This article is part of our Rankings & Tiers series, an evaluation across sport about the key players, front offices, teams, franchises and much more.
Player Tiers 2025: Tier 5 | Tier 4
Tier 3 is a group where you start seeing many players who could be considered the best player on a team. For those teams, their best player being in this group is likely not a strong sign that they have a contender, but having multiple players in this group is almost always going to be helpful for a team to be good.
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There are 21 teams in this tier, the most of the five I put together this year. Only three teams don’t have a player ranked higher than the Tier 4 or Tier 5 groups, but there’s only one team that clinched a top-six seed without having any players above Tier 3: the Houston Rockets.
On one hand, the Rockets have developed a deep roster, with a blend of young players and veterans who populate Tiers 3-5. On the other hand, the Rockets are going to be in exploratory mode this postseason. Their rotation veterans have had mixed success in the postseason, all in previous locations, and their young players have never played in a postseason game.
You can consider this tier third-wheel territory. Having a third star player in this tier is where you want to be. Is that player an All-Star? Most likely not. But these players are the next-best group, the type who could be an All-Star if things break right. That’s great for a player’s résumé, but so is being good enough to impact winning.
Tier 3
These players either are All-Stars, have been recent All-Stars or have approached play that could have made them All-Stars if not for ill-timed injuries or other factors.
All three point guards are former Kentucky Wildcats who have played with star big men and have shared a lot of ballhandling responsibilities. It wasn’t a banner year for De’Aaron Fox, who was traded to San Antonio in February. He also had to share lead guard duties with Chris Paul — and that was after sharing the ball with DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk in Sacramento’s starting lineups. Fox is one of the best small guards at getting to the free-throw line, which offsets his troublesome 3-point shooting. Tyrese Maxey has the brightest outlook of the 76ers star players since he’s young and healthy. His efficiency took a major hit before Philadelphia shut him down, but Maxey is one of the NBA’s best guards at scoring at a high rate without being a turnover machine. Jamal Murray is dealing with hamstring issues entering the playoffs, and he is often criticized for not being named to an All-Star team yet despite being Nikola Jokić’s teammate. Murray may be a perennial snub, but he has still shown he can be an outstanding playoff riser capable of punishing teams in ball screens with Jokić.
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Two very different body types at small forward serve as No. 2 options for top defenses. Franz Wagner was on his way to All-Star consideration before tearing his oblique in December. He has become a versatile and punishing scorer at 6 feet 10, but his 3-point shot continues to betray him. Jalen Williams became a first-time All-Star, and while his scoring proficiency is more a product of his touches, he also has shown that he is a menacing defender at 6-5 while being versatile enough to be a strong playmaker and shooter.
All of the power forwards have glaring concerns that keep them out of the top 30 for now. Bam Adebayo has been at power forward starting next to center Kel’el Ware. Adebayo is lauded for his passing ability and versatile defense, and playing power forward minimizes his weakness as a rim protector on defense. But Adebayo has been underwhelming as a scorer, though he finished the season very hot as a budding 3-point shooter. Like Wagner, Paolo Banchero’s season was sideswiped by a torn oblique. He is the rare power forward leading his team in touches, and he is a powerful on-ball presence who mashes his way to free throws. The challenge for Banchero is to clean up his percentages from everywhere while taking better care of the ball; he had 32 turnovers in a seven-game playoff series against Cleveland last year. Zion Williamson remains a versatile and efficient scorer who defends well. But he hasn’t played in a playoff game after being the top pick in the 2019 draft, and he has played 40 games in a season only once in the last four seasons. The lack of availability to go with his status as a non-shooter at 6-6 keeps Williamson in Tier 3 for now.
These players are either some of the best non-All-Stars in the league or some of the most polarizing All-Star selections.
Tyler Herro made his first All-Star team while playing more point guard than shooting guard, so the discussion goes to his challenges as a true facilitator, scoring efficiency and defense. Herro is 6-5, 195 pounds and a very good shooter who still has his best years ahead of him. Derrick White is on the other side of 30 now, but he continues to explore new frontiers in his game. While Jrue Holiday took a step back in offensive responsibility, White touched the ball more than ever as the de facto point guard who still hits better than 40 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s to go with being an elite rim protector for his position.
For better or for worse, you know what you’re getting from Mikal Bridges, and that’s a decent defender who has a high floor offensively while showing up to play every night and for more minutes than anyone in the league.
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DeRozan catches criticism for past postseason struggles, 3-point shooting and defensive concerns, especially as he ages. But the 35-year-old continues to be an efficient source of offense in a heavy on-ball role at this stage of his career.
The power forwards are all very different. OG Anunoby complements Bridges on the wing in New York, and he broke the 2,500-minute barrier for the first time, a welcome sign of durability. Scottie Barnes wasn’t able to return to the All-Star Game this year, and his 3-point shooting fell, but he’s the player the Raptors play through, and that should continue for years to come. Chet Holmgren’s third NBA season was rudely interrupted by a right iliac wing fracture, then he had to come back and adjust to playing next to center Isaiah Hartenstein. But Holmgren has recovered well, and he’s 7-1 with skill and high-level defense.
Sabonis is a statistically dominant center who winds up on All-NBA teams despite being an All-Star snub. He is still trying to prove that his game can hold up in the postseason, and his biggest issue is that he is one of the worst rim protectors among starting centers. But then again, so is Jokić. Alperen Şengün represented the Rockets as an All-Star this season and has made marked improvement as a rim protector. He’s a much worse shooter and decision-maker than Sabonis, and it will be interesting to see how Şengün’s scoring holds up against playoff defenses. Ivica Zubac has never been considered an All-Star or All-NBA talent, but perhaps that changes with how well he has handled increased minutes, touches and shots to go with anchoring a stout Clippers defense.
This is the most players I have in any sub-tier, and it’s full of guys who are stretched as No. 1 options but can be powerful depending on who they can play off.
LaMelo Ball’s scoring ability nearly got him into the All-Star Game for a team that ultimately lost more than 60 games this season. He has a combination of positional size and skill that leads to fun results. But opponents have a lot of fun as well because of Ball’s shot selection, turnovers and defensive challenges. Ball is the guard version of Zion Williamson; he’s failed to play in 50 games in either of the last three seasons.
The shooting guards here are all third-option types capable of taking games over while they play off their teammates. Desmond Bane has rediscovered his health, and he has been incredibly effective on and off the ball. Zach LaVine also bounced back after a difficult 2024 season and is near the top of the NBA in 3-point percentage. Norman Powell was nearly an All-Star while averaging north of 20 points per game for the first time in his career and with remarkable efficiency. Austin Reaves makes a fraction of what Bane and LaVine make and has much better stars to play off compared to those two. Reaves isn’t the shooter these other guards are and isn’t a strong defender, but he gets to the free-throw line at a high rate while averaging nearly six assists per game.
At small forward, Deni Avdija has made it clear that he is a player who is at his best with the ball in his hands as opposed to playing off Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton. Avdija averages north of five free-throw attempts per game at 6-9 and 240 pounds. Paul George’s scoring and paint presence have evaporated. He doesn’t take on the toughest defensive assignments anymore, and he has played in 60 games only once since leaving Oklahoma City in 2019. Despite the decline and situation in Philadelphia, George can still be a winning player because of his size/skill intersection, and he can still make plays on both ends while shooting the ball at a decent clip. Lauri Markkanen is another talented player in a situation so bad that it limits how much he plays and how much he can produce. Markkanen’s numbers are well off the All-Star form he showed two years ago, and he badly needs the Jazz to get him better guards as part of their rebuild. Amen Thompson feels high, as he’s a bad shooter who isn’t asked to lead Houston’s scoring. But he’s a force in every other aspect of the game to go with nuclear athleticism at 6-7.
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Aaron Gordon has yet to get an All-Star nod, and at this point, it’ll have to come in his 30s if it ever happens. He has made remarkable offensive improvements, especially as a shooter, and the Nuggets are much better when he is in the lineup. I do worry, however, if his durability and athleticism are starting to wane. Julius Randle had to adjust to being a full-time sidekick with the Timberwolves after leading New York’s offense for years, and he has a nasty playoff history (34.4 percent field goals, more turnovers than assists in 15 postseason games with the Knicks). Randle also is a streaky shooter who doesn’t make many plays defensively. Once you get past all of that, Randle can bully foes while also providing deft passing.
Kristaps Porziņģis has had an uneven season, but that’s the experience with him because of his profound durability concerns. Porziņģis has reached 60 games once since tearing his ACL in 2018, his lone All-Star season, and this is his last season in his 20s. But he’s still 7-2 with a laser shot, superb post play and pristine rim protection.
I wasn’t planning on having this sub-tier and expected to cut off at 60 players for the top three tiers. But these players either have a lot of fans based on my feedback or happen to be a teammate of Amen Thompson.
Of all the talent the Rockets rely on and have collected, it’s still Fred VanVleet who plays the most and leaves a positive impact on the floor despite having the size and athleticism as an undrafted player. VanVleet’s scoring effectiveness has nosedived, a concern at his age. But the 31-year-old is a decent shooter off the catch and a defensive playmaker who still has a nose for the ball. He also turns in one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios of any point guard in the league. Most notably, VanVleet is a champion who has a role in steadying a young Rockets team into the postseason with home-court advantage through at least the first two rounds.
Trey Murphy III has always been a good shooter, and he has progressed as a passer and scorer to the point where he is the clear second option in New Orleans next season alongside Zion. The issue will be how Murphy handles that role for a reasonably healthy team for a full season, and that includes Murphy’s own durability concerns, as he has missed at least 20 games in three of his four seasons.
Jalen Johnson is another forward drafted in the top 20 of the 2021 draft who has progressed significantly to become his team’s second option but hasn’t shown acceptable durability along the way. Few players touch and pass the ball as much as Johnson does, and he uses his 6-8 frame to finish inside, rebound and make plays defensively. In addition to staying on the floor, Johnson still has to iron out his shooting.
I would have had both Jarrett Allen and Walker Kessler a tier below, but their impact and value are strong. Both are among the very best rim protectors in the league. Allen does it for the best team in the Eastern Conference, while Kessler was second in the NBA in blocks and led the league in offensive rebounds per game while on a rookie contract.
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(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; top photos: Glenn James / NBAE via Getty Images, Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images, Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
