Comparing different players who play different positons on different teams with different dynamics is nearly impossible – but it happens anyway. Sports Illustrated revealed their 2020 Top 100 NBA Players list for 2019-20 season on Thursday and, as always, there will be much debate on the order of the list and who was left off.

The defending-champion Toronto Raptors were well represented despite losing superstar Kawhi Leonard, with four players on the current roster cracking the Top 100. Pascal Siakam (24), Kyle Lowry (28), Marc Gasol (42) and Serge Ibaka (80) were all featured on the list.

But even after making last year’s Top 100 and turning in memorable performances in the playoffs, Fred VanVleet was left off this year’s ranking but did make their ‘Biggest Snubs’ list alongside names like Hassan Whiteside, Dwight Howard and Goran Dragic.

With 30 teams in the league and 100 names making the cut – an average of 3.33 players per team – the Raptors came out slightly ahead. It is a bit of a step down from the year before, however, as five Raptors made the cut in the 2019 edition. Their highest rank was Leonard at 12, with Lowry (23), Jonas Valanciunas (63), Ibaka (78) and VanVleet (94) rounding out Toronto’s representatives.

Speaking of Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers star came in at No. 2 in the 2020 rankings. Sitting atop the list was Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who took home the league’s MVP Award last season after posting averages of 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. In SI’s previous five rankings, LeBron James occupied the top spot. This year, James falls to No. 3.

The highest Canadian on the list was Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray at No. 38. In addition to Leonard in the second spot, former Raptors include DeMar DeRozan (31), Lou Williams (53), P.J. Tucker (74), Valanciunas (88), Danny Green (89) and Terrence Ross (98).  

The rankings are described as “exhaustive exercise that seeks to define who will be the league’s best players in the 2019-20 season.” As a result, stars like Kevin Durant, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were not included as all three are expected to miss the vast majority – if not all – of next season. The criteria also factored into the ranking of superstar Klay Thompson (58) given his ACL tear, projected recovery time and a “slow grind back to full form.” Thompson is unlikely to be back until March at the earliest, which explains why he was ranked behind players like Otto Porter Jr. (57), Derrick Favors (55) and Danilo Gallinari (50).

Rookies were not included on the list, so top pick Zion Williamson, high-flying point guard Ja Morant and Canadian RJ Barrett will have to wait at least one more year to crack the Top 100.

 

Here is the full SI list:

 

Sports Illustrated's top 100 NBA Players

Player Rank Team Position
Giannis Antetokounmpo 1 MIL F
Kawhi Leonard 2 LAC F
LeBron James 3 LAL F
Steph Curry 4 GSW G
James Harden  5 HOU G
Anthony Davis 6 LAL F
Joel Embiid 7 PHI F
Nikola Jokic 8 DEN F
Paul George 9 LAC F
Damian Lillard 10 POR G
Jimmy Butler  11 MIA G/F
Russell Westbrook 12 HOU G
Karl-Anthony Towns 13 MIN F
Rudy Gobert 14 UTA F
Kyrie Irving 15 BKN G
LaMarcus Aldridge 16 SAS F
Draymond Green 17 GSW F
Al Horford 18 PHI F
Blake Griffin 19 DET F
Kemba Walker 20 BOS G
Chris Paul 21 OKC G
Bradley Beal 22 WSH G
Ben Simmons 23 PHI G/F
Pascal Siakam 24 TOR F
Jrue Holiday 25 NOP G/F
Mike Conley 26 UTA G
Khris Middleton 27 MIL G
Kyle Lowry 28 TOR G
Donovan Mitchell 29 UTA G
Luka Doncic 30 DAL G
DeMar DeRozan 31 SAS G
CJ McCollum 32 POR G
De'Aaron Fox 33 SAC G
Devin Booker 34 PHX G
Jayson Tatum 35 BOS G
Andre Drummond 36 DET F
Kristaps Porzingis 37 DAL F
Jamal Murray 38 DEN G
Victor Oladipo 39 IND G
Steven Adams 40 OKC F
Kevin Love 41 CLE F
Marc Gasol 42 TOR F
Paul Millsap 43 DEN F
D'Angelo Russell 44 GSW G
Nikola Vucevic 45 ORL F
Eric Bledsoe 46 MIL G
Myles Turner 47 IND F
Gary Harris 48 DEN G/F
Tobias Harris 49 PHI F
Danilo Gallinari 50 OKC F
John Collins 51 ATL F
Bojan Bogdanovic 52 IND F
Lou Williams 53 LAC G
Buddy Hield 54 SAC G
Derrick Favors 55 NOP F
Clint Capela 56 HOU F
Otto Porter Jr. 57 CHI F
Klay Thompson 58 GSW G
Gordan Hayward 59 BOS F
Aaron Gordon 60 ORL F
Malcolm Brogdon 61 IND G
Trae Young 62 ATL G
Eric Gordon 63 HOU G
Robert Covington 64 MIN F
Joe Ingles 65 UTA F
Brook Lopez 66 MIL F
JJ Reddick 67 NOP G
Jaylen Brown 68 BOS F
Caris LeVert 69 BKN F
Thaddeus Young 70 CHI F
Josh Richardson 71 PHI G/F
Harrison Barnes 72 SAC F
Ricky Rubio 73 PHX G
P.J. Tucker 74 HOU F
Lauri Markkanen 75 CHI F
Domantas Sabonis 76 IND F
Montrezl Harrell 77 LAC F
Jusuf Nurkic 78 POR F
Julius Randle 79 NYK F
Serge Ibaka 80 TOR F
Patrick Beverley 81 LAC G
Marcus Smart 82 BOS G/F
Jaren Jackson Jr. 83 MEM F
Al-Farouq Aminu 84 ORL F
Brandon Ingram 85 NOP F
Andre Iguodala 86 MEM F
Jeff Teague 87 MIN G
Jonas Valanciunas 88 MEM F
Danny Green 89 LAL G
Zach LaVine 90 CHI G
Derrick White 91 SAS G
Spencer Dinwiddie 92 BKN G
Bam Adebayo 93 MIA F
Dejounte Murray 94 SAS G
Joe Harris 95 BKN G
Kyle Kuzma 96 LAL F
Jarrett Allen 97 BKN F
DeAndre Jordan 98 BKN F
Terrence Ross 99 ORL G/F
Andrew Wiggins 100 MIN F