NBA top 100 player rankings: Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Giannis eye No. 1; LeBron James falls out of top 10

If you feel like the Denver Nuggets just won the NBA title a few weeks ago, you’re not alone. The offseason has flown by amid Damian Lillard and James Harden rumors, and here we are within a month of the start of training camp for the 2023-24 campaign. We’ll wait to see where, or whether, Lillard and/or Harden will actually report.

In the meantime, it’s time for CBS Sports’ annual list of the league’s top 100 players as we sit on the cusp of a new season. This is, to be clear, a futures post. These aren’t based on past performances or career accomplishments. It’s our staff’s average ranking of the top 100 players in the NBA based on how we see them performing this upcoming season.

Some may think that any list that doesn’t have LeBron James in the upper echelon just doesn’t feel right. There certainly is a recent history of superstar athletes across the sports spectrum fending off Father Time, and our Bill Reiter writes on that very topic. But LeBron fell out of the top 10 for us. 

Once the season gets going, of course, there will be some players who will exceed expectations. LeBron may be one of them. Others will fall short. Looking back at our top 100 list from a year ago, there is major movement with a handful of players on this year’s version — notably a riser and a faller of at least 50 spots. Here, our Jasmyn Wimbish outlines the most extreme boosts and buckles from a year ago.

Other points to debate: Which team has the most selections? Are there any teams that don’t have any players in the top 100? Rookies are eligible, and more than a couple made the cut. So let’s get to it. As always, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

Each of CBS Sports’ eight NBA staff writers — Brad Botkin, James Herbert, Jack Maloney, Sam Quinn, Bill Reiter, Ameer Tyree, Colin Ward-Henninger and Jasmyn Wimbish — submitted individual lists of their top 100 players in the NBA for the upcoming 2023-24 season, and results were calculated by assigning a point value to each player’s place on each writer’s list. A player ranked No. 1 received 100 points, while a player ranked No. 100 received one point, and the cumulative point totals were used to determine the order for this year’s edition of the CBS Sports NBA 100.