My 2024 NBA Pyramid: the 91 Best Players

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[@nicholaskatsikas4904]

Betting on Joel Embiid, Kawhi, and Zion being healthy is basically setting money on fire

[@JustJulianH]

😂💀

[@poni3367]

Purpose of the video bruh

[@MyFavoriteSportsballTeam]

Marc when he explained his criteria at the beginning of the video...

[@palidanek74]

Embiid hasnt been healthy long enough to know what to do with himself ie last year - 4-5 years straight 2nd round exits - i'd say he is not top10 Kawhi, and Zion PG AD too hurt also to be top10-15ish

[@palidanek74]

AD is also way too inconsistent to be top 10

[@famousfinds8698]

Surprised with CJ at 29-36, I’d much rather have Markannen, Garland or Sabonis

[@CTGCOD]

Exactly 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

[@cole4939]

Or even demar or lamelo. If anything CJ is closer to jrue, dejounte and fred

[@liambailey1239]

@@cole4939 honestly a tier lower. He was bad last season.

[@nineteenct]

As a Pelicans fan you’re 100% correct

[@WfromDeBall]

Zach LaVine too

[@mrbucky226]

Jordan poole, spencer dinwiddie, buddy hield, myles turner, austin reeves, jordan clarkson, mpj, and jrue holiday all above khris middleton is just wild to me ngl

[@daniellige5311]

nah MPJ is kinda valid but yeah poole LMAO

[@mrbucky226]

@@daniellige5311 well if he gets healthy and starts being amazing then yes. Otherwise no, not after that finals performance.

[@fox9769]

My only really issue is having Sabonis 37-45. Sabonis just helped that the Kings team enter the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.

[@NoNsToPxs]

this year All NBA players dropping way to much in his list

[@user-ge8wp1rs3v]

But Sabonis choke so hard and got owned by Kevon Looney..

[@nothanks4422]

To me Luka should be in a separate tier from SGA and Tatum. I'm not sure if he necessarily belongs in the same tier as Steph and Giannis, but if I had to pick, he's closer to Steph and Giannis than he is to SGA and Tatum.

[@BoredReaper777]

I just think he's too much of a dead fish off-ball and on defense to outweigh the projections of Tatum and Shai on a similar level.

[@nothanks4422]

@@BoredReaper777 You're right, he needs to work on that end. But it's also true that none of Giannis, Tatum, and SGA can single-handedly run an offense at the level that Luka can. Also, how much of Luka's weakness offball is just a result of coaching and lack of secondary ball handlers around him(prior to acquiring Kyrie)? I don't know. If my team can acquire any one of Tatum SGA or Luka, it's Luka every time for me.

[@nevalelapena]

Luka has also another big problem to me, named Kyrie... Looking at his body language he don't like play with him and i struggle to see them playing well together

[@keatonsmith8450]

@@nothanks4422yes but their offense is WAY closer to luka than luka’s defense is to theirs. You might value offense more than defense and I get that to a degree, but at some point you have to more roundly take the defensive gap between those players into consideration. Also diagnosing why he’s been so lackluster off of the ball is nice but it doesn’t actually fix it, so until a cure is implemented it has to be looked at as a negative when assessing the totality of Luka as a player.

[@boiboiboi8684]

@@nothanks4422bro I love Luka, but he’s undeniably the worse defensive player in the Top 10, and his efficiency from 3 and free throw is lacklustre. + Thunder who were projected lottery bound won more games than the Mavs.

[@kohsmoger1567]

No Wiggins in the top 91 is insane. Poole over Wiggins? Klay over Wiggins? Clark son over Wiggins?

[@magnus9003]

Must be bc he forgot about him, there is no way

[@matthewmullins4046]

​@@magnus9003Yeah. Wiggins was so good when they won the chip in WCF and The Finals

[@tsugum_i]

My thoughts too

[@henry7486]

@@magnus9003yeah tbh I forgot that he existed but he definitely should be top 91

[@nblade66]

Its a projection for next year, so maybe he thinks Poole is gonna pop off with the wizards

[@joshualee9540]

The Damian Lillard placement is questionable to me, especially since he had arguably the best season of his career last season. Also, I agree Mikal can have plently of room to grow, but isn't he like 27?

[@burntsouffle]

he's 33 and this list is for the next season.

[@zotanica]

peggy pfp

[@tysmothers]

​@@burntsoufflenot dame, mikal bridges

[@Washanuga]

I personally think Mikal is pretty close to his ceiling. It's tricky with him, because they're gonna have to decide what they want him to be. He's about to be 27, played 3 college seasons 2x champ, NBA rookie season at age 22. So it's not like he was ever a project or young guy. By 27 now, I don't think he has much left to show. Don't think he'll ever be a 1st or 2nd option guy, what he excels at is being a complementary piece ie cutting, off-ball movement, taking advantage of switches when he gets smaller guys on him. In Brooklyn his ppg shot up to 26, but that's because he had to be the #1 on offense, his FTA doubled compared to PHX, but it didn't exactly contribute to winning basketball. His greatly increased offensive load also made his defense fall off a cliff. He's also an ironman who often plays 37+ min a game which inflates box score a bit. He's a great player, but I think it's premature to say he had a breakout in Brooklyn. I think his perfect role will always be 3rd or 4th option who can focus on his own defense, while punishing opponent defense whenever he sees an opening. He's unable to generate his own offense really, although his midrange pull-up is pretty nice now, but he excels as an off-ball guy. Next season is a big one for him.

[@ckq]

Mikal is 48th, he didn't break out last season. He was better in the first 2 months of the season than the final 2. Claxton, Cam, Dinwiddie were as good or better in the playoffs

[@naterommel9491]

I didn’t realize how much I’ve been missing MDJ videos these past few years. Glad your back bro @MDJ

[@firstnamelastname-up6ni]

This needs to be pinned and liked more

[@nopemang4356]

same

[@zacandcheeze5672]

Holy cow khris middleton in the bottom row. Wow. No words.

[@ch.illmatic]

Khris Middleton was injured the whole last year and was still the Bucks best player in the Heat series lol

[@russellst.martin4255]

I thought he actually forgot him until I saw the last row

[@Doc-ch5oz]

Victor over Paolo is crazy tbh. We haven't even see him play.

[@nikolayjerev6138]

Top Comment

[@keatonsmith8450]

Jamal Murray is CRAZY low considering the run he just put together in conjunction with the fact that we’re projecting no injuries; he massively outperformed players like Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox, Trae Young, Mikal Bridges, and Anthony Edwards, on even bigger stages than them less than a couple months ago. This is not to disrespect them, I could believe them having close to slightly better seasons than him, but all of them? Vs the same type of teams on the same stage? I don’t think so

[@LLawliet-tv9ig]

Yup, especially if we're taking account of post season as well, then Jamal Murray has catapulted himself into the top 16-21 tier. A fully healthy Jamal Murray in the regular season + playoffs is a top 7 point guard in the NBA. He consistently elevate his game in the playoffs just like Jokic. The brighter the stage, the better Murray performs. I feel like MDJ is also projecting a player's usage and favoring players who are the #1 go to option. If we're considering the playoffs as well which in my opinion is weighted more than in the regular season, I have Murray over the likes of Mitchell, Paul George, Fox, Brown, and Zion.

[@nanagotham1590]

He didn’t outperform Ant or Fox considering they were also no.1 options. I think Bridges is being overrated though considering it was only one stretch he’s played well.

[@kgtd2160]

As much as I love Jamal Murray, he did not massively outperform Ant in the playoffs. They went pretty much shot for shot and it was amazing to watch. With that being said, I think Jamal is ranked as low as he is because he's playing with probably one of the best players in nba history in Jokic and plays on a really good team. Maybe his individual impact doesn't shine as much as those other guys. Just think it's hard to rank these clear cut "number 2" options against some 1st options guys due to usage, touches etc.

[@kingdinodragonite3470]

Ant had the best RAPTOR and advanced stats like gamescore and BPM in the nuggets series. Yes, even higher THAN JOKIC OR MURRAY. Edwards averaged 32ppg 5rebs 5ast 2stls 2blks on 60%TS. Murray played WORSE THAN ANT.

[@orangesodazz]

Shai is way too high, what in tarnation. Also, no Jamal in top 21 is a crime.

[@jamman950]

Jamal Murray has not made an all star team and isn’t necessarily close so why would he be around all nba range

[@orangesodazz]

@@jamman950 His performances in this most recent playoffs (as well as in the bubble in 2020) should put him ahead of several of the top 21 guys. The NBA postseason is the highest bar that exists in basketball, and he is a clear All-NBA caliber player when it matters the most.

[@ranchosdelnorte]

@@jamman950 Big reason why he hasn't been an allstar is solely that the West has been stacked at PG for so long. Curry, Dame, MVP Westbrook and Harden, CP3 plus now there's Luka, Morant, SGA and D'Aaron Fox. Would've had a much easier time in the East competing with the likes of John Wall, Lowry and Ben Simmons, plus right now his biggest competition would be Haliburton, Young and Brunson, which is a cakewalk compared to all the PGs you have to outplay in the West.

[@tpsam]

​@@ranchosdelnorteFranklin I see fox in the same tier as haliburton And Mitchell battled with Murray on equal terms in the bubble But Murray is clearly the superior defender I don't see why Mitchell should be 2 tier above Murray 1 tier ok but 2 tier above is too much

[@nanagotham1590]

@@orangesodazzMurray is just not better than Dame or Ja or PG. He’s playing off Jokic too so it’s just real tough to say he’s definitively in that tier.

[@motiesdrip]

mccollum over maxey and garland?😂

[@1of1fr]

As a pelican fan I’d take them over CJ any day 😹😹

[@milto2269]

Overall solid and can see where you are coming from except with CJ being that high. There is no universe he is top 36. He doesn't have the playmaking, he is bad on D, his scoring efficiency was soldily below league average and he is old

[@hyabberhane]

Old?

[@Gio-wn3yn]

CJ a whole two levels too high 😂😂

[@s.1852]

i think shai is too high because we haven't seen him in the playoffs but it was decent apart from that

[@etanabu2232]

ong bro the shai dickriding has to stop he's not even better than dbook rn

[@etanabu2232]

hes over embiid too what is this list embiid might be a playoff choker but in the reg season he's way better than shai defensively and offensively

[@Akashic85]

@@etanabu2232 fr, i get that embiid stole the mvp from joker, but thats not to take away that embiid just dominates and contributes more than sga

[@futureDreamer4]

I agree.

[@TheOtherFishingChannel]

The 🐐 MDJ!

[@gdee3918]

I’m tired of people thinking Tatum is elite elite. He’s awesome, but he’s closer to prime PG than KD. He’s top 10-15 not top 5

[@tomzhao6956]

Facts. He has moments of greatness like his 50 against Philly, but he’s far too inconsistent to be a top 5 player. Sometimes it feels like he and Jaylen Brown take turns throwing games away

[@BoredReaper777]

Prime PG got MVP votes in OKC mate. Its in a similar ranking because tatum has shown he's capable of something similar.

[@A_biased_celtics_fan_baited_u]

7-9

[@yodatscrazy981]

​@@BoredReaper777it might seem hard to believe but all mvp races are different but 2019 was honestly the weakest mvp pool we've had in years. It was a 2 man race and every star was either injured or was on a bad team. PG was barely healthy enough and his team was barely ok enough for him to qualify.

[@ianardell4660]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@BoredReaper777I think if you told people a couple of years ago his prime comparisons is a guy who just got some mvp votes

[@sam.0021]

What this list showed me is the league is insanely deep these days.

[@mrjermz5406]

Props for not going chalk with this one. Well done and good explanation of takes, even if many will disagree with a few of them (Shai, Embiid, etc.).

[@henrymoretz7140]

"2 young players, tyrese Haliburton and mikal bridges" when trae young is a little over 2 years younger than mikal

[@zikoranwagu6576]

Scot Henderson on the same level w Jordan Poole and over Banchero is wild

[@frz_-]

SGA is really high man🥴 also if we’re assuming Kawhi is Healthy he should easily be Top 5

[@salweiner]

How is Andrew Wiggins not on this list. Besides that pretty solid

[@kevinthomas728]

Surprisingly valid, solid video

[@greatprime8507]

Banger video

[@mannyphantommm]

I'm so glad MDJ is back!

[@AgentZeroO]

Yes, thats wild. Dude becomes MJ every time he plays against the Celtics. Top 35 for sure.

[@parsifal40]

SGA at 4-6 is crazy, he should be 11-15 and at best 7-10

[@ryanm.7147]

Really solid list

[@walidklm]

No wiggins is crazy bro

[@breaknfiction21]

He accidentally left him off. He said so in another comment.

[@gabrielperez82204]

Jesus dude I’m so happy you are back making vids, I hardly disagree w any of this and for a topic that can be so divisive at times, that’s saying a lot

[@seanmolloy2172]

Without injuries. Zion should be level 3, maybe 2. Hes that good.

[@alexnguyen1284]

zion + injuries + moriah mills = go hand in hand. Zion will always be injured so he should def never be ranked high.

[@seanmolloy2172]

@@alexnguyen1284 agreed. But it was stated that the ranking was assuming no injuries.

[@ronkz7854]

You nailed it

[@camerondavidson2026]

Right on time 🥳

[@DawnofIsai]

Paolo and Cade disrespect tho... CJ being that high is fucking insane to me too having Lavine a whole tier under both CJ and Beal is even crazier. The wildest thing tho is no wiggins 😭

[@deshaunreid7728]

I was wondering why Brunson was so low but your reasoning is solid I dont see how he gets any better but he is an elite player make no mistake

[@samuelcalkins]

The statement at the end of the video 😂😂😂

[@ethanma3916]

isn't demar like 33 years old? i feel like decline for next season isn't too far fetched

[@BrothaMan98]

He won't be worse than Beal or McCollum. He's still the one of the most durable stars in league and will likely defer to Lavine to score

[@hyabberhane]

Love the CJ respect

[@Miguel-jd4fw]

Kinda weird how sga is higher than booker and one of your points for him being that high is that he’s young but booker is only 1 year older and has done more than him💀

[@joshs5115]

lol kept waiting for Middleton to show up once I saw the 37-45 tier players and kept thinking you just forgot him. But respect to your list still especially since you're the one putting it out there and not the comments! Also appreciate the Devin Vassel, Walker Kessler, and Jaden McDaniels getting some love in the bottom row especially being in the smaller market teams.

[@ChubbaBubbaCSGO]

man forgot about wiggins

[@MDJiang]

oh I actually did lol. yeah he should be somewhere on here

[@deundrawhite215]

Having Westbrook at the bottom row is too low for him 😢😢

[@kgtd2160]

I think the rankings were reasonable with a clear indicator as to what the criteria would be. Overall solid rankings too. Of course there's gonna be some speculation because we don't know the future. Personally, I think KAT is gonna be better next season or return to his old form since this is his first normal off season in a while (I believe for the previous 2-3 years, he had to deal with a lot of deaths in the family due to covid, him also getting covid and unable to work out, getting a respiratory infection that kept him out of the gym last season before training camp etc...). Hopefully he can bounce back and return to his old form because that would greatly help the team and put some ppl on notice.

[@hugomorency8700]

Really good list actually considering it's so hard to rank players

[@envy1372]

My only issues with this list are that I think Devin booker should be in the 3rd tier instead of SGA simply because he was the second best player in the playoffs last year and was the only person to even take 2 games off the nuggets. He had a 5-6 game stretch where he was literally unstoppable averaging 40 on 60% shooting. The second is that Brunson should be 1 or 2 tiers up because he absolutely embarrassed a cavs team that was the best defense in the league and heavily favored without his costar Julius Randell playing any meaningful basketball. He also performed really well against eventual eastern conference champions Miami. Not saying he’s top 10 in the league or anything but I don’t think it’s crazy to put him in the same tier as Jamal Murray and Trae Young.

[@omartrinidad6309]

What a playoff appearance for SGA🙏🙏

[@sbeaber]

Really good list. I'm half way in.

[@jakepauer7227]

lebron, AD and anthony edwards in the same row is valid 😂

[@Moeatscurry]

CJ over Zach? Stop it bro 💀

[@jonathanlgill]

It's old news at this point, but would you consider doing a video on the MVP race this year?

[@adityavarshney6690]

I don't think we have enough data for SGA, he's been on an up and coming team and has been really good. But we have no idea if he will be what his team needs in the playoffs. Feels weird putting him over Embiid who is the offensive focal point every night no matter what.

[@Chevvvvv]

People forget how impactful bam is

[@lukacalov1988]

I agree Jokics floor is the highest by such a wide margin that its insane Cuz if he has a bad shooting night he can pass and rebound or vise versa

[@a3per818]

Lauri and Sabonis were criminally low

[@hctterrell]

I like the Booker take, as a talent I wouldn’t put him above KD but he has been a top 10 or borderline top 10player in the league for sure

[@magicofshootingstar5825]

I think Markkanen will surprise you this season if that's how you see him. 😃 Only reasoning of putting him that low is the fact that he haven't yet been in playoffs, so he haven't proven himself in that way.

[@MK3504]

I was clearing out my old subscriptions, good to have you back! Paolo is criminally low, dontnsee how hes lower than prospects who havent played

[@Ars7c3]

Bruh’s gonna learn about the Magic this year. Disrespecting my boy Paolo

[@archdawg5688]

Fun video

[@lolsmh23]

MDJ is the goat man

[@lilchaparro9126]

Agree with your list

[@Xwind07]

Can you also make a list for fantasy basketball? 😂

[@brianbazan207]

The Julius Randel ranking was crazy for a guy who made 3rd team all nba, and Average 25/10/4

[@ritsuboii2130]

sga pick was wild

[@aaronguo2449]

ball-dominant guards are just the meta (I feel like curry is the least ball-dominant out of the top PGs and SGs) kinda crazy, probably the fact that d book and spida have had kobe-esque usage rates.

[@aidancarmody4978]

khris middleton was sooo injured the last few years leading to him not playing well and fitting in w his team, i think it’s a little harsh of a ranking but he shouldn’t be too high

[@AirRusher1992]

This pyramis seems interesting but I like it.

[@VLE-Grimace]

I think Aaron Gordon deserves to be one tier up, he’s proven that he can be a second option if need be and can score inside the paint with ease. It does help that he’s with Jokic but even still I always felt that he was severely underrated on the Magic and he’s shown his full potential on the Nuggets and what he’s capable of.

[@liamcoulter9627]

I feel like Kuz has earned at least a spot on here somewhere, but I’m also a Wiz fan who just wants to see more than one guy on our roster on the pyramid lol

[@xPiratex_]

the shai was crazy

[@blackdragon7038]

I'm still need more body of work from SGA.

[@travis618]

Cade is about to flame this list this year

[@ramelchilds7416]

I love the fact it's a pyramid than placing a number upon a player, you've been like Jordan when he came back from retirement, like you never even left (pick whichever you prefer) 😅

[@johnnykushu2436]

I think you definitely punished Randle far far too much for his poor playoff performances, especially considering that he had a severe ankle injury last year.

[@lightstripes03]

I was hoping to see Derrick White at around 70-ish but hard to argue with the list. Pretty sure with guys on this list being out like Kawhi and Zion most of next year he will be on that tier.

[@BoredReaper777]

Great ranking, haven't really found anything wild or overly projecting for future leeps of potential.

[@Mdksupreme1]

Nah, this ranking is immensely blasphemous

[@joelpalmer3336]

Betting on Jaden Ivey fitting in with anyone on this list is wild

[@hoover9390]

great ranks

[@dylanm1174]

first name to come to mind i think you missed is Josh Hart. I think he’s gonna thrive as a do-it-all guy in NY

[@raynice2900]

Fair.

[@tbd7898]

Gotdamn xhere's a lot've good players in the NBA. This jideo made me realize dis...

[@whirlysquirrely3368]

SGA!🤣🤣🤣

[@xVrity]

I think the list is good. But I would move dame up a tier. I don't see how he can be a full tier lower than ant. I also would move jamal murray up a tier. He started off the season coming off a massive injury and he continued to improve throughout the year eventually peaking in the playoffs. Take a look at the numbers he put up in the playoffs, I don't think most people realize how great he was.

[@thenotoriousmichaeljackson8938]

W

[@BwGamekilla14]

Jalen Brunson once again getting undervalued yet his college teammate whose older & less proven as a #1 get the benefit of the doubt… we’ll see

[@ryan5752]

Not saying i agree with everything here but its just so great to hear you talk ball

[@ianpeterson6398]

Jaden Mcdaniels clears so many of the players above him

[@MrRmmk1]

Lebron not even cracking the top 10 is a crime

[@Komo47]

Shai, Tatum, Booker top 10 is nasty work

[@greatprime8507]

I feel like Jimmy butler is so underrated in these kinds of rankings

[@daniellige5311]

Jamal Murray not top 16-21 is insanity.

[@Mitra131]

Sabonis should've been in the same tier as siakam. JJJ and adebayo are only ones in tier above him that are maybe better excluding injuries Edit:maybe I'm overrating him. But he is so important for the way the best offense in the league played last year. He's definitely in the same tier as the guys above Sabonis>Rudy,Beal,CJ

[@Gio-wn3yn]

Josh Giddey that low???!! He’s better then his teammates above him Chet and Jdub 😂😂

[@alexstudentemail]

This is dope, but like... you might want to reconsider how the hell Shai ended up over Embiid lmao, there literally isn't a single aspect of his game that he does notably better than Embiid, but has huge disparities in the things Embiid surpasses him at.

[@jamman950]

I agree with you but he is a better Passer and playmaker and finishes at the rim at an outstanding rate

[@alexstudentemail]

@@jamman950 Ofc sure Shai is still amazing, def a top 10 player this year, and i suppose this ranking is for performance next year in which he could hugely improve, but i still dont think that ceiling is going to surpass what Embiid is more than likely do next year.

[@joshe955]

MPJ will be a top 40 player by the end of this year

[@fitzy3562]

Chet above Giddey is crazy

[@loganhoward9606]

Myles Turner disrespect is crazy

[@thisisSPARTAorsprite]

Jru holiday is always called by OTHER nba players as the most underrated he dropped 50 and always lcoks up

[@ThatPuzzledJoker]

Jamal Murray is top 15 imo