# Disclaimer:
I know this doesn’t really qualify for a Nets subreddit, but I honestly hate r/nba, so I decided to post it here since it’s probably going to be helpful to a lot of Nets fans. Also, I saw [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/GoNets/comments/14tdbm6/top_20_centers/) a few months ago comparing the top-20 centers in the league, so maybe this will be allowed ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯. If the mods don’t like this, feel free to delete this, and I’ll just move it to r/nbadiscussion or something.
So a few days ago, [Seth Partnow (former director of research for the Milwaukee Bucks)’s NBA Players tiers](https://theathletic.com/4784508/2023/08/18/nba-player-tiers-kevin-durant-giannis-jokic-curry/) was released. In it, he ranked around the top-125 players in the league in tiers. This got me thinking about how I could use [DARKO – Next Game and ROS Projections’](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eC5he67RBWiclITXY6OdR3qCz_fnL3-r5AJkgEh45hQ/edit#gid=702171522), probably the best all-in-one statistic (at least in my opinion) in combination with it to rank players.
After taking about half an hour to rank all the players, I decided to look for the opinions from other experts and found [Ben Taylor (Thinking Basketball) Top 10 players in the 2023 season](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/14lpci2/ben_taylor_thinking_basketball_top_10_players_in/).
>His honorable mentions : Lebron James, Kawhi and Devin Booker
>
>10) Damian Lillard
>
>9) Jimmy Butler
>
>8) Jayson Tatum
>
>7) Luka Doncic
>
>6) Anthony Davis
>
>5) Joel Embiid
>
>4) Kevin Durant
>
>3) Steph Curry
>
>2) Giannis Antetokounmpo
>
>Nikola Jokic
>
>He makes good arguments on why he put them on that place with data analysis and taking prior seasons into account.
>
>Source : [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5854F3SxY5xsIg36pgFOZw](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5854F3SxY5xsIg36pgFOZw)
After talking all those opinions in mind, that got me creating a ranking based solely on what others who know much more than me thought about these players. These rankings do not reflect my opinion on these players. Rather, they are attempted to be an objective collection of rankings from advanced analytics and expert opinions.
To qualify as an expert, this thread follows inspiration from [HoopsHype’s What is the best advanced statistic for basketball? NBA executives weigh in](https://hoopshype.com/lists/advanced-stats-nba-real-plus-minus-rapm-win-shares-analytics/). Their definition was:
>We wanted to find out so, for this story, we surveyed some of the most trusted thinkers in the basketball community.
>
>HoopsHype received answers from nearly 30 participants, including various media members as well as individuals who have a combined experience with more than half of the teams in the NBA. Answers came from folks at every level within an organization, including those who work on a coaching staff as well as several different directors of analytics departments.
When this ranking was first made, it was based on the NBA players tier from Seth Partnow (former director of research for the Milwaukee Bucks). Then we included the opinions of Ben Taylor from Thinking Basketball’s Top 10 players in the 2023 season. I attempted to find some opinions from NBA scouts but was unable to do so far.
Every off-season, [NBA offseason survey](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34442951/nba-offseason-survey-coaches-scouts-execs-watching-ahead-2022-23) and [NBA App GM Survey](https://www.nba.com/news/2022-23-gm-survey) are published. As of the time of this writing (25 August 2023), these have not been released yet. Once they are, they will be added to this ranking.
If you can find any others, let me know, and I’ll add it to the list.
Most importantly, this post does not count the opinions of players – current and former – nor media members that are solely there for entertainment. (Sorry but Kendrick Perkins doesn’t qualify). If you’re unsure of if someone would qualify, let me know, and I’ll think about it. If you don’t get a response immediately, that either means I’ve seen it and am thinking about it or just don’t want to respond because I’m a busy college student.
And without further ado, here are the rankings:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nLqlYvjgu-njoT3AN7T35LQAmB76eTUdjFy8GpEk0iw/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nLqlYvjgu-njoT3AN7T35LQAmB76eTUdjFy8GpEk0iw/edit?usp=sharing)
# Rankings of Nets players (if you’re not interested in the rest):
Tier 3B:
37. Mikal Bridges
Tier 4B:
59. Nicolas Claxton
Tier 5A:
81. Cameron Johnson
85. Spencer Dinwiddie
# Notes:
* Ignore the salary things on the side. That’s just how DARKO thinks about player rankings and what a “fair” salary is. They’re not very accurate, but it’s still how it ranks players.
* In the case of disputes between experts, I put the newest one first. Yes, I know that it’s a lazy approach, but I couldn’t think of a better way. For example, Thinking Basketball ranked AD as a top-five player, but Seth Partnow’s tiers had him somewhere in Tier 2B, so the best compromise in my mind was to put him at the very top of Tier 2B.
* I could have added every player in the NBA, but I decided to only go up to the 125-130ish that Seth Partnow’s tiers had.
* I apologize for any poor grammar. It’s currently 11 where I live.
# THIS DOCUMENT WILL BE DELETED AFTER THE SEASON STARTS SINCE MY DRIVE IS ALMOST FULL
# Credits:
This post was inspired by DARKO, [The Ringer’s Top 125 Players in the NBA](https://nbarankings.theringer.com/), and Seth Partnow (former director of research for the Milwaukee Bucks)’s NBA Players tiers.
by Stock-Astronomer2709
