Hollinger's Top 10 for 2025-2026.

[shrink]

Isn't Hollinger the PER guy? I remember that being a key stat back in 2008-09.

That’s right, and I think it explains Mobley.

The truth is though, I think his top six are right. There is a big gap between the top 4, current MVPs, and 5 and 6 are Wemby and Ant because of the future MVP ceilings neither has reached yet. 7+ is personal taste.

[JujitsuFlip]

Mobley at 7 seems shocking. Yea Mobley had an amazing season but i dont recall him being effective in the playoffs. Was there an injury i wasnt aware of? I think they used him differently because Mobley was more of a focal point and even ran pick n roll as the handler during the season.

Yes there was an injury lol intentionally injured at the end of game 1, missed game 2.

Cavs team is never healthy in the playoffs, it's a tired narrative and if they can't get it done this season, it's time to pivot.

[toooskies]

People say Mobley can't raise a bad team to the play-in on his own, but he sort of did his rookie season. (There was other growth from the rest of the team too, so it wasn't all just him being there.)

He hasn't been a go-to scorer because Garland and Mitchell were already good enough at that, but he's being given the green light this year to get his own shots. Expect a scoring jump.

But #7 in the league is still way too high. He made second team All-NBA last year but that's because of enough injuries ahead of him as well as extra credit for team performance. At best he's flirting with #9 or #10 if he takes the leap that everyone in Cleveland expects.

[The-Power]

Once Curry, Kawhi, Lebron, Durant retire, in soon future, and Jokić, Giannis & AD ages, league will have such a massive drop in pure quality.

When you see lists of top players, as soon as you pass top 30 you are entering role players list.

Older established players retiring and players aging out of their prime is normal, though, as is reaching ‘role player’ territory after you made it past a few dozen players (though I don't actually think you're talking about role players once you're past the first 30 names – that definitely feels like hyperbole). There is still a lot of talent in the pipeline that will emerge as stars and superstars.

SGA has already made the leap to (on-court) superstar and is only now in his prime. Victor is bound to make that leap, too, and already transcends the sport. Luka has been a household name and superstar for quite some time already and should only now approach his peak. Tatum, if he can fully recover, should only now enter his peak years, too. Edwards has been steadily improving and has a ton of eye balls on him. Haliburton, Brunson and Cunningham have turned into strong leaders of their up-and-coming teams. There's a crop of talented bigs out there with Sengün, Mobley, Holmgren, Banchero and potentially some others. Zion and LaMelo have the talent and the fame, now it's on them to stay healthy and play winning basketball – and if they do (big if, of course), they could still turn into superstars. Amen and Flagg have a similar appeal to a broad audience as well as the talent to potentially get there, and the next draft has two or three players with a lot of hype around them, too.

And all of that is with at least Giannis and Jokic being quite a few years away from leaving the scene anytime soon (if they age reasonably well). I agree that with LeBron, Curry, Durant in addition to Harden, Kawhi and Paul, the NBA is bound to lose an unusually large number of ATGs, whose names are known well beyond basketball circles, in the next two or three years. No doubt that is going to hurt and it remains to be seen whether the next generation can fill these big shoes. But the NBA is still in great shape talent-wise, and I believe the feeling that the quality is about to drop has more to do with nostalgia and the legacy that older superstars were able to build over many years than actual on-court performance. I'm pretty sure when Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and Co. were in their twilight years, people have said similar things about the NBA's decline – and then other players emerged and took over the mantle. It just takes some time before they reach that status, and then the cycle repeats itself.

[jscott]

I’d love to hear the case for JDub in the top-10. I don’t see it.

I'd love to see a list of 10 players definitively better than JDub this year that doesnt include a bunch of near 40 year olds who are gonna play 55 games this season

I'll give you fourteen so you can scratch a few...

Jokic
Luka
Shai
Giannis
Wemby
Cunningham
Edwards
Brown
Brunson
Mitchell
Sengun
Banchero
Zion
Young

Cunningham over Edwards? Yeah not so sure about that.

[Blame Rasho]

Good for him that he got the career job off of a formula that is used to measure efficiency.

I also think it funny that posters get a hissy fit over a stat because omg this guy obviously hates my favorite player because of this stat.

[iggymcfrack]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

Mobley is someone who scales up on better teams, but I think JW could absolutely carry a weak team. He led the league in 4th quarter scoring one year while playing next to SGA. He scored 40 points in the Finals with a torn ligament in the wrist on his shooting hand. He gets almost as many assists as the secondary playmaker as SGA does as the primary playmaker. I don't doubt for a second he could carry a heavy load. Like put him in place of Scoot on the Blazers and I think they're a top 6 seed. I'd like them better than the Lakers.

[TheNG]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

Mobley is someone who scales up on better teams, but I think JW could absolutely carry a weak team. He led the league in 4th quarter scoring one year while playing next to SGA. He scored 40 points in the Finals with a torn ligament in the wrist on his shooting hand. He gets almost as many assists as the secondary playmaker as SGA does as the primary playmaker. I don't doubt for a second he could carry a heavy load. Like puts him in place of Scoot on the Blazers and I think they're a top 6 seed. I'd like them better than the Lakers.

Let's play this game:
You said J-Dub in place of Scoot on the Blazers puts them a top 6 seed.
What happens if instead of this you replace Scoot with either of the following:
A. Derrick White
B. Devin Booker
C. Donovan Mitchell
D. Jalen Brunson
E. Cade Cunningham

All of them are listed below J-Dub.

[cupcakesnake]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

I really do. Even if you question their offensive impact, putting Mobley or J.Dub into your starting lineup is a huge boost to your defense. Plenty of solid defense, bad offense teams make the play-in. Miami Heat are the poster boys of this.

[GeorgeSears]

J-Dub, as in the J-Dub from the Thunder? Fine player, but he hasn't surpassed Curry or Durant.

[MMyhre]

Cade will easily be top 10 this year.

[cupcakesnake]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

Mobley is someone who scales up on better teams, but I think JW could absolutely carry a weak team. He led the league in 4th quarter scoring one year while playing next to SGA. He scored 40 points in the Finals with a torn ligament in the wrist on his shooting hand. He gets almost as many assists as the secondary playmaker as SGA does as the primary playmaker. I don't doubt for a second he could carry a heavy load. Like puts him in place of Scoot on the Blazers and I think they're a top 6 seed. I'd like them better than the Lakers.

Let's play this game:
You said J-Dub in place of Scoot on the Blazers puts them a top 6 seed.
What happens if instead of this you replace Scoot with either of the following:
A. Derrick White
B. Devin Booker
C. Donovan Mitchell
D. Jalen Brunson
E. Cade Cunningham

All of them are listed below J-Dub.

This is pretty team specific to me. The Blazers have a really strong defense, so would be more boosted by a big jolt of offense. I like Brunson, Mitchell, Booker, or Cade for Portland specifically. However, a similarly weak team last year like Phoenix, who had amazing scoring but little else, swap in J.Dub for Booker and I think you have a much more well rounded team with J.Dub facilitating between Durant and Beal and offering them a HUGE defensive boost on the other end, and allowing them to play small when they want.

[cupcakesnake]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

Mobley is someone who scales up on better teams, but I think JW could absolutely carry a weak team. He led the league in 4th quarter scoring one year while playing next to SGA. He scored 40 points in the Finals with a torn ligament in the wrist on his shooting hand. He gets almost as many assists as the secondary playmaker as SGA does as the primary playmaker. I don't doubt for a second he could carry a heavy load. Like put him in place of Scoot on the Blazers and I think they're a top 6 seed. I'd like them better than the Lakers.

People say Mobley can't raise a bad team to the play-in on his own, but he sort of did his rookie season. (There was other growth from the rest of the team too, so it wasn't all just him being there.)

He hasn't been a go-to scorer because Garland and Mitchell were already good enough at that, but he's being given the green light this year to get his own shots. Expect a scoring jump.

But #7 in the league is still way too high. He made second team All-NBA last year but that's because of enough injuries ahead of him as well as extra credit for team performance. At best he's flirting with #9 or #10 if he takes the leap that everyone in Cleveland expects.

I think it should be understandable that defensive anchors are often better floor raisers than strong individual scorers. A guy that makes it easy to build a top 15 defense is probably the simplest way to turn a bad team into an okay one. You don't see a lot of DPOY candidates on cellar dwelling teams.

[peZt]

It says a lot about the quality of the league when guys like Mobley or JDub are in the top 8

[Wolfgang630]

Lmaooo at jdub and Mobley

[louc1970]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

I dont think you should lump these two together, jdub is way more impactful than Mobley especially in the playoffs.

And someone like Mitchell might be better at lifting a lotto team but if i'm a contender i'm taking JDub over Mitchell every single time.

That is where you would make a mistake.

Mitchell has led 2 teams to the best record where Williams is pure support.

[bonita_the_frog]

Mitchell is the player most likely to beat Michael Jordan's 63 point playoff record.
In the playoffs he's got 57, 51, 50, and he's averaging 28.3 in 63 playoff games.
Even in the most recent playoffs, he scored 48, 43, 35, 33, 12 vs. Indiana.

[PistolPeteJR]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

I really do. Even if you question their offensive impact, putting Mobley or J.Dub into your starting lineup is a huge boost to your defense. Plenty of solid defense, bad offense teams make the play-in. Miami Heat are the poster boys of this.

I agree, great impact players. But top-10 players in the league is a stretch, I think. I know people are saying the old brigade should not be on here anymore, for instance, but I think I'm still taking Curry over JDub this year, for instance.

[ball_takes23]

J Dub and Mobley aren't in this conversation. Does anyone realistically think they could singlehandedly flip a lotto team into the play in?

I dont think you should lump these two together, jdub is way more impactful than Mobley especially in the playoffs.

And someone like Mitchell might be better at lifting a lotto team but if i'm a contender i'm taking JDub over Mitchell every single time.

That is where you would make a mistake.

Mitchell has led 2 teams to the best record where Williams is pure support.

and lost in the second round both times playing next to a DPOY center, with the team's primary weakness being a lack of backcourt/perimeter defense

JDub would solve SO many of clevelands problems right now. also werent they like 10-1 last year without Mitchell?

[Exp0sed]

J-Dub is awesome but come on now, lol

Mitchell is overrated af

Sengun should round out that top 10

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