Top 25 Under 25

[Craig]

Another installment of the top 25 players in the league that are under 25 years old. Ranked, but with tiers this time, basically saying that there is some debatable interchangeability between guys in the same tier. List isn’t quite as loaded as it was the last time, but still some very good players. Debate away.


Tier 1
SF RJ Barrett (BOS) 27.5ppg, 6.5rpg, 5.2apg, 2.0spg, 0.8bpg, 2.4topg, 50/44/90 shooting
SG Kyree Walker (POR) 34.0ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.7apg, 2.9spg, 0.2bpg, 2.0topg, 49/43/87 shooting
SG LaMelo Ball (VAN) 25.9ppg, 5.8rpg, 3.6apg, 2.6spg, 0.3bpg, 2.5topg, 46/44/83 shooting
C Bol Bol (CLE) 22.0ppg, 14.8rpg, 2.5apg, 1.1spg, 2.9bpg, 2.3topg, 44/53/74 shooting

The cream of the crop. Barrett fills up the stat sheet on both ends while being a top 10 scorer on 50/40/90 shooting. Walker is becoming one of the league’s premier scorers. LaMelo is one of the league’s best all-around wings. Bol had his season cut woefully short, but seemed to have taken the next step in development into one of the league’s top two-way big men before injury. These guys are all one of the top 5 or 6 players in the league at their positions, and their age makes it scary for the rest of the league to imagine how they’ll dominate over the next decade or so.

Tier 2
PF Jordan Brown (GS) 23.4ppg, 9.4rpg, 4.4apg, 1.5spg, 1.4bpg, 2.1topg, 47/38/80 shooting
PF Shareef O’Neal (DEN) 19.3ppg, 12.3rpg, 3.8apg, 0.7spg, 2.8bpg, 3.1topg, 44/0/75 shooting

These two former Timberwolves have moved on to rival teams, and both have flourished. Brown has moved around quite a bit, but does nothing but produce with efficient scoring, plus defense, and very good playmaking from either forward spot. O’Neal has a much more intimidating defensive presence down low, while offering good scoring abilities of his own, albeit with a bit less efficiency.

Tier 3
SF Nassir Little (HOU) 19.4ppg, 5.3rpg, 2.4apg, 2.0spg, 1.1bpg, 2.2topg, 48/46/83 shooting
SG Tyler Herro (DET) 19.9ppg, 4.1rpg, 1.6apg, 1.7spg, 0.3bpg, 1.5topg, 47/39/95 shooting
SF Isaiah Todd (ORL) 20.7ppg, 7.9rpg, 2.3apg, 1.0spg, 0.2bpg, 1.8topg, 44/39/75 shooting
SG Scottie Lewis (CHA) 20.5ppg, 3.8rpg, 3.0apg, 1.4spg, 0.5bpg, 2.4topg, 47/39/83 shooting
SF Scottie Barnes (TOR) 19.2ppg, 4.3rpg, 2.8apg, 1.4spg, 0.2bpg, 2.4topg, 46/43/80 shooting
SF Zion Williamson (POR) 19.7ppg, 6.9rpg, 3.0apg, 1.1spg, 0.4bpg, 2.6topg, 44/41/76 shooting

This group of wings all bring a lot to like to the table. All are gifted scorers; Herro and Little, in particular, offer a solid combination of high percentage shooting and low turnover rate. Little is also one of the better two-way players in this tier. Todd, Lewis, and Barnes are still very early in their development and will look to move up this list in the coming years.

Tier 4
PF Vernon Carey Jr (LAC) 12.5ppg, 10.6rpg, 1.8apg, 1.0spg, 1.5bpg, 1.6topg, 43/0/68 shooting
PF Xavier Foster (BOS) 17.8ppg, 8.8rpg, 2.7apg, 0.9spg, 1.4bpg, 2.7topg, 46/27/64 shooting
C Lukas Kisunas (NJ) 9.7ppg, 10.3rpg, 2.4apg, 0.8spg, 2.2bpg, 1.0topg, 42/0/67shooting
C Goga Bitadze (BOS) 14.5ppg, 11.6rpg, 1.4apg, 1.0spg, 1.3bpg, 1.6topg, 44/0/75 shooting
SF LeBron James Jr (PHO) 16.5ppg, 5.0rpg, 4.3apg, 1.3spg, 0.6bpg, 2.7topg, 47/43/89 shooting
SF Isaac Bonga (CHI) 10.0ppg, 4.7rpg, 1.8apg, 1.7spg, 0.7bpg, 0.8topg, 47/45/83 shooting

This group is filled with slightly flawed, yet still very productive young players with lots of potential. Reigning ROY Xavier Foster has shown very good scoring prowess. Kisunas is a solid under-the-radar big with good defensive instincts and IQ with the ball. James had a very promising rookie year with low volume, but high efficiency production. Bonga lands here due to his raw skill and per-minute production coming off the bench.

Tier 5
SG Cameron Reddish (VAN) 6.5ppg, 2.1rpg, 2.2apg, 0.8spg, 0.1bpg, 1.3topg, 49/44/88 shooting
SF Simi Shittu (DEN) 14.4ppg, 7.7rpg, 2.7apg, 1.1spg, 1.3bpg, 3.2topg, 44/33/71 shooting
PF Jaren Jackson Jr (SEA) 19.0ppg, 10.8rpg, 2.3apg, 0.7spg, 2.0bpg, 3.0topg, 42/25/83 shooting
PF Luka Samanic (TOR) 17.6ppg, 10.2rpg, 3.5apg, 1.3spg, 1.1bpg, 1.8topg, 40/34/73 shooting
SF Jamie Jaquez (SEA) 13.8ppg, 6.3rpg, 3.7apg, 1.6spg, 0.5bpg, 1.8topg, 47/39/84 shooting
PG Isaiah Pope (DEN) 12.8ppg, 4.8rpg, 6.2apg, 1.5spg, 0.2bpg, 3.1topg, 43/37/79 shooting

This last group of guys have their shortcomings, but show signs of good things that evolve into bona fide plus skills. Shittu didn’t quite take the leap as a full time SF that was expected, but still showed a solid all around game at both ends. Reddish is a highly efficient shooter who may show more in a lineup with more shots to go around. Samanic and Jackson struggled to stay efficient on high volume this year, but still showed that they can be productive bigs in this league.

[UOducksTK1]

I have a guy on the list!

Fun idea, I’ll look at the article more later.

[BucksGM]

Nice read. Thanks

[Oregon Ownage]

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[Oregon Ownage]

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[Craig]

Tyler Herro

Strength
Defensive rebounding

[Oregon Ownage]

Tyler Herro

Strength
Defensive rebounding

Done