’s going to be where in 2029 so let’s get into this video let me know your thoughts in the comments when we get to number 15 I’ll rattle off the honorable mentions just not to spoil right now so we’re going to actually

Start off at number 20 with a player I just talked about and that was Jaylen Brunson Jaylen Brunson is a top 10 scorer in the NBA this season you can also make a good argument that he should finish top 10 in the MVP voting in 2024

Brunson’s also 20 7 years old right now and will just turn 32 in 5 years from now I think his game can progress to a nice level into his early 30s while he’ll still be in his scoring Prime and maybe he’s not going to be a great

Defender then but I still think he could be solid enough where we can consider him as a borderline top 20 player in the league he’s gotten better and better each year of his career and he’s still 27 like I mentioned I think he’ll get better and better when he’s 28 29 30 31

And then 32 and that could be the tail end of his Prime and he’s falling outside of that top 20 in 2029 so let’s go here at number 19 and we’re going to have Trey young another guy from the 2018 draft class so Trey young will be a

Little bit younger than Brunson since young was a freshman coming out of Oklahoma in 2018 while Brunson was a junior coming out of Villanova so Trey will still just be 30 years old and since he’s entered the league he’s been one of the best offensive players not

Just point guards but players in the league from his sophomore year at 21 to current day at 25 he’s averaged 27 points 10 assists and shot 44% from the field and 36% from three I do think Trey goes through some stretches where there’s some inefficiency and obviously

The def def leaves a lot to be desired and I still think he’s going to be one of the best players in the league that’s why he’s making this ranking in this video I just think that a lot of players are going to lap him in a ranking in 5

Years from now just trying to predict what the NBA looks like so coming in at number 18 we have a guy breaking out this year he’s in the 2021 draft class we got Scotty Barnes so Scotty Barnes was the Rookie of the Year from the 2021

Draft class took a little bit of a step back in his sophomore year where the efficiency dropped we didn’t really know if he could be a primary shot Creator but has taken that step both as an offensive player and as a Le defensive guy into year three so he’s just 22

Years old right now so he’ll be 27 in 5 years from now he’s going to be right there in the beginning or in the middle of his Prime and he’s averaging 20 points eight rebounds and six assists now shooting 47 from the field and 35 from three who knows what he could be

Averaging in 2029 those numbers could look like 25 points per game 8 to9 assists tonight 10 to 11 rebounds while still being a knockdown shooter that he’s currently doing in 2024 I had a tough time like deciding if I wanted to put this guy in the top 20 I ended up

Doing so and coming in at number 17 we got Jaylen Brown so Jaylen Brown will be 32 in 5 years from now he was the third overall pick in 2016 which is kind of crazy cuz that will mean he’ll be in year number 13 pretty much and brown got

The supermax last off season and basically since the 2020 season he’s been a consistent number two option to Jason Tatum he’s averaged 24 points six rebounds three and a half assists shooting 48% from the field and 36 from three over the last four seasons and

That’s all as a number two option I feel like we could be talking about Jaylen Brown as one of the best wings in the NBA if he was a number one option he could be averaging over 30 points per game and who knows where he’s going to

Be in 2029 will it still be the number two behind Jason Tatum will it be a number one somewhere else that’s a factor that you have to consider when you’re making this prediction ranking all right the last guy we’ll get into before we get into the honorable mentions let’s talk about alar and

Shenon at 16 yeah I got y light coming in here at the 16th overall spot I can say the same things about Al shenon that I did at Scotty Barnes he’s having a breakout season he’s improved every single year though which has been a little bit different from Barnes he

Averaged 9 and 1 half points as a 19-year-old 14 and 1/2 as a 20-year-old and this year he’s averaging 21 points nine rebounds and five assists tonight and he’s still just 21 years old so he’ll be 26 in 5 years and who knows what he could be if you look at the joic

Career trajectory he was averaging 10 points in year 1 16 and half in year 2 and 18 and a half in year three and we knew what he became when you got to years six seven and eight and who knows maybe we see his same career pair for

Alaron shangu so before we kick off the top 15 I want to give you guys my honorable mentions you guys could put these guys in the top 20 and I would be perfectly fine with that so there was like 30ish guys that I wanted to put

Into this top 20 list so two honorable mentions to start off I got Lamela ball and I got Brandon Miller I really have no idea who’s going to emerge as the number one option and maybe 3 to 5 years from now you could say it’s LEL ball

Just because he had a little bit more draft pedigree and he’s been there first but I don’t know man Brandon Miller is having an incredible rookie season and definitely projects to be a better two-way player as well I also got fron Vagner coming in here he’ll be 27 years

Old he’s really good but will he still be a number two and 5 years from now that could hold back some of his stats and accolades to make this list I got Zion Williamson he’ll be 28 I just just never know what the injuries I also got

Evan Moy from the 2021 draft class he’ll be 27 years old I’m sure he’s going to be one of the best defenders in the league but will we see that offensive progression that can really put him in as a top 20 guy also have Tyrese Maxi

He’ll be 28 he’s one of the best scorers in the NBA already so I feel like I had to mention him and then I have Lowry Markin and he’ll be 31 years old I just wonder if he’s ever going to be a ceiling Razer of a team because we

Haven’t really seen that in Utah yet and then I got two players that aren’t even in the NBA they’re not even in college basketball yet they’re both basically seniors in high school they would be featured in the 2025 NBA draft first one is Cooper flag he’ll be 22 years old in

2029 he’s committed to Duke right now he’s the number one high school recruit and then I have AJ dant as well he’s currently not committed to a college same age as Cooper flag and he was originally supposed to be in the 26 draft class but got reclassified to 2025

So yeah I just wanted to throw in guys that weren’t even in the NBA because there’s currently no college guys that I could really see with the top 20 cealing in 5 years from now maybe you can give some love to guys like Cody Williams or International prospects like Alex SAR

And Zachary Vace so coming in at 15 I have my final player that I’m going to mention from the 2021 draft class and that’s Kate Cunningham so yeah I’ve always been the highest on Kate Cunningham out of all these guys I still think he would go number one in a

Redraft he’s just been dealt a horrible situation and he has shown so many flashes in year three he’s also played a ton less games than guys like Scotty Barnes and Al perun shenon just because he was injured all year in his sophomore season we only got to see him play 12

Games and then obviously the Pistons have been a dumpster fire this year but he’s improved his field goal percentage his three-point percentage his free throw percentage points per game assists per game and he’s even brought brought down the turnovers a little bit from his rookie season and I still think Kate

Cunningham has top five point guard in the league potential he’ll be 27 years old maybe that’s a hot take from me though you could also put Chad homr in the honorable mentions as well maybe a similar career trajectory them like in Evan Mooby but the reason I just brought

Up Chad homr is cuz coming in at number 14 I got Jay dub Jaylen Williams yeah who would have thought this when he was selected with a 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft but why not have Jaylen Williams he’ll be 27 years old and he’s taken such a massive jump from his

Rookie season to his sophomore year he he’s gone up from 14 points to 19 points three assists to 4 and 1/2 assists field goal percentage has jumped from 52 to 54% the three-point percentage has jumped from 35% to 45% and he’s still a solid free throw shooter as well and it

Looks like the defense has improved all around so who knows what he’s going to be like when he’s 27 years old and he’s doing this as a number two option behind Shay gois Alexander right now coming in at number 13 I got dear and Fox at the

Sacramento Kings I hope dearen Fox is still on the kings in 2029 he’ll be 31 years old and fox has taken a nice career path as well improved a lot from his rookie year to his sophomore year maybe took a little bit of a step back in year three with the three-point

Shooting but has been consistent this year in 2024 which was one of the bigger weaknesses of his game he’s one of the best players in the clutch as well and I think he could be a number one option so I think he’ll still have that pedigree

To be a top 20 player in everybody’s mind coming at number 12 I mentioned one of his teammates before in fron Vagner always being a number two it’s because I have this guy here number 12 Paulo banero yeah Pao banero will be 26 years old he’s 21 right now and has taken such

A jump already from his rookie year to his sophomore year he was the Rookie of the Year last year from the 2022 draft class and this year was named as an Allstar as a 21-year-old he’s averaging 23 points seven rebounds 5 and a half assists tonight over a steel shooting

46% from the field 36% from three and was also on Team USA last summer in the feeble World Cup so the sky is the limit for Po benero and he could be one of the best forwards and even one of the best players in the NBA one day coming into

Number 11 we got John morand of the Memphis Grizzlies a lot of unknowns with John morand he has dealt with a ton of injuries in his career and obviously there’s been off the court issues as well that’s kind of holding me back from putting him in the top 10 but Jaws had a

Great career already in his four years in the league as a two-time Allstar he won Rookie of the Year in 2020 he was an all NBA member in 2022 and he won also the most improved player award that year as well and I mean ja could be a 25 to

27 point per game scorer he can average eight assists tonight and if he takes a jump in his three-point shooting kind of like Darren Fox did he could definitely be a top 10 player in five years so to kick off the top 10 I have one of the

Best passers in the league right now now he was a teammate of dearen Fox at one point and that is tyres halberton so I’d love to know in the comments how would you guys rank Halt and johnar and dearn fox I’m going with Halton as the best

One in five years he’ll be 28 years old I assume he’ll still be in Indiana it seems like he loves it there he’s averaging 22 points four rebounds and 12 assists a knight this year shooting 49% from the field 40% from three 85% from the line this guy is the modern-day

Steve Nash but also 2 in taller and a much much more crafty scorer in my opinion and I still think he’ll be the best passing point guard in 2029 coming at at number nine he’ll be 27 years old let’s talk about Anthony Edwards in the Minnesota Timberwolves I think Anthony

Edwards is going to be just such an insane playoff performer by then we saw how good he was against the de nuggets last year in round one obviously we’re going to see the Minnesota Timberwolves play in the playoffs this year in 2024 so I’m so excited to see what his

Playoff resume is going to look like in 2029 he’s another player that is just gotten better and better each year of his career 19 points as a 19-year-old rookie 21 points in year to 24 and2 points in year three and he’s averaging 26 points on one of the best teams in

The League this season in 2024 the sky is the limit for the Ant-Man okay coming into number eight I got Donovan Mitchell so Mitchell will be 32 years old which puts this a little bit as a risk of having him in the top 10 but hey there’s

Plenty of guys that are in their 30s that are in the top 10 right now guys like LeBron KD Steph Curry and Mitchell has been an MVP candidate for sure this season he’s basically been the best player on his teams every single year of his career including his 2018 R season

He’s going to be an All-Star every single year and he’s one of the best guards in the league he’s one of the best three LEL scorers we have seen in some time and I do think he’s going to have a championship by 2029 I just don’t

Know what team he’ll be on so one spot ahead of Donovan Mitchell coming in at number seven he’ll be 32 years old as well I feel like they’re always going to get compared with each other and it’s going to be Devon Booker so Deon Booker right now in my opinion is the best

Shooting guard in the league I still think he can be the best shooting guard in 2029 he’s averaging 27 a half points seven assists and four and a half rebounds this year kind of as more of a point guard at times the efficiency is off the charts and he’s still just 27

Years old he’s still going to get better and better and will still be in his prime in 2029 you assume Kevin Durant will be retired by then so Deon Booker will be back to being a number one option by then all right I had also a tough time wrecking my next player he’s

Going to be 34 years old then but still could be the best player in the NBA it’s going to be jannis an and so yeah I just have no idea how giannis’s game is going to age obviously he does rely a lot on his athleticism his strength his

Physical presence inside I mean he’s already a first bout Hall of Famer if he retired today and he’s still averaging 31 points in have rebounds as a 29-year-old I’m just more wondering how many rings will Giannis have in 5 years so coming into number five I have nicoa

Yic who will be 33 years old I may be just kind of overrating age a little bit here but yeah I have joic at five Giannis at six I feel like jokic’s game is going to age so so well though cuz he does not rely really that much on his

Athleticism he’s still an elite offensive Talent he’s so efficient at The Rim he’s Elite from three for his size and he’s still so impactful in so many other ways other than scoring so one of the best rebounders in the league he’s one of the best passers in the

League he’s still going to be one of the top talents in 5 years coming at number four I got somebody who may win MVP this season then that’s Shay Gil just Alexander so Shay is averaging 31 points 5 and a half rebounds and six and a half

Assists as a 25-year-old Shay will be 30 in 2029 he’s also an incredible Defender he’s one of the best guys at getting into the passing Lanes he’s leading the league in steals right now and if Shay’s putting up consistent 30 point Seasons six assists six rebounds two Steals on a

Lead efficiency we beting the Thunder to being one of the best teams in the league how can we not consider him as a top five guy in the league I also didn’t have Joel embiid in this ranking I just really didn’t know how to predict his future cuz obviously he’s dealt with so

Many injuries but if he’s still fully healthy you could probably throw him in like that 4 to8 range but that’s just why he’s not making the list so coming into number three I got Jason Tatum who will be 30 years old Tatum is such an accomplished player already at just 25

Years of age over the last 5 years of his career from year three to year eight he has averaged 27 points eight rebounds and four assists shooting 46 from the field 37 from three 84 from the line I expect him to still do all of this when

He is 30 years old he’s also been to the NBA finals once multiple Eastern Conference Finals appearances and he’s well well well on his way to being a first ballot Hall of Famer so for the first time ever in making any of these videos he’s it’s basically top 25 under

25 it’s luuka donic top players in five years from now it’s Luka donic but for the first time ever I don’t have Luka donic at number one I have him at two which is just insane to say because somebody that is just still 24 years old is averaging 34 points in this league

Leading the whole NBA 49% from the field 37% from three oh yeah N9 and a half assists and nine rebounds as well and you’re like Matt how do you not have him number one I know it was so so tough if you had him at number one I could 100%

Agree with that I think similar to joic his game is going to age so well and while there are injury concerns with my number one guy I just feel like I had to put him there so coming in at number one yes it’s Victor wanyama Victor wanyama

Is going to going to be 25 years old in 2029 he’s already been a top 20 player in the league this season and he just turned 20 last month you can make an argument he’s a top five defensive player in the league as well averaging 3.2 blocks this season over a Steeler

Knight 20 and a half points 47% shooting in 28 minutes a night if we look at his per 36 he’d be averaging 26 and 13 with four assists one and a half Steals and four blocks he’s going to be a multiple time Allstar by then I assume this will

Be his only year basically until 2029 he’s not going to be an Allstar we’ll just see how good of a team the Spurs put around him but I think he’s well on his way to being the best player in the NBA in a very short time so yeah that is

Going to be for me I hope you guys did enjoy drop a like if you did let me know in the comments what you agree or disagree with obviously this is very tough to predict but I think it’s always fun and starting next year I’ll be able

To react to every video I’ve done in the past five seasons because I did this style of video in 2020 we could reacted in 25 I did in 21 for 26 and so on so I got to keep making these every year so I

Can react to them in 5 years from now so I hope you guys did enjoy if you did make sure you check out my podcast links in the description below it is back it’s on YouTube Spotify Apple podcast and then you also have my Tik Tok my 2k Channel NFL podcast Instagram and

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