NBA Rank 2026: The new top 10 features a razor-thin race for No. 1

Welcome to the grand finale of NBA Rank 2026.

After unveiling Nos. 100-51 on Tuesday and Nos. 50-11 on Wednesday, the big reveal is here.

Who will be the top 10 players for the 2026-27 season? How high did reigning Finals MVP Jalen Brunson climb? Did Victor Wembanyama just begin a LeBron James-esque run atop of the list?

While ESPN's latest top 10 -- er, full top 100 -- will surely spark debate, what can't be questioned is the remarkably tight race for this season's No. 1 spot. Just three voting points separated Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama, with each superstar placing atop at least one of the seven panelists' individual rankings.

That panel has been overhauled for the 2026 edition. In previous seasons, more than 100 ESPN NBA insiders, reporters, editors and producers voted on thousands of possible player vs. player matchups to arrive at the final top-100 list.

That "wisdom of the crowd" approach has given way to the wisdom of seven NBA experts: ESPN's Ben Golliver, Vincent Goodwill, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, Dave McMenamin, André Snellings and Matt "Stats" Williams. (The panelists' individual top-100 lists were combined to create our final rankings.)

Voting guidelines, however, remained unchanged. The panel was asked to rank players based on predicted contributions -- quality and quantity -- for the 2026-27 regular season only.

Let's get to the list -- the best of the best heading into the new NBA season.

Note: Signature stats provided by ESPN Research.

10. Donovan Mitchell

G | Cleveland Cavaliers
Age: 30
2025 NBA Rank: 15

Mitchell rises into the top 10 after leading the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference finals last season, his first such appearance in his nine-year career. He has finished in the top seven in MVP voting in three of the past four seasons, and his ability to create off the dribble while using his shooting range to freeze defenders makes him the offensive force of the Cavs. Mitchell has been an All-Star in seven straight seasons, and he pairs with James Harden to give Cleveland one of the few backcourts where each starter boasts multiple All-NBA selections. 

Big question: Can Mitchell be the best player on a champion?

The Cavaliers start four All-Stars in Mitchell, Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but in the playoffs they will go only as far as Mitchell can lead them.

One of the ironies of Mitchell's first run to the conference finals was that he didn't play particularly well compared with past postseasons. In his six playoffs runs, from 2020 to 2025, Mitchell averaged 30.0 points per game with a player efficiency rating of 24.5. Last season, he averaged 26.0 points with a PER of just 18.6 (15.0 is considered average). The former version is absolutely good enough to carry the Cavs back to the Finals, especially if Mitchell sees a repeat performance from his teammates. -- André Snellings

Signature stat: Mitchell is one of eight players to average at least 20 points per game in each of the past nine seasons.

Fantasy projection: 26.8 PTS, 5.7 AST, 4.8 REB, 1.6 STL

9. Jayson Tatum

F | Boston Celtics
Age: 28
2025 NBA Rank: NR (injury)

Tatum wasn't eligible for NBA Rank last fall because of an Achilles tendon tear he sustained in May 2025, and the two other notable players who tore an Achilles tendon around the same time -- Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard -- both sat out the entire campaign. But Tatum returned after a concerted and relatively speedy recovery, and in his 16 regular-season and six playoff games, he was remarkably productive for someone who had suffered such a devastating injury less than 12 months earlier.

Tatum did miss Game 7 of the Celtics' playoff loss to Philadelphia because of an undisclosed injury originally described by the team as left knee stiffness, but he'll end up having had another six months of recovery time by opening night this season. He might look even more like his former self -- and he'll need to be after the Celtics traded co-star Jaylen Brown to the 76ers in the offseason.

Big question: Is Tatum's ceiling still as high post-injury?

Tatum was good in his limited playing time last season. But he was far more than merely good before his Achilles tear. For four consecutive seasons before the injury, Tatum was a first-team All-NBA selection, which is the level most championship teams need from their No. 1 option. If Tatum can't return to that level, the Celtics likely won't have enough top-tier star power to return to the Finals. But if Tatum returns to MVP contender status, Boston will be right back in the title mix. -- Zach Kram

Signature stat: Tatum is one of three players to average at least 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game across the past two seasons, joining Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Fantasy projection: 26.7 PTS, 8.6 REB, 5.8 AST, 1.1 STL

8. Cade Cunningham

G | Detroit Pistons
Age: 24
2025 NBA Rank: 12

Cunningham vaulted into the top 10 thanks to a spectacular 2025-26 season in which he earned first-team All-NBA honors and led the Pistons to the franchise's first 60-win season in 20 years. The No. 1 draft pick in 2021 has successfully weathered early-career injuries and a miserable 14-win campaign in 2023-24 to emerge as an elite playmaker. Cunningham excels at controlling game flow, manipulating matchups and changing speeds, and he has lived up to hopeful predraft assessments that viewed him in the same mold as James Harden and Luka Doncic. With Cunningham turning 25 on Friday, the Pistons must focus solely on maximizing the talent around him over the next three to five seasons. His and Detroit's window of opportunity is now.

Big question: Will Cunningham solve his turnover problems?

High-usage playmakers are bound to turn the ball over, especially when they're asked to log huge minutes in the playoffs. But Cunningham set an unfortunate record during the 2026 postseason: Detroit's franchise guard averaged 5.6 turnovers per game, the most by any player in NBA history during a playoff run of at least 10 games.

Cunningham can be sloppy with the ball, but Detroit's cramped spacing and lack of secondary ball handlers make his job much more difficult. Even though the Pistons have gradually improved their cast of outside shooters by adding Duncan Robinson and Isaiah Joe since the 2025 offseason, they're destined for more playoff heartbreak unless they find another star-level creator to properly balance their offense. For proof of concept, the Pistons should look back at the 2018 Rockets' pairing of James Harden and Chris Paul and the 2024 Mavericks' duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Thanks to the multipronged attacks during those seasons, Houston won 65 games and Dallas made a stunning trip to the Finals. -- Ben Golliver

Signature stat: Last season, Cunningham became the first Piston to score 1,500 points in consecutive campaigns since Jerry Stackhouse's three straight from 1999-2000 to 2001-02.

Fantasy projection: 24.6 PTS, 9.8 AST, 5.6 REB, 1.4 STL

7. Anthony Edwards

G | Minnesota Timberwolves
Age: 25
2025 NBA Rank: 6

Still only 25, Edwards grabbed the mantle of best two-way wing in the NBA during Jayson Tatum's injury absence last season. Edwards averaged a career-high 28.8 points per game and again made 40% of his 3s on high volume (as he did in 2024-25) while enjoying his most efficient season overall. And while Edwards missed out on an All-NBA nod because he appeared in only 61 games, he is generally one of the sturdiest stars around, having appeared in at least 72 games in each of his previous five campaigns.

Big question: Can Edwards continue to improve as a facilitator? 

With only one exception -- a certain French center -- the players ranked ahead of Edwards on this list and the league's leading MVP candidates are so effective because they create prime scoring opportunities for both themselves and their teammates. But Edwards doesn't quite yet fit that expansive playmaking role, even as he improves every year with his reads out of pick-and-rolls.

The Timberwolves' experiment of using Edwards as a point guard appears to be over after trading for LaMelo Ball this offseason. But that might not get in the way of Edwards' development in this capacity; last season, he posted his lowest assist rate since he was a rookie. -- Kram

Signature stat: Edwards' 10,854 career points is the third most in NBA history before turning 25, trailing only LeBron James (13,927) and Kevin Durant (12,258).

Fantasy projection: 30.3 PTS, 5.2 REB, 4.0 AST, 1.3 STL

6. Jalen Brunson

G | New York Knicks
Age: 30
2025 NBA Rank: 10

The "King of New York" became the king of the NBA in June, powering the Knicks to their first title in over 50 years. He earned All-NBA honors for the third straight year and was named conference finals MVP and Finals MVP -- all while shutting down every critique about his size at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. Brunson is cemented into Knicks lore as an all-time great. A parity-busting repeat would put him on the doorstep of all-time great status leaguewide.

Big question: Can Brunson keep the Knicks focused in an improved East?

It will be said ad nauseam this season: There hasn't been a repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, when Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were co-supernovas.

Every champion since has had a hiccup on the way to June. The Eastern Conference is as deep as it has been in decades, and the Knicks are now the biggest target. It won't just be when teams come into Madison Square Garden; the Knicks will be everyone's biggest game. That requires extra stamina. It's also the time when a collective group can splinter and begin thinking about contracts rather than sacrifice.

The captain will have to keep this group on task for the better part of six months -- then ramp it up again for the playoffs. So much laid out perfectly after an up-and-down 2025-26 regular season, and the Knicks often cleared the way for Brunson to take over in the fourth quarters of games. Can the Knicks deploy the same formula? Or will Brunson have to make statistical sacrifices to keep everybody on board until the playoffs begin? His leadership will be tested. -- Vincent Goodwill

Signature stat: Brunson averaged 11.2 fourth-quarter points during the 2026 NBA Finals, the most ever by a guard and second to only Shaquille O'Neal in 1995 and 2000.

Fantasy projection: 26.9 PTS, 6.9 AST, 3.3 REB, 0.9 STL

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo

F | Miami Heat
Age: 31
2025 NBA Rank: 4

Antetokounmpo continued to put up MVP-caliber numbers last season but didn't finish in the top four of the MVP vote for the first time in eight years because he missed so much time to injury. The 31-year-old forward played just 36 games in his final season with the Bucks, and he will enter his first with the Heat needing to prove he is still in his prime and can stay healthy. If both are true in 2026-27, Antetokounmpo will remain one of the very few players capable of averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds while also leading his team in assists.

Big question: Can Antetokounmpo lead the Heat into championship contention in Year 1?

When the Heat traded away a large collection of players and draft assets to bring in Antetokounmpo, the general consensus was that it would take multiple seasons to reopen Miami's title window. But why not now? The Heat made it to at least the conference finals three times in four campaigns from 2020 to 2023 with a team built around Jimmy Butler III and Bam Adebayo, with role players at every other key position.

"Heat Culture" is real, implemented by team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, which means Miami is always defensive-minded and edgy. The Heat tend to squeeze every ounce of potential out of their lineups and garner more success than general expectations on a yearly basis. Enter Antetokounmpo, who gives the team its most talented player since LeBron James led Miami to four consecutive Finals and back-to-back titles almost 15 years ago.

Antetokounmpo's ability to be a one-man wrecking ball and offense creator at one end while crashing boards and playing disruptive defense at the other end might still be unmatched. Opponents will still have to "build the wall" to keep him from dominating the paint, which means teammates will continue to feast on open looks when Antetokounmpo drives -- and the Heat added Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. to capitalize. -- Snellings

Signature stat: Antetokounmpo left Milwaukee as one of four players to lead an active franchise in points, rebounds and assists, joining LeBron James with Cleveland, Kevin Garnett with Minnesota and Michael Jordan with Chicago.

Fantasy projection: 32.1 PTS, 11.4 REB, 6.3 AST, 1.1 STL

4. Luka Doncic

G | Los Angeles Lakers
Age: 27
2025 NBA Rank: 3

Coming off his second scoring title in the past three years (33.48 points per game) and continuing to sport the revamped physique he committed to in the summer of 2025, Doncic is primed for another dominant season quarterbacking the Lakers. The 6-8 star's fingerprints were all over L.A.'s roster construction over the offseason, as the front office heeded his desire for an "A-list center" by trading for Walker Kessler and opened up the team's coffers to retain Doncic's dynamic backcourt partner, Austin Reaves. Now 27, Doncic is entering what traditionally has been identified as the start of a player's prime -- although he is arguably already there, as evidenced by his six All-NBA selections since joining the NBA in 2018.

Big question: Can Doncic win with this group?

Through two postseasons with the Lakers, Doncic has been on the court for only one playoff win. That's it. In 2025, L.A. was the Western Conference's No. 3 seed and got upset by the sixth-seeded Timberwolves in five games. This past spring, the Lakers made it to the conference semifinals as the 4-seed, but Doncic was sidelined for both rounds because of a hamstring issue.

Doncic's trips with the Dallas Mavericks to the West finals in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2024 are starting to feel like distant history. And since his Finals loss to the Celtics in 2024, Doncic has been passed in career accomplishments by some of his contemporaries -- with 28-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning back-to-back MVPs and an NBA title and former Doncic teammate Jalen Brunson, 30, leading the Knicks to their first championship in more than 50 years.

Is Doncic equipped to compete with the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder -- the team that swept L.A. out of the second round without him -- and Victor Wembanyama's Spurs? -- Dave McMenamin

Signature stat: Doncic is one of three players with 15,000 points, 4,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists in their first eight NBA seasons, joining LeBron James and Oscar Robertson.

Fantasy projection: 33.0 PTS, 8.9 AST, 8.5 REB, 1.6 STL

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

G | Oklahoma City Thunder
Age: 28
2025 NBA Rank: 2

Not returning to the NBA Finals should only motivate the reigning back-to-back MVP. But as the loss to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals proved, the Thunder are at their best when Gilgeous-Alexander has a healthy Jalen Williams paired with him. In the minutes they shared the court last season, Oklahoma City outscored its opponents by 15.3 points per 100 possessions. Besides trying to get back to the Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander is attempting to become the third guard to shoot better than 50% from the field in five straight seasons. Only Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Maurice Cheeks have done it.

Big question: Can Gilgeous-Alexander become the first player since 1986 to win three straight MVPs?

Even with the dominant runs of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, no player has won three consecutive MVPs since Larry Bird in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Gilgeous-Alexander enters the 2026-27 season behind Victor Wembanyama in MVP odds, according to DraftKings. -- Bobby Marks

Signature stat: This season, Gilgeous-Alexander can join Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan on the list of players to average 30 points on 50% shooting for at least five campaigns in a row. 

Fantasy projection: 31.3 PTS, 6.4 AST, 4.9 REB, 1.7 STL

2. Victor Wembanyama

C | San Antonio Spurs
Age: 22
2025 NBA Rank: 5

If not for a series of Spurs collapses in the NBA Finals, basketball fans everywhere would have crowned Wembanyama "Best Player in the World" in June. Instead, the 22-year-old center will enter his fourth season seeking championship validation and his first MVP award to go with the Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-NBA honors he earned last season. "The Alien" continues to ace the eye test and advanced stats alike, and he boosted his scoring efficiency in 2025-26 by cutting back on his 3-point attempts in favor of paint opportunities. After leading the league in blocks and defensive win shares during the regular season, Wembanyama posted an excellent plus-12.9 net rating during his first playoff run. What's scarier for opponents: his 7-4 (7-5? 7-6?) frame or his rapid rate of improvement?

Big question: What did Wembanyama learn from his NBA Finals defeat?

No matter how much time passes, the 2026 Finals' "tortoise and hare" dynamic still seems unfathomable. San Antonio outscored New York by 57 points in the first quarters of their five-game series only to then be outscored by 29 points in the second quarters, by 14 points in the third quarters and by 26 points in the fourth quarters. Wembanyama & Co. simply couldn't protect their leads.

While the Spurs' collective youth came back to bite them on the biggest stage, Wembanyama appeared to display physical and mental fatigue during his team's second-half struggles. What's more, he rightfully praised Knicks guard Jalen Brunson for dictating the late-game action.

To claim his first title, Wembanyama must improve his stamina and avoid an overreliance on isolation jumpers when playoff games tighten. Throughout its history, San Antonio has always won as a team. -- Golliver

Signature stat: Last season, Wembanyama became the NBA's first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, an award first presented in 1983.

Fantasy projection: 26.3 PTS, 12.2 REB, 3.5 AST, 3.5 BLK

1. Nikola Jokic

C | Denver Nuggets
Age: 31
2025 NBA Rank: 1

The margin between Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was razor-thin for the top spot in ESPN's NBA Rank. All three players deserved the No. 1 slot, but it's Jokic in the first position for the third consecutive year. In 2025-26, he averaged a triple-double for the second straight season, joining Russell Westbrook as the only players to accomplish the feat multiple times. Although Jokic finished second in MVP voting once again, he has either won the award or been runner-up across six consecutive campaigns.

Big question: Will Jokic's 3-point shooting return to form?

There will be questions around the Nuggets' depth after losing Peyton Watson this offseason. There will be questions about Jokic's next contract, despite him saying, "My desire is to play the rest of my life in Denver." But from an on-court perspective, his 3-point shooting dipped considerably after he suffered a bone bruise in his hyperextended left knee Dec. 29, causing him to miss 16 games. Before the injury, Jokic was shooting 44% from deep, which would have been a career high. That rate dropped to 32% from when he returned in late January until the end of the regular season.

Those struggles continued against the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, during which he shot 7-for-36 (19.4%) from beyond the arc for the sixth-worst percentage in postseason history among players with at least 35 attempts. In a Western Conference with defensive rim protectors such as Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and Walker Kessler, Jokic's outside shooting will be key to the Nuggets' spacing. -- Matt Williams

Signature stat: Last season, Jokic became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and assists per game.

Fantasy projection: 28.3 PTS, 12.7 REB, 10.1 AST, 1.6 STL