Top 100 Best NBA Players For The 2022-23 Season: 30-11

We are back to our countdown of the Top 100 NBA players headed into the 2022-23 season. Today, we will be discussing players 30-11 as we get down to the meat and potatoes of our list. These 20 players listed here today are the cream of the crop in the NBA, and all have the potential to be Top 10 players at some point. Each one of the players listed below is essential to their team’s success and will play a huge role in their team’s competing for a championship in 2022-23.

Once again, there are many different criteria that go into these rankings. The most important of these criteria are skill, production, impact, and, yes, accolades. The players below are either all the best or at least the Top 5 at their respective positions as it stands, and they have a chance to even further themselves up this list as time goes on. No. 30-11 is yet another list that is sure to fire up the debates and make fans come to the defense of their favorite players. Without any further explanations, it is time to get into it.

We began our countdown of the Top 100 NBA players for the 2022-23 season just a few short weeks ago. The list started hot out of the gates with our 100-51 list, which definitely received its fair share of commentary from our readers. Then, we released our 50-31 list, which was met with much more agreement and praise. The list you will find here today is our ranking of NBA players from No. 30 through No. 11 for the 2022-23 season. This list is sure to spark conversation and debate, which is one of the best parts about being an NBA fan. 

Here are the 30th-11th best NBA players for the 2022-23 season.

30. Andrew Wiggins

The 2021-22 season for Andrew Wiggins was one of redemption and validation. Wiggins proved to be a key piece of the Golden State Warriors on their run to the NBA championship, their 4th in 8 seasons. Wiggins was named an All-Star starter for the first time in his career and averaged 17.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 1.0 SPG in 73 appearances in the regular season. Wiggins’ real impact shined through in the playoffs. He was their most valuable defensive piece on the perimeter and shut down some of the better offensive players in the Western Conference.

With all of the drama surrounding the Warriors the past few days with the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole situation, the Warriors are now facing uncertainty just months after winning the NBA championship. That aside, we can expect the same production from Wiggins in 2022-23. His defense will prove to be priceless for a team that may end up losing its defensive leader. His offense will continue to be sold and steady enough to help the Warriors hopefully compete for a title once again.

29. Pascal Siakam

Pascal Siakam had a historic 2021-22 season for the Toronto Raptors. After missing the first couple of weeks of the season, Siakam came back to the lineup and was the catalyst for a season that saw them earn an unexpected playoff berth. Siakam earned his 2nd All-NBA Team Selection in 3 seasons and recorded new career highs in assists and rebounds. In 68 games, he averaged 22.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 5.3 APG. He shot 49.4% from the field and recorded a 56.5% true shooting percentage, which was the 2nd-highest percentage of his career.

The Raptors’ core of Siakam, VanVleet, and Scottie Barnes are poised to lead Toronto to another successful season. Siakam will most likely continue to be the Raptors’ first option on offense and rightfully so. He is their best shot-creator and has become a decent playmaker with his ability to get to the rim from the outside. The pressure has been taken off of him by the emergence of Barnes, which has opened up a new game for the versatile power forward. Can he get the Raptors back to the NBA Finals in 2023?

28. Anthony Edwards

The 2021-22 season saw Anthony Edwards take an expected leap forwards. Edwards is already known to have special athleticism, and it is his best weapon on the basketball court. One area that he continues to improve upon, though, is his shooting from every spot on the court. Edwards’ leap forward helped propel the Timberwolves to becoming a playoff team and is one of many reasons they have so much hope for the future.

In 2022-23, we can expect Edwards to continue to blossom into one of the better players in basketball. I expect him to keep improving on his shooting after posting career-highs in both true shooting percentage and eFG% in 2021-22. His athleticism makes him one of the more dangerous transition threats in basketball. Teams will have issues keeping up with him and handling the size of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in the paint. I expect Edwards to have the Timberwolves as much more than a first-round exit in 2022-23.

27. DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan is coming off one of the best seasons of his career in his first season with the Chicago Bulls. DeRozan had the Bulls as high as a 3rd seed last season before injuries derailed any chances of competing at a high level. He did this by averaging 27.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.9 APG. DeRozan made everything happen for the Bulls last season and he and teammate Zach LaVine fed off of each other extremely well in the early parts of the season. DeRozan also happened to be one of the most clutch players in basketball in 2021-22, nailing clutch shots at a high rate and having other clutch possessions almost nightly.

The Bulls certainly need DeRozan to be on the same level or better in 2022-23. With the absence of Lonzo Ball for the better part of the first half of the season and the uncertainty of their defense, DeRozan will be looked upon once again to lead. There is no donut. He is up to the challenge heaped into the season, but can his teammates rally around him to compete in a loaded Eastern Conference? The answer to that question is the elephant in the room for Bulls fans as they eagerly anticipate the arrival of the new year.

26. Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal is poised to have a huge bounce-back season after missing over half of the 2021-22 season with injuries. Beal’s production dipped after back-to-back 30.0 PPG seasons, but it was clear that he was trying to play through the pain for a Wizards team that was competing for the first month or so of the year. Beal’s scoring has never been an issue, but it is slight improvements in a few areas that can prove to be difference makers for him moving forward.

The first of these things has to be getting back to being more of a spot-up shooter. Beal can create his own shot easily but scores more fluently and opens up his game more when he gets his opportunities as a shooter. The other improvement he has shown has been in his playmaking. Beal averaged a career-high 6.6 APG in 2021-22 and showed much more trust in his teammates. Washington will benefit greatly from Beal’s return to full health, but if it is enough to propel them to the playoffs remains to be seen.

25. Bam Adebayo

Bam Adebayo had a disappointing ending to a fantastic 2021-22 season. Adebayo seemed to shrink literally and figuratively in the playoffs against the Boston Celtics, leaving fans with a short memory of just how good he is. Bam is easily one of the better defenders in basketball and one of the only ones who can effectively guard every position on the basketball court. This past season, he finished 4th in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and earned a selection to the All-Defensive Second Team.

His offensive game in 2021-22 wasn’t so bad either. He averaged a career-high 19.1 PPG as he began to expand his game on offense. The Miami Heat were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season and many have forgotten that Adebayo was a huge part of it. In order for the Heat to contend for another trip deep into the playoffs, Adebayo will need to remain healthy and focused. Fans seem to believe that the Heat will drop off in 2022-23, but I believe that Adebayo and Jimmy Butler will have them in contention for a championship once more.

24. Chris Paul

It was another year, another disappointing ending to the season for Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns. Paul did his part in leading the Suns to a franchise-record 64 wins as he led the NBA in assists with 10.8 APG. Paul was the engine that made the Suns go with his leadership on and off the floor. Even after he returned from an injury that kept him out for the beginning of the second half of the season, Paul didn’t miss a beat and kept the Suns rolling right into the postseason until they were embarrassed at home by the Dallas Mavericks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

In 2022-23, Paul will be turning 38 years old in May. The Suns still expect him to be the playmaking machine that he is with his unbelievable court vision and ability to take over games with his mid-range shot. Paul will certainly rely even more on Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton in 2022-23, but he will be tasked with a lot of responsibility himself. Can Paul dig deep and get the Suns back to the championship for one more chance at the elusive NBA championship that is the one thing missing from his career?

23. Jaylen Brown

In many ways, the 2021-22 season was the coming out party for Jaylen Brown. Brown averaged 23.6 PPG, a career-high 6.1 RPG, and a career-high 3.5 APG. He was also one of the more important defenders for the Boston Celtics, who finished with the highest-rated defense in the NBA. Brown’s efforts carried over into the playoffs when he averaged 23.1 PPG and 6.9 RPG to help lead the Celtics to their first NBA Finals since 2010.

Brown’s presence on the Boston Celtics was finally recognized in 2021-22 and will be even more important in 2022-23. The Celtics desperately need Brown and Jayson Tatum to step up as leaders for the Celtics as they come off an offseason that was filled with drama and saw them lose a key player of their team to knee surgery and their coach to off-the-court issues that saw him suspended for the season. There is no doubt how important Brown is to the Celtics’ success, but can the team rally around him and Tatum to get back to the NBA Finals?

22. Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Mitchell comes in at No. 22 as he heads into his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a tumultuous tenure with the Utah Jazz that saw him and the rest of the team continuously fall short in the postseason, Mitchell is excited about a new start. In 2021-22, Mitchell appeared in 25.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 5.3 APG. Mitchell has been one of the more valuable players in basketball since his arrival in 2017. Out of the 2017 draft class, Mitchell ranks 2nd in VORP and 4th in win shares. He brings a new skill set to a Cleveland team poised for success.

For Cleveland, Mitchell brings a dynamic that they had been searching for since last year’s trade deadline. The chemistry between him and Darius Garland should come quickly as both have improved their playmaking over the past year. With guys like Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen operating out of the pick-and-roll, Mitchell will have plenty of room to be both a scorer and passer. As a career 36.0% 3-point shooter, Mitchell will see ample opportunity to get his long-distance shots off with Mobley and Allen manning the paint. I expect to see the Cavaliers competing at the top of the Eastern Conference within the next few seasons, and it all starts in 2022-23.

21. Zach LaVine

If there is anyone out there that still believes that Zach LaVine is still just a dunker, I suggest they watch more Chicago Bulls games. LaVine helped the Bulls earn their first playoff berth during his tenure with Chicago and the first playoff berth of his career. LaVine showed remarkable growth as he adapted his game to adjust to the presence of teammate DeMar DeRozan and other new additions. 2021-22 was one of his healthier seasons in recent memory and after a knee procedure earlier in the summer, the Bulls are hoping for an injury-free run in 2022-23.

LaVine has begun to use his athleticism for things other than throwing down a highlight reel dunk. His athleticism and great ball-handling skills have given him the benefit of a tremendously fast first step off of the dribble. He is also a decent shooter and a willing teammate that saw him give up some control of the offense in 2021-22. The Bulls should be back in playoff contention once again if LaVine remains healthy and continues to grow his offensive game next to DeRozan.

20. James Harden

James Harden is set for a season debut with his 3rd team in 3 years. Harden’s scoring has taken a backseat to his playmaking and passing over the past 2 seasons with the Nets and Sixers. With Philadelphia, that seemed to continue as he averaged over 10.0 APG or better for the 3rd season in a row. He seems to have found some chemistry on the court with All-NBA big man Joel Embiid and has opened up the game more for his other Sixers teammates as well. The biggest improvement we saw from him by the end of 2021-22 was that he stopped hunting fouls and started playing team basketball. This will be huge for the Sixers moving forward.

Every single player in Philly has seemingly bought into Doc Rivers’ style of coaching, for now. Harden has shown that all he wants to do right now is win. He took a pay cut this offseason to help the Sixers improve their roster with financial flexibility. Harden is poised for a bounce-back season after 2 years of letting his scoring fade away. At any point, Harden can turn back the clock to his MVP years. If he does this, the Sixers will be playing basketball well into the 2022-23 playoffs.

19. Trae Young

Trae Young enjoyed possibly the best individual season of his young career in 2021-22 with the Atlanta Hawks. He led the league in total points and total assists as he really came into his own as a passer and playmaker. Young embraced rule changes that made him change his game quite a bit and still led a struggling Hawks team to the playoffs where, well, it didn’t end as they had hoped. He proved to be one of the better point guards and leaders in basketball, rallying Atlanta, who started the season with mighty struggles and injury issues.

The biggest knock on Young early in his career has been his lack of defense. With the acquisition of Dejounte Murray in the offseason, the pressure is off of him and he can focus on what makes him such a threat to opponents. Young is a lethal shooter, as we all know, but the way he has stepped it up is his ability to get into the paint. Young will either finish with a soft floater or easily find a cutting teammate for a basket. His on-court awareness has grown immensely since coming into the league and it will continue to grow as the Hawks look to get back to making deep runs into the playoffs.

18. Kyrie Irving

Is Kyrie too high on this list? We don’t think so. The talent is undeniable for Kyrie as he heads into the 2022-23 season and his 4th season with the Brooklyn Nets. The 2021-22 season saw Irving play just 29 games due to various issues and Covid-19 restrictions. When he was on the court, Irving was brilliant as he averaged 27.4 PPG and 5.8 APG on 46.9% shooting overall and 41.8% from deep. After a drama-filled offseason that saw Irving nearly traded, he is set to finally play a full season or so we hope.

Iring has a chance to deal the haters and naysayers a major blow. He and teammate Kevin Durant seem determined to finally win something in Brooklyn after a 2021-22 season that saw them swept in the first round of the playoffs. Kyrie will be the orchestrator of the offense as he finally gets to settle into the system for a full season. He, Durant, and Ben Simmons all have something to prove individually, but the question remains if they can pull it together as a team. For basketball’s sake, I am rooting for Kyrie and the Nets to do just that.

17. Paul George

The 2021-22 season was one of disappointment and pain for Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers. George was limited to just 31 games due to an elbow injury, and the Clippers missed the playoffs for the first time since he and Kawhi Leonard were brought in. George and Kawhi are both fully healthy heading into the 2022-23 season, which could spell disaster for the rest of the NBA. If these 2 are able to remain on the court, we have already seen that they can take this franchise to new heights.

All Paul George has to do in 2022-23 is be the same player he has been when healthy with the Clippers. In 2020-21, George was an All-Star who averaged 23.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 5.2 APG. He is an elite shot creator who possesses a bevy of moves that allow him to attack the basket or pull up for a high-percentage jumper. What separates him is his effort on the defensive side of the ball. George is a fantastic on-ball defender who disrupts the flow of an offense by shutting down an opposing team’s best player. If George and Kawhi can return to their 2021 form, the rest of the NBA should take note of “that other team” in Los Angeles.

16. Jimmy Butler

I want to be clear about the placement of Jimmy Butler here. The players that are ranked from here on out all have a case to be ranked Top 10 headed into 2022-23, and Butler has been knocking on the door for quite some time. He is the lifeblood of the Miami Heat, with his motor never running out of gas and the undeniable amount of heart he plays the game with. Butler can change the course of a game at the flip of a switch both offensively and defensively and has willed Miami on 2 deep playoff runs in the past 4 years.

Butler and the Heat seem to be heavily underrated headed into 2022-23 and I think they like it that way. Butler just needs to be himself for Miami in 2022-23 and keep up with his 21.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG play. Miami’s success hinges on Butler being on the court and after missing 25 games in 2022, Butler seems like he is ready to shut the naysayers up. I am with the minority on this one and think Butler and the Heat will be back to competing for a championship in 2022-23.

15. Anthony Davis

I can see the comments now. “There is no way you have Street Clothes Davis in your Top 15!”. Unlike most people out there, we do not penalize a player simply because of injuries and trouble finding a rhythm because of it. When he is on the court, Davis is still one of the more impactful players in basketball and is crucial to any success that the Lakers may find in 2022-23. After a disappointing season in Los Angeles that saw the Lakers miss the playoffs, Davis needs a bounce-back season in the worst way and he is sure to do just that.

When he is on the floor, Davis makes a tremendous impact on both sides of the ball. He is still an elite interior defender who can block and alter shots regularly. His presence in the paint is one that makes opponents think twice before driving to the hoop and alters game plans. On offense, Davis is still a premier post scorer and can find his rhythm at any moment on his jump shot. Fans have a short memory as just 2 years ago, Davis was arguably the most important piece on a Lakers team that won the 2020 championship. If he returns to anything close to that type of player, the Lakers have a chance to be right back in the thick of things for the 2022-23 season.

14. Karl-Anthony Towns

After a few seasons of dealing with personal issues and losing family members to the pandemic, Karl-Anthony Towns has earned his spot among the upper echelon of big men in the NBA. Things will be a bit different for Towns in 2022-23, but it is only for the better. Towns has been criticized for his lack of aggressiveness on defense and rebounding the ball, but the presence of Rudy Gobert is sure to change all of that. Towns will take the court as the team’s power forward in 2022-23, giving him the space to operate on offense that we haven’t seen him have before.

Towns can shoot the rock from anywhere on the floor and at a higher efficiency than any 7-footer we have seen before. With the way things have changed for the Timberwolves this offseason, we can expect more of the same from Towns and maybe even better numbers than we are used to from the big man. The Timberwolves made the playoffs last season after a 4-year drought and are built to do much more in 2022-23. Can Towns lead them to their first Conference Finals appearance since 2004?

13. Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard is another player who struggled with injuries in 2021-22 and his ranking among fans has come into question for it. What we tend to forget after watching Lillard clearly laboring from his injuries is just how good he has been at his very best. This is a guy who can knock down any shot from anywhere on the court and is one of the most deadly 3-point shooters in basketball. He can score in large bursts and get his teammates involved when he is off of his game.

The Trail Blazers seem to have all of the pressure off of them this upcoming season with absolutely no one even picking them to make the playoffs. This bodes well for Lillard, who is already one of the better clutch players in basketball. A relaxed and calm Lillard can be just as dangerous as the one that is backed up against the wall. Lillard has some help this season as well in the form of Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant. This should help Lillard ease back into the flow of things and the Trail Blazers, to maybe surprise some folks in 2022-23. Do you think that Dame can get Portland back on track in 2022-23?

12. Zion Williamson

As you can see, our team is quite high on Zion Williamson, and for good reason. The last time we saw him on the court, he was averaging 27.0 PPG on 61.1% from the field in 2020-21. He missed the entire 2021-22 season with foot injuries but has come into training camp and preseason in better shape than maybe we have ever seen him as an NBA player. His motion looks fluid in the post and his athleticism has not missed a beat. He is still aggressively attacking the basket and powering through defenders for high-percentage shots at the rim.

Zion’s return is a sigh of relief for NBA fans and an even bigger one for fans in New Orleans. The Pelicans showed last season in the playoffs that they could be ready to compete with the big boys in the NBA after forcing 6 games against the 64-win Suns. The core of Zion, McCollum, and Brandon Ingram could be a scary trio for teams in the Western Conference as they all get more adapted to each other on the court. Williamson has a chance to put the thoughts of him being an out-of-shape player who doesn’t care to rest in 2022-23 and I for one hope he does.

11. Ja Morant

In 2021-22, Ja Morant went from a promising young star to one of the best players in basketball. He took home the NBA’s Most Improved player award and led Memphis to a franchise-record 56 wins. On the season, Morant averaged 27.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 6.7 APG. He made huge strides in the passing and defensive parts of his game and his teammates rallied around that every step of the way. The season may have ended in disappointing fashion, but the future is bright for the Grizzlies as they head into 2022-23 behind their star.

Even though the Grizzlies didn’t miss a beat without him, the team is hoping Morant can appear in more than 57 games in 2022-23. The offense is much more fluid with him on the floor and guys like Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks thrive alongside him. Anchored by one of the best defenses in basketball, Morant’s offense continues to open up as he ascends toward his peak at a rapid pace. If Morant stays healthy for the regular season and playoffs, look for Memphis to make even more noise than last season and possibly throw their hat in the ring for one of the last teams left standing.  

Next

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