One of the defining characteristics of the modern NBA is its lack of traditional positions. Sure, we still put a designation next to every player’s name, from point guard through center, but those little letters on a lineup card have never meant less.
Most of the best players are working well outside traditional boxes, making an impact across the positional spectrum not just from matchup to matchup, but, at times, possession to possession. Point guards play off the ball, for instance, and off-guards play on. As such, it’s generally a more accurate representation of role to apply broader designations. Combo guards. Wings. Bigs.
For the purposes of this positional breakout from our top 100 NBA players list, we’re going to focus on the latter. Who are the 10 best big men in the NBA? Generally speaking, big men are centers and power forwards, fives and fours as they are commonly categorized, but it gets tricky with the fours.
Zion Williamson is listed as a power forward, for instance, but is he a big man? He’s only 6-foot-6 and he operates mostly from a perimeter starting point, often as a play initiator. You can damn near call him New Orleans’ point guard sometimes. We feel more comfortable labeling Williamson as a wing. A powerful one who can punish you in the post — the same way that Jalen Brunson can punish his positional counterparts with his back to basket — but a wing nonetheless.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, is also a four, and he also operates mainly from a perimeter starting point. But he’s almost seven feet tall and can credibly guard opposing centers. He scales toward a smaller big, as crazy as that sounds, but still a big at the end of the day.
Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns are two entirely different kinds of big men, one a perimeter shooter, one a lob catcher and rim protector, but they are both bigs. Incidentally, they both landed just outside our top 10 big men rankings, which are below.
10. Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz
Top 100 rank: 31
The Warriors fan in me doesn’t like having to write this blurb, because Markkanen is awesome and it seems like Golden State could’ve had him for a steep price. Instead, he stays in Utah on a five-year, $238 million extension. Markkanen is 27 years old, just entering his prime, but the Jazz aren’t close to competing. You wonder about that marriage of those timelines, but you can bet Danny Ainge has a plan and that Markkanen, a seven-foot sniper who averaged 23 and 8 last season on a better true-shooting clip that Kevin Durant, is central in it. — Brad Botkin
9. Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
Top 100 rank: 30
Holmgren delayed debut for Holmgren was well worth the wait, as he fit seamlessly into an Oklahoma City team built for sustained success through at least the next decade. He’s 7-foot-1 and yet has the handle of a guard. He can drain a 3-pointer just as simple as he can back someone down in the paint. He has already established himself as one of the best rim protectors in the league, with a knack for perfectly timing blocks, something we rarely see out of players his age. Holmgren’s on a career trajectory to be a mainstay at the All-Star Game, as well as end-of-season awards like All-NBA and All-Defense. — Jasmyn Wimbish
8. Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Top 100 rank: 29
After a season that saw Banchero become the first Magic player since Mike Miller in 2001 to win Rookie of the Year, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 Draft followed that up with a season that saw his efficiency improve dramatically. He’s still not a consistent threat from 3-point range, but that doesn’t matter much when he can muscle his way to the rim and do damage from mid-range. He earned his first All-Star nod and led Orlando to its first playoff appearance in four years. — Jasmyn Wimbish
7. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
Top 100 rank: 28
Sabonis led the league in rebounds last season and was eighth in assists. The only other player in the top-10 in both categories was Nikola Jokic. Furthermore, he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to average at least 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a season. Those are arbitrary cutoffs, of course, but it emphasizes how unique Sabonis’ game is for a big man. He is a true playmaking hub for the Kings, while also being an efficient scorer in the paint and a force on the glass. Like too many of his teammates, though, defense remains an issue. — Jack Maloney
6. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Top 100 rank: 23
Adebayo has been a full-time starter for five years and he’s never missed an All-Defense selection in that span. He’s a great passer who might actually get appreciated for it if he wasn’t living in the Jokic era. He rebounds when the Heat need him to rebound, he scores when the Heat need him to score, and with Udonis Haslem now retired, he leads when the Heat need him to lead.
All of that makes for an elite player, but a noteworthy development last season was Adebayo’s willingness to stretch his range as a jump-shooter. The volume is still quite low, but he attempted a career-high 42 3-pointers and 189 mid-range shots last season. That carried over into the Olympics, where he looked downright comfortable from deep. If Adebayo adds any consistent measure of floor-spacing to his already deep arsenal, his upside jumps from top-25 to top-15, or perhaps even higher. — Sam Quinn
5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Top 100 rank: 12
After the All-Star break, Wembanyama averaged 23.5 points, 12 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. I can’t imagine you’ll be surprised to hear no one has ever done that for a full season. No one has even come close. If you trim every one of those numbers by 10%, it’s still only been done once… by peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
As a reminder, Wembanyama was a rookie. He was playing on a team that was built to lose. We’re not just talking about the next great NBA player here. We’re talking about the sort of player this sport has never seen, the next step in its evolution. He is the ultimate marriage of size and skill, the culmination of everything this sport has been building toward for the past decade.
What’s scariest about that absurd post-break stat line isn’t how great it is, but how underwhelming it’s going to look in comparison. In all likelihood, that’s the worst he’s going to be for a long, long time. It might be 15 years before we post another one of these lists that has him outside of the top 10. — Sam Quinn
4. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
Top 100 rank: 11
The 2023-24 season was one of acceptance for Anthony Davis. Almost 75% of his shot attempts came in the paint. That’s the highest figure of his Lakers tenure, and there were years in which he barely cleared 50%. After averaging over five mid-range attempts per game at his Lakers peak, Davis finished below three last season.
Davis might still want to be a power forward, but he has finally seemed to embrace the fact that the Lakers need him to play like a center. Despite the physical toll the position might take on his body, the results spoke for themselves. Davis just had his best season since winning the 2020 championship, dominating the interior and singlehandedly keeping an otherwise miserable Laker defense afloat. — Sam Quinn
3. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Top 100 rank: 5
Arguably the most dominant individual scorer in the league, Embiid has made great strides as a hub in Nick Nurse’s more motion-oriented offense. He’s also anticipating and passing out of double teams with greater effectiveness. The combination of Embiid’s face-up jumper and bruising post game that, at the very least, all but guarantees a trip to the free-throw line, is as close to indefensible as it gets, and he remains a super effective rim protector even is his defensive range and movement isn’t always the greatest. — Brad Botkin
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Top 100 rank: 2
There was a feeling of déjà vu for the Greek Freak last season, as he put together another historic campaign by finishing in the top-15 in scoring, rebounding and assists, while also joining Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players in history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in multiple seasons. But was once again a non-factor in the playoffs due to an injury. Things may not have gone to plan for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the last few years, but he remains one of the most dominant forces in the league on both sides of the ball. — Jack Maloney
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Top 100 rank: 1
The only player on earth who can virtually guarantee his team a quality shot every possession, Jokic’s dominance occurs both in plain sight and on less visible margins. There is no matchup he can’t exploit, inside or out, whether as a scorer or facilitator. His defense has made great strides. The fact that he has zero interest in being recognized as the world’s best player is, in part, what actually makes him the world’s best player. Every play he makes is free of agenda and ego. Jokic is the purest embodiment of a basketball player. — Brad Botkin
Next five: Karl-Anthony Towns (Wolves), Rudy Gobert (Wolves), Kristaps Porzingis (Celtics), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
