RealGM

Oh hey again good pals! This is the thing where we rank the top 25 NBA players for 2025-26 hooray.

Basically vote for 1 of the guys in the poll, and you can also post a comment that nominates a player to be added for the next round of voting. Then a day or two later I'll pop in and make the next poll.

So like: "Vote Jokic, nominate Kuzma." Or whatever.

If you change your mind, the poll is set up so you can change your vote as often as you'd like until the poll closes and the next thread goes up. (The poll is limited to 10 options.)

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Results so far:

#1: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets with 63% of the votes;
Added to next poll: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472330

#2: Shai Gilgeous Alexander, OKC Thunder with 54% of the votes;
Added to next poll: Anthony Davis, Dallas Mavericks
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472418

#3: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks with 50% of the vote
Added to next poll: Jalen Williams, OKC Thunder
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472506

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Not yet added:
Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers
Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets
Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers
Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
James Harden, LA Clippers
Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
Derrick White, Boston Celtics
Jimmy Butler, Golden State Warriors
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic
De'Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Lamelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Jaren Jackson Jr, Memphis Grizzlies
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
Lauri Markannen, Utah Jazz
Chet Holmgren, OKC Thunder
Ivica Zubac, LA Clippers
Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Etc etc.

This is meant to be a projection of player rankings for this coming season. Guys like Tatum ( ), Hali and Dame are likely not playing, so I begrudgingly left them out.

Enjoy!

Vote Luka

Nominate Mobley

Vote Luka

Nominate Mobley

Vote Luka

Nominate Kawhi

Giannis winning over Luka doesn’t make me feel good about Wemby’s chances of finishing #4. Still voting for him though.

Nominating Chet. I feel like his upside at a young age gives him a better chance at breaking into 2nd team all-NBA next year than the rest of the list.

Vote Doncic

Nominate Siakam

Vote: Wemby
Nominate: Evan Mobley

Luka and Wemby are great picks. If both stay healthy and do what they're supposed to do, these are no-brainer top 5 players and MVP candidates. Luka is the safer pick, in that he's already shown multiple years of high-level play, and seems like less of a health risk than an 8-foot alien.

I'm going Wemby, though. He's had 2 years to mess around on a bad team and explore various directions his game could grow in. Part of me worries Wemby will stay overly experimental at the expense of being his most effective self. The Spurs are still made of mostly young pieces, so I don't think they feel pressure to put their foot on the gas. However, they've got a 27-year-old Fox, a few other vets (Olynky, Unikornet, Harrison Barnes), and a new coach who wants to prove he's here to stay. All Wemby has to do is stay healthy, and take one meaningful step forward to be an instant DPOY/MVP favorite.

Evan Mobley was a top 10 player for me last year. His driving game was incredible, and the defense is elite. I think Chet has a chance to get into the top 10 conversation too, but Mobley is more proven.

cupcakesnake wrote:Vote: Wemby
Nominate: Evan Mobley

Luka and Wemby are great picks. If both stay healthy and do what they're supposed to do, these are no-brainer top 5 players and MVP candidates. Luka is the safer pick, in that he's already shown multiple years of high-level play, and seems like less of a health risk than an 8-foot alien.

I'm going Wemby, though. He's had 2 years to mess around on a bad team and explore various directions his game could grow in. Part of me worries Wemby will stay overly experimental at the expense of being his most effective self. The Spurs are still made of mostly young pieces, so I don't think they feel pressure to put their foot on the gas. However, they've got a 27-year-old Fox, a few other vets (Olynky, Unikornet, Harrison Barnes), and a new coach who wants to prove he's here to stay. All Wemby has to do is stay healthy, and take one meaningful step forward to be an instant DPOY/MVP favorite.

Evan Mobley was a top 10 player for me next year. His driving game was incredible, and the defense is elite. I think Chet has a chance to get into the top 10 conversation too, but Mobley is more proven.

This is shocking to me. Mobley isn't even the best player on the Cavs, and Chet isn't even top-2 on his.

IMO the top-10 guys (assuming health) are indisputably (no particular order): Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, Kawhi, Tatum, SGA, Durant, LeBron, and Curry. Even if you omit Kawhi, Tatum and Embiid due to health concerns, you still have Edwards, Wemby, D Mitchell, and/or AD who, imo, would be next in line.

SA37 wrote:

cupcakesnake wrote:Vote: Wemby
Nominate: Evan Mobley

Luka and Wemby are great picks. If both stay healthy and do what they're supposed to do, these are no-brainer top 5 players and MVP candidates. Luka is the safer pick, in that he's already shown multiple years of high-level play, and seems like less of a health risk than an 8-foot alien.

I'm going Wemby, though. He's had 2 years to mess around on a bad team and explore various directions his game could grow in. Part of me worries Wemby will stay overly experimental at the expense of being his most effective self. The Spurs are still made of mostly young pieces, so I don't think they feel pressure to put their foot on the gas. However, they've got a 27-year-old Fox, a few other vets (Olynky, Unikornet, Harrison Barnes), and a new coach who wants to prove he's here to stay. All Wemby has to do is stay healthy, and take one meaningful step forward to be an instant DPOY/MVP favorite.

Evan Mobley was a top 10 player for me next year. His driving game was incredible, and the defense is elite. I think Chet has a chance to get into the top 10 conversation too, but Mobley is more proven.

This is shocking to me. Mobley isn't even the best player on the Cavs, and Chet isn't even top-2 on his.

IMO the top-10 guys (assuming health) are indisputably (no particular order): Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, Kawhi, Tatum, SGA, Durant, LeBron, and Curry. Even if you omit Kawhi, Tatum and Embiid due to health concerns, you still have Edwards, Wemby, D Mitchell, and/or AD who, imo, would be next in line.

Sorry I mistyped "next" year instead of "last" year. I ranked Evan Mobley in the top 10 in 2025 regular season, as in: he had one of the 10 best regular seasons. For regular season rankings, I factor in health quite a bit. Wemby and Luka would have been above him, if healthy. I find Kawhi, Durant, and Lebron pretty hard to rank in their twilights. Embiid obviously goes unranked for 2025. Curry I think there's a plenty good argument to rank him highly.

I had Donovan Mitchell in the top 10 as well, but I had Mobley above him for the regular season. Mitchell chilled out a little bit, by design, in the Cavs offense, to allow a bigger team-wide attack that utilized Mobley, Garland, Allen, and even the role players more (Ty Jerome had a big regular season). Watching Cavs games, Mobley was the one who was central to their offensive identity, as his aggressive driving game opened things up to allow the shooters and guards to bomb from 3. On defense he was the clear anchor, rather than in past years where Allen and Mobley were co-anchors. I'm not pulling out a hot take here. If you listen to the smart Cavs journalists/podcasters, they debated Mitchell vs. Mobley all year. I have no problem with someone picking Mitchell, but if someone is scoffing at the idea of Mobley, I'm assuming they didn't follow the Cavs season much.

Try to remember that you and I are REALLY far apart in how we value defense. Defense for you is a cute little bonus role player skill. Defense for me is a major part of how players help teams win games. No one should be shocked at the DPOY being considered a top 10 player, but I get why you would.

If Mobley takes another step forward on offense, I think he could cement himself further. The driving game was a big development, but I think he still has further to go before he's an established offensive star. The man was absolutely dunking on people this year, and doing a ton of it off self-creation. In only 30mpg, the guy averaged 18-9-3 with 1.6 block, on 55/37/72 shooting splits. If he played normal starter minutes that's a 20-10-4 type of guy with strong scoring efficiency. He was good in the playoffs too, before he got hurt like most of the Cavs.

Chet I'm more talking about potential going forward. I believe in these giant mobile rim protectors who can also be a big positive on offense. Similar archetype to Mobley. KG clones.

V: Luka
I would have voted him over Giannis, too, but I think it is really close. This 3-5 range could probably go in any order.

N: Mobley

cupcakesnake wrote:

SA37 wrote:

cupcakesnake wrote:Vote: Wemby
Nominate: Evan Mobley

Luka and Wemby are great picks. If both stay healthy and do what they're supposed to do, these are no-brainer top 5 players and MVP candidates. Luka is the safer pick, in that he's already shown multiple years of high-level play, and seems like less of a health risk than an 8-foot alien.

I'm going Wemby, though. He's had 2 years to mess around on a bad team and explore various directions his game could grow in. Part of me worries Wemby will stay overly experimental at the expense of being his most effective self. The Spurs are still made of mostly young pieces, so I don't think they feel pressure to put their foot on the gas. However, they've got a 27-year-old Fox, a few other vets (Olynky, Unikornet, Harrison Barnes), and a new coach who wants to prove he's here to stay. All Wemby has to do is stay healthy, and take one meaningful step forward to be an instant DPOY/MVP favorite.

Evan Mobley was a top 10 player for me next year. His driving game was incredible, and the defense is elite. I think Chet has a chance to get into the top 10 conversation too, but Mobley is more proven.

This is shocking to me. Mobley isn't even the best player on the Cavs, and Chet isn't even top-2 on his.

IMO the top-10 guys (assuming health) are indisputably (no particular order): Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, Kawhi, Tatum, SGA, Durant, LeBron, and Curry. Even if you omit Kawhi, Tatum and Embiid due to health concerns, you still have Edwards, Wemby, D Mitchell, and/or AD who, imo, would be next in line.

Sorry I mistyped "next" year instead of "last" year. I ranked Evan Mobley in the top 10 in 2025 regular season, as in: he had one of the 10 best regular seasons. For regular season rankings, I factor in health quite a bit. Wemby and Luka would have been above him, if healthy. I find Kawhi, Durant, and Lebron pretty hard to rank in their twilights. Embiid obviously goes unranked for 2025. Curry I think there's a plenty good argument to rank him highly.

I had Donovan Mitchell in the top 10 as well, but I had Mobley above him for the regular season. Mitchell chilled out a little bit, by design, in the Cavs offense, to allow a bigger team-wide attack that utilized Mobley, Garland, Allen, and even the role players more (Ty Jerome had a big regular season). Watching Cavs games, Mobley was the one who was central to their offensive identity, as his aggressive driving game opened things up to allow the shooters and guards to bomb from 3. On defense he was the clear anchor, rather than in past years where Allen and Mobley were co-anchors. I'm not pulling out a hot take here. If you listen to the smart Cavs journalists/podcasters, they debated Mitchell vs. Mobley all year. I have no problem with someone picking Mitchell, but if someone is scoffing at the idea of Mobley, I'm assuming they didn't follow the Cavs season much.

Try to remember that you and I are REALLY far apart in how we value defense. Defense for you is a cute little bonus role player skill. Defense for me is a major part of how players help teams win games. No one should be shocked at the DPOY being considered a top 10 player, but I get why you would.

If Mobley takes another step forward on offense, I think he could cement himself further. The driving game was a big development, but I think he still has further to go before he's an established offensive star. The man was absolutely dunking on people this year, and doing a ton of it off self-creation. In only 30mpg, the guy averaged 18-9-3 with 1.6 block, on 55/37/72 shooting splits. If he played normal starter minutes that's a 20-10-4 type of guy with strong scoring efficiency. He was good in the playoffs too, before he got hurt like most of the Cavs.

Chet I'm more talking about potential going forward. I believe in these giant mobile rim protectors who can also be a big positive on offense. Similar archetype to Mobley. KG clones.

To the bolded: defense is important, but Mobley's ok offensive production (relative to potential top-10 guys) is really low. Kawhi, Embiid, Giannis, SGA, AD, Edwards, Wemby, AD, and even Jaren Jackson and Bam Adebayo all have been or potentially are all-NBA defense guys, if not DPOY candidates. Of the top-10 guys I named, the only average or less defenders there are Jokic and Doncic. Even KG was much better offensively that anything Mobley (or Chet) has shown up to now. That said, I do understanding you are projecting forward to some degree.

For me, Mobley hasn't gotten there and is much more comparable to Jaren Jackson Jr or Bam Adebayo than he is to A Davis, J Embiid, or Giannis. And neither JJJ nor Adebayo are even candidates to be in the top-20, let alone the top-10.

All this to say that, even if you believe Mobley (or Chet) project as potential top10 guys, top-10 is really reserved for guys are established and proven. If no one knew LeBron, Durant, and/or Curry's age, there would be no question that they belonged in the top-10.

Maybe Mobley (or Chet) take a leap this year, but it's too early to start crowning them top-10 before they've established their place there.

SA37 wrote:

cupcakesnake wrote:

SA37 wrote:
This is shocking to me. Mobley isn't even the best player on the Cavs, and Chet isn't even top-2 on his.

IMO the top-10 guys (assuming health) are indisputably (no particular order): Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, Kawhi, Tatum, SGA, Durant, LeBron, and Curry. Even if you omit Kawhi, Tatum and Embiid due to health concerns, you still have Edwards, Wemby, D Mitchell, and/or AD who, imo, would be next in line.

Sorry I mistyped "next" year instead of "last" year. I ranked Evan Mobley in the top 10 in 2025 regular season, as in: he had one of the 10 best regular seasons. For regular season rankings, I factor in health quite a bit. Wemby and Luka would have been above him, if healthy. I find Kawhi, Durant, and Lebron pretty hard to rank in their twilights. Embiid obviously goes unranked for 2025. Curry I think there's a plenty good argument to rank him highly.

I had Donovan Mitchell in the top 10 as well, but I had Mobley above him for the regular season. Mitchell chilled out a little bit, by design, in the Cavs offense, to allow a bigger team-wide attack that utilized Mobley, Garland, Allen, and even the role players more (Ty Jerome had a big regular season). Watching Cavs games, Mobley was the one who was central to their offensive identity, as his aggressive driving game opened things up to allow the shooters and guards to bomb from 3. On defense he was the clear anchor, rather than in past years where Allen and Mobley were co-anchors. I'm not pulling out a hot take here. If you listen to the smart Cavs journalists/podcasters, they debated Mitchell vs. Mobley all year. I have no problem with someone picking Mitchell, but if someone is scoffing at the idea of Mobley, I'm assuming they didn't follow the Cavs season much.

Try to remember that you and I are REALLY far apart in how we value defense. Defense for you is a cute little bonus role player skill. Defense for me is a major part of how players help teams win games. No one should be shocked at the DPOY being considered a top 10 player, but I get why you would.

If Mobley takes another step forward on offense, I think he could cement himself further. The driving game was a big development, but I think he still has further to go before he's an established offensive star. The man was absolutely dunking on people this year, and doing a ton of it off self-creation. In only 30mpg, the guy averaged 18-9-3 with 1.6 block, on 55/37/72 shooting splits. If he played normal starter minutes that's a 20-10-4 type of guy with strong scoring efficiency. He was good in the playoffs too, before he got hurt like most of the Cavs.

Chet I'm more talking about potential going forward. I believe in these giant mobile rim protectors who can also be a big positive on offense. Similar archetype to Mobley. KG clones.

To the bolded: defense is important, but Mobley's ok offensive production (relative to potential top-10 guys) is really low. Kawhi, Embiid, Giannis, SGA, AD, Edwards, Wemby, AD, and even Jaren Jackson and Bam Adebayo all have been or potentially are all-NBA defense guys, if not DPOY candidates. Of the top-10 guys I named, the only average or less defenders there are Jokic and Doncic. Even KG was much better offensively that anything Mobley (or Chet) has shown up to now. That said, I do understanding you are projecting forward to some degree.

For me, Mobley hasn't gotten there and is much more comparable to Jaren Jackson Jr or Bam Adebayo than he is to A Davis, J Embiid, or Giannis. And neither JJJ nor Adebayo are even candidates to be in the top-20, let alone the top-10.

All this to say that, even if you believe Mobley (or Chet) project as potential top10 guys, top-10 is really reserved for guys are established and proven. If no one knew LeBron, Durant, and/or Curry's age, there would be no question that they belonged in the top-10.

Maybe Mobley (or Chet) take a leap this year, but it's too early to start crowning them top-10 before they've established their place there.

That's kind of a long list of guys that I'd make very different counter points to in relation to Mobley. Some things to remember when addressing my comments in this thread:
- This is a poll projecting 2025. We are predicting here, not crowning guys with awards based on their accomplishments.
- I'm nominating Mobley to be the 14th player listed in the poll. Not claiming he's the best player in the league.
- I said Mobley had a top 10 regular season last year, not that he was a top 10 biggest talent or whatever.

So to the players you listed there:
- Giannis, SGA, Wemby. They are all obviously better than Mobley. Nothing to say here.
- Embiid. Completely injured and there are legitimate concerns if we ever see him return to form. Obviously Embiid was on a whole other level when he was healthy, but it's a been a minute, and I don't think we'll see him in rankings until/unless he shows some positive health signs.
- Kawhi and Anthony Davis missed half the season last year. They're also older and every year they become harder to project. Kawhi was once my favorite player, but we can't really expect him to play full seasons or be healty for playoff runs. I always hope that he is, of course!
- Bam Adebayo had a really poor season last year. I hope and expect him to bounce back. I'm usually someone who ranks Bam high, but last year was the worst season of his young prime. I agree that Bam is the exact type of guy who is normally in this kind of conversation.
- I'm mostly out on Lebron as a top 10 guy. I think he's still very good, and puts up some top 10 looking stats, but the holes in his game are so large that functionally it's hard to build with him as one of your best players. He's also 40 and I always wait for the wheels to fall off completely.
- Jaren Jackson Jr. I had rated VERY high during the regular season last year. Borderline top 10 regular season to me for the same reasons as Mobley, with a little more shooting and much less playmaking. I'm not as bullish on Trip going into this season, only because his driving/scoring dried up in the playoffs (to be fair against a ridiculous defense), while Mobley's stayed perky. Trip also has big weaknesses with rebounding and fouling that Mobley doesn't.
- Ant I also have as a borderline top 10 guy. Obviously he's a guy I watch every game. I liked Mobley more in the regular season, but rated Ant higher by the time we were into the playoffs.
- I'm not sure what AD's big advantage over Mobley is at this point, functionally. We'll see if AD has a bounce back season, but I think I'm higher on Mobley moving forward.

I do expect Mobley and Chet to become perennial top 10 guys if healthy. I think that level of scheme-proof rim protection is one of the biggest single tools a player can have, comparable in value to a #1 scorer skill set. After that, Mobley and Chet have crazy potential as giant ball handling drivers that can threaten the rim. Chet can also space, while Mobley's playmaking keeps getting better. Neither are KG level yet, but that's kind of the model for them. I think Mobley is already a lot closer than you think, and Chet could easily get there. Anyways, yes, these are projections not awards.

Vote Wemby

Nominate Derrick White, who will have a bigger role this season.

Vote Luka
Nominate Durant

It gets tougher to guess from here. I don’t think it Luka though everyone else does.
Nominate Jaylen Brown. I think he really steps up with Tatum out.
It’s a bit confusing to see LBJ and Curry on the list. Is it 2015?

brackdan70 wrote:It gets tougher to guess from here. I don’t think it Luka though everyone else does.
Nominate Jaylen Brown. I think he really steps up with Tatum out.
It’s a bit confusing to see LBJ and Curry on the list. Is it 2015?

Bron and Curry are there because I had two spots left to fill in the original poll and couldn't decide who to put in there. So I defaulted to the popular old guys in an attempt to not get chewed out by their fans. Basically just a cop-out on my part lol.

I've gotta get off the computer in a minute and I don't think anyone is catching Luka, so I'm gonna call this one a little early.

Luka Doncic is our pick for #4 NBA player in 2025-26
Evan Mobley got the most nominations, so he will be added to the next poll

Continue voting here to pick the #5 player in the NBA:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472702