NBA's prime 10 gamers 22 and youthful: Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero for No. 2 spot behind Victor Wembanyama?

Because the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, we right here at CBS Sports activities compiled our annual Top 100 NBA player rankings. There’s so many various methods to research an inventory like that, from who the biggest risers and fallers are from the earlier 12 months, to breaking down which groups have probably the most representatives. 

The highest of the checklist is crammed with established All-Stars and future Corridor of Famers, however littered all through the High 100 are younger gamers who have not reached their prime but. With a league that continues to skew youthful lately, we determined to pinpoint the NBA’s prime 10 gamers who’re 22 and youthful getting into the 2024-25 season.

These are gamers who vary from having the potential to turn out to be the face of the league and multiple-time All-Stars, to key position gamers on championship-level rosters. It is no shock that 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama tops this checklist, as he earned the No. 12 spot in our general rating. One participant who simply missed the High 10 on this 22 and youthful rating is Rockets ahead Jabari Smith Jr., who occupies the No. 100 spot in our general rating. 

The remainder of the checklist has acquainted faces — and doesn’t function any rookies — however the place they rank might shock you.

Age: 22
High 100 rank: 92. Inexperienced is supremely proficient and an unbelievable athlete, even by NBA requirements. Whether or not he may be an environment friendly or successful participant, nonetheless, remains to be in query. His closing stretch final season was pretty much as good as he is seemed as a professional, and provided proof that the reply may be sure, on each fronts. The potential dilemma for the Rockets, although, is that Inexperienced’s finest play coincided with Alperen Sengun’s absence attributable to a season-ending knee harm. This looks like a make-or-break season for Inexperienced’s future in Houston. — Jack Maloney

Age: 20
High 100 rank: 90. Vigorous’s stats might not appear to be they warrant a spot on this checklist, particularly after two different incoming sophomores above him put up monster numbers of their rookie campaigns. However what Vigorous lacks in counting stats, he makes up for in the entire intangibles. He often posts the best plus-minus on the Mavericks, and he is the last word lob menace in pick-and-rolls with Doncic and Irving. He’s a tenacious rebounder on each ends and offers the Mavericks some much-needed rim safety when he checks within the recreation. It might not appear to be it if you have a look at the field rating, however Vigorous is routinely Dallas’ third- or fourth-most essential participant each evening. — Jasmyn Wimbish

Age: 21
High 100 rank: No. 83. The Warriors have all resisted Kuminga as a commerce chip, believing he may be not only a future tentpole however a key piece of a workforce that also believes it might make one final run at trustworthy competition earlier than Stephen Curry ages out. That is his 12 months to actually show it after averaging over 16 factors per recreation in simply 26 minutes an evening final season. A top-tier athlete, Kuminga is a handful to maintain out of the lane and he completed on the rim at a greater clip than LeBron James. The three-point capturing dipped final season, however he was at 37% two years in the past. If Kuminga will get again nearer to that quantity, he needs to be a 20 PPG man. — Brad Botkin

Age: 22
High 100 rank: 80 Johnson averaged 16 factors, eight boards and virtually 4 assists final season. Now comes the leap into, dare I say, fringe All-Star territory? He has that sort of means, and he will not be missing for alternative. The Hawks love him, and rightfully so. Stories have indicated he was their solely untouchable participant this summer time. He can leap out of the fitness center and shoot from deep. He can actually cross, too. He is the sort of lengthy, athletic defender everybody covets. Johnson simply wants to remain wholesome. If he does, his inventory goes to soar. — Brad Botkin

Age: 21
High 100 rank: 66. The ceiling is extremely excessive. Miller would not flip 22 till November, and he confirmed as a rookie that he was prepared for every thing the Hornets threw at him. He typically guarded the opposing workforce’s prime perimeter participant, and, with LaMelo Ball out for a lot of the season and Terry Rozier traded in January, he typically functioned as Charlotte’s major playmaker. The 6-foot-7 wing profiles as a franchise cornerstone, a man who can create for himself and others and credibly defend a number of positions. Let’s have a look at how huge his second-year leap is. — James Herbert

Age: 22
High 100 rank: No. 49. Cunningham’s already come a great distance from his rookie season the place, regardless of excessive averages, he struggled closely with effectivity. He is coming off a profession 12 months, however his efficiency went largely unnoticed as a result of he performed on a 14-win Pistons workforce. That is a disgrace, too, as a result of Cunningham displayed all of the instruments of a franchise participant. He shot the ball extremely nicely from in every single place, together with 35% from 3-point vary, which was an essential breakthrough in his improvement. He additionally ranked ninth within the league amongst guards in potential assists, displaying that he is making the proper passes and reads; his teammates simply aren’t making the pictures. With a brand new coach, Cunningham can construct upon final season and achieve extra consideration as he is one of the promising younger gamers within the league. — Jasmyn Wimbish

4. Alperen Sengun, Rockets

Age: 22
High 100 rank: No. 47. A breakout season was minimize quick for Sengun, however he nonetheless did sufficient to complete third for Most Improved Participant. He is typically in comparison with Nikola Jokic, primarily as a result of his courtroom imaginative and prescient and passingecho that of the three-time MVP. However he is his personal participant, one which Houston ought to see as a constructing block for its future. Sengun’s power and finesse across the rim make it troublesome to defend him when he catches the ball on the transfer. He is additionally a terrific rebounder and places teammates in the proper spot for straightforward pictures. Statistically talking, his first three years are on par with what Jokic did, and whereas he is probably not on the perennial MVP trajectory, it is at all times a optimistic if you’re talked about in the identical firm as a future Corridor of Famer. — Jasmyn Wimbish

Age: 22
High 100 rank: 30. The delayed debut for Holmgren was nicely well worth the wait, as he match seamlessly into an Oklahoma Metropolis workforce constructed for sustained success by not less than the following decade. He is 7-foot-1 and but has the deal with of a guard. He can drain a 3-pointer simply so simple as he can again somebody down within the paint. He has already established himself as top-of-the-line rim protectors within the league, with a knack for completely timing blocks, one thing we hardly ever see out of gamers his age. Holmgren’s on a profession trajectory to be a mainstay on the All-Star Recreation, in addition to end-of-season awards like All-NBA and All-Protection. — Jasmyn Wimbish

Age: 21
High 100 rank: 29. After a season that noticed Banchero turn out to be the primary Magic participant since Mike Miller in 2001 to win Rookie of the Yr, the No. 1 general choose within the 2022 Draft adopted that up with a season that noticed his effectivity enhance dramatically. He is nonetheless not a constant menace from 3-point vary, however that does not matter a lot when he can muscle his option to the rim and do harm from mid-range. He earned his first All-Star nod and led Orlando to its first playoff look in 4 years. — Jasmyn Wimbish

1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs

Age: 20
High 100 rank: 12. After the All-Star break, Victor Wembanyama averaged 23.5 factors, 12 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per recreation. I can not think about you may be shocked to listen to nobody has ever executed that for a full season. Nobody has even come shut. For those who trim each a type of numbers by 10%, it is nonetheless solely been executed as soon as… by peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a reminder, Wembanyama was a rookie. He was enjoying on a workforce that was constructed to lose. We’re not simply speaking concerning the subsequent nice NBA participant right here. We’re speaking concerning the kind of participant this sport has by no means seen, the following step in its evolution. He’s the last word marriage of dimension and talent, the fruits of every thing this sport has been constructing towards for the previous decade. What’s scariest about that absurd post-break stat line is not how nice it’s, however how underwhelming it’ll look as compared. In all probability, that is the worst he’ll be for an extended, very long time. It is likely to be 15 years earlier than we put up one other one among these lists that has him exterior of the highest 10. — Sam Quinn