Top 25 NBA Players: Ja Morant’s unlimited ceiling, Maxey emerges, Lillard rebound? | Hoops Tonight
Jason Timpf continues his rankings of the Top 25 Players in the NBA featuring the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard, and Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey. Jason breaks down each player’s greatest strengths and weaknesses and shares his expectations ahead of the 2024 NBA season.
Watch Players 25-24 of the NBA Player Rankings Here: https://youtu.be/oz1-wIkZx8Q
Timeline:
00:00 – #23: Ja Morant
16:58 – #22: Damian Lillard
25:37 – #21: Tyrese Maxey
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35 Comments
Jason, you really think Damian Lillard is capable of carrying a team? I think Dame in Portland didn't play meaningful basketball and nobody cared. Here in Milwaukee everything counts. Now you actually see teams playing hard defense on Dame. The main issue with Dame is that he's not efficient, very inconsistent and just terrible defense. Do I think Dame will struggle again? Absolutely. Teams are actually playing defense on Dame now.
Y’all Done Completely Forgot How Good Ja Morant Is… He’s Way Better Than Dame & Maxey
Hey Jason, can you explain why Dame is higher than Fox, I’m just curious of the thought process and basketball reasoning, thanks and keep up the good work
Bro r u seriously doing 3 players at a time like lmao
No way you have current lillard over fox. Fox is the much more dynamic player on both ends
Fox is better than all of these guys
Ja had literally NBA keys handed to him….if not for this gang banging nonsense he would be the next face of our league. Hope he learned his lesson 🙏
Hi jason, great work.
I dont fully agree with maxey hype.
For example zion i expect is not in your list, but i would put zion on the list before maxey tbh. Zion is number one for the last 2 years on a good team in a hell of a conference, his production as number one is very good, i know he only appeared in a single play in game but maxey only has one great season and it was as number 2. Sample of very good maxey is still small, and it is as number 2. Sample on zion is bigger and it is as number 1.
Other guy i was considering was Paolo but sample is small, i expect paolo to be top 20 in the next off season but i agree for now is boarderline top 25. I would put for sure zion ahed of both kyrie and maxey and between ky and maxey i would choose ky. Normally i agree with every take you have, in this one i kinda feel you oversee the value of zion. Cheers, have a great day
Dame also had personal life stuff going on, worth a mention
i agree completely that ja has that transcendent burst. unreal upside. i kept him out my top 25 tho bc i just havent seen enough from him over the past two yrs. n the shooting from 3 but also at the rim declining made me think when he does get back itll take some time for him to get back to himself.
i was one of the ppl that argued that he deserved to still be on lists after the gun incident. i think hoops tn left him off all list then when he had a higher standing in the league on the court. but now its just been too long since iv e seen him do his thing for me. i got him at 26 behind jimmy.
People really had Jamal Murray in their top 25 just a year ago
Tyrese Maxey making 6 million was asked to carry the 76ers while Joel Embiid was out and Tobias Harris making 40 million dollars took the back seat.
TOP 25:
Tier 1 –
1. jok
2. giannis
these guys are unstoppable. they have a huge impact on winning even on their worst nights. this is my first time putting jok > giannis. this is mostly based off availability
Tier 1.5 –
3. embiid
impossible to rank. when healthy hes up there w jokic n giannis. when hes banged up or out of shape his off nights look like the off nights from the guys in tier 2
Tier 2 –
4. jt
5. sga
6. luka
these are all #1s on a title team level guys. all of them are hugely impactful but have their flaws. jt lacks shooting consistency. sga lacks versatility on both ends (pretty heliocentric on O and not great at poa across positions defensively). luka lacks versatility on offense (extremely heliocentric) and lacks damn near everything on defense (is only average on ball v big n relatively slower offensive players)
Tier 3 –
7. ad
8. bron
9. kd
10. steph
all great players but for 1 reason or another they cant shoulder the load of being a full-time #1. ad just doesnt have the offensive bag scoring or playmaking. the others are wrestling father time. they can be good enough for the #1 role over short periods but cant sustain it night in night out for 82 games + post szn
tier 4 –
11. book
12. j brown
13. ant
14. dmitch
15. j brunson
all these guys have flashed #1 upside on a title team but don't do it consistently enough to be considered even a part-time #1 on a title team. book lacks size and doesn't create enough easy buckets – relies on pull ups too much. jaylen brown is a great versatile defender n scores like a #1 but lacks the playmaking chops. ant lacks great shot selection, playmaking chops, and is a lil lazy defending off ball. dmitch also relies on pull ups too much n isnt great on defense. brunson doesnt apply enough rim pressure n is not great on defense.
tier 5
16. wemby
17. zion
18. bam
19. haliburton
20. kawhi
these are guys that have briefly shown #1 upside but lack availability (zion hali kawhi) OR extremely high level defensive guys w/ a secondary/tertiary offensive skillset(wemby n bam).
tier 6
21. kat
22. siakam
23. fox
24. kyrie
25. jimmy
these guys all have underrated impact on winning but arent #1 options by any means. kat siakam n kyrie are clearly #2s but have skillsets that greatly impact winning – kat spaces bigs n attacks mismatches, siakam is a versatile defender n great mismatch attacker, kyrie a deadly efficient 3 level scorer. fox is cast as a #1 but doesnt quite have enough impact to win in that role. jimmy is versatile n fronts like a number 1 in moments but isnt available, eats mainly off opportunities in margins, doesnt create easy looks in iso or pnr and therefore burns out in the playoffs when hes asked to carry an offense full time
i need more explanation on guys relative to players above n below them. why maxey n damn n ja over fox?
In my opinion, this far defense has not been valued. At the minimum, Fox should be ahead of everyone at at least 22.
No Trae Young?
Maxey can't jump as high as Ja but he's a better shooter and playmaker
No mention of Maxie's defense. 🙄
Maxey and Dame (who are solidified 2s at this point) are not better than Ja who’s a number one option
First 5 are all small guards.
I’d argue that the last thing Ja Morant should be getting better at is shooting
Dame is definitely not good enough to be a Nr.1 option on a legit contender. Never has been. He is a great scorer (yet inconsistent), an okay playmaker and one of the worst defenders in the league. He also needs the ball in his hands too much for someone who can't really playmake that well.
His ceiling was always Nr. 2 option with a champion.
Dame wasn't in shape last season and has personal life problems. He'll be back to where he left of in Portland.
Seems like Dame also had a rough season last year because he went into it out of shape, didn't train during the summer, was stressed about trade & divorce. Ultimately, none of it mattered because Giannis & Khris couldn't stay healthy, didn't realize Dame was over 70 games, that's great.
Hey Jayson, big fan. what do you think of this trade? Wiggins straight up for Chris Middleton. I know Wiggins doesn't have much value, however his defense and athleticism is exactly what the bucks need.
Chris Middleton can be the warriors second shot creator. Also, he would probably be a much better fit alongside kuminga and help him blossom. If it doesn't work out, his contact is more trade able than Wiggins. Would love to hear your opinion.
Under clearing undervaluing Ja’s on ball creation for a badly spaced Grizzlies team, Maxey gets to attack close-outs, attack 1 on 1, catch and shot so much more his efficiency is getting him overrated
Ja ranked higher than Kyrie? Can't agree with that
This will be an example of every lakers hater trying to give “basketball reasons” to disagree with Jason. “Lakers suck AD sucks Lebron sucks!! “
To be fair to Ja, his shooting was trending up just before he got injured. I think he shot like 40 % on his last 3 games.
And his offball scoring has never been great but he has never been in consistant offball situation before due to him being the only good shot creator but now that bane and jjj have grown in that area and that smart his on the team, he's gonna have more opportunity to play like that but you're right he's gonna have to be consistent with the jumpshot and not sparks here and there
Brother i love the channel, i would suggest the use of images when you talk about the numbers it helps to undertand with less effort which gives more fluidity to the video👍
Dame is not better than Kyrie … Dame is not as efficient, doesn't have a better handle, is not as good off ball, and does not finish at the rim as well. There are not 24 better players than Kyrie in the NBA!
I take issue with the methodology used here, in which durability plays a factor into how we rank players. If we are ranking players based on basketball talent alone, in a vacuum, then durability should not be part of the equation. Injuries can happen to anyone, at any time. A better measure of how good players are, in a vacuum, should assume health. That way we can compare the on-court impact and play of these players and rank them accordingly. Ranking a player lower due to availability is disingenuous to the idea of ranking them in a vacuum.
Would be nice if the players names were removed from the title
Ja is a poor man’s Ant
"Unlimited ceiling" 😹😹the guy is a skinny 6'2 with 30% three point percentage. Not to mention, he cannot even stay out of trouble.