Didn't see a thread on this already, but this week The Athletic is doing its annual player tier rankings. It started yesterday and each day this week they are unveiling a new tier. Here are some notable Rockets players - current and former. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7279336/2026/05/18/nba-player-tiers-draymond-green-lu-dort/ Tier 5 - Just outside of the top 100. A quality rotation player -> Tier 5B - Tari Eason: Tari Eason is an excellent defender who plays with a ton of energy and can be dangerous when his shot is falling. But he isn’t very durable, and he struggled with his offense; he needs to be in a situation where he can drive more often and play fast, and that might not be in Houston. Tier 4 - Tier 4 is the deepest and rounds out the bottom of the NBA’s top 100 players. Ideally, players in this tier are stars in their role. Some have been All-Stars, and several could still get to that level if they aren’t there now. -> Tier 4C - Dillon Brooks: Dillon Brooks just became a starter on a third team that went from not being in the playoffs to being in the playoffs. On one hand, he happily accepted an outsized offensive role, and he was a 20-point scorer for the first time in his nine-year career while operating out of ball screens, isolations and post-ups. He guards with pride. But Brooks doesn’t pass, his shooting is merely adequate, he rebounds poorly for a forward and his overall defensive effectiveness has waned from his time in Memphis. -> Tier 4E - Jalen Green: Jalen Green had a mostly forgettable first season in Phoenix because of multiple hamstring injuries, and he played the first games of his career as a reserve before sharing the floor with Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Collin Gillespie for many of his starts. His offense was relatively out of rhythm, with career-low percentages and free-throw volume. But Green’s defensive effort was better than it was in Houston, and Phoenix likely won't hold onto its playoff spot without him. -> Tier 4E - Jabari Smith Jr. isn’t a good enough ballhandler or passer to do much on the ball, and there are better perimeter defenders and rebounders. But he’s a solid shooter and athlete at 6-foot-11, and he is still only 23 years old. -> Tier 4F - Fred VanVleet: It’s going to be a challenging return for Fred VanVleet, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL. VanVleet is already an undersized 32-year-old guard who did not have special athleticism and made only 37.8 percent from the field in the 2024-25 season, so he has a lot to overcome. But VanVleet has always been one of the best decision-makers in the league among primary playmakers while finding a way to impact the game on both ends.
Looks like they're putting Sengun in 3A and Amen in 3C. I guess the question is, can one or both of them move up a tier next season? How much improvement, if any, is left for them? Having two tier 2 players would be something you can kinda-sorta go along with and just hope to sometime find a way to get one of those tier 1 guys, and then you're cooking with some real talent. But then the other problem is the two of them fit poorly together, as we've discussed ad nauseam. Maybe one of them goes out for said tier 1 player. But I don't think it should be Giannis, because same problem, just older and more talented.
By the way, I still do not see Stephon Castle as being what they think he is or what some posters here think he is (at the borderline of being a tier 2 player). I think even if the jump shot gets to league average, he's just Jrue Holiday. No shade on Jrue, he's been a very good player for a very long time. Not a guy you build a team around though, he's historically been a #3 option anytime he's been on a contending team. The fact that Amen has similar scoring volume, higher scoring efficiency, and a better AST:TO ratio as a player with literally no 3P shot and a shakier handle than Castle should tell you something about Castle's ceiling.
Durant is in Tier 2A: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/72...-tiers-lebron-james-steph-curry-kevin-durant/
What are you talking about? No one on here does that. He’s properly ranked here - a top 100 player, but in the bottom quartile.
Agree with you here - not even Jabari's mama thinks he is a 1a. There are 30 teams in the league x 5 starters - that's 150 starting players in the league. "In the bottom quartile of the top 100" is top 75-100. That sounds right to me - You can do a lot better than Jabari as your starting PF but you can also do worse than him as a starter. Google tells me the average salary of a starting PF role player is $20-26mil - Jabari is making $24mil. I think that says - there will always be some market for a team looking to upgrade there...and meanwhile - maybe we get a coach who at least makes an attempt to try to get more value from Jabari by running him off pin downs and trying to weaponize guys like him and Reed's best skill.
Yeah, Jabari is roughly an average NBA starter getting paid roughly average starter money. He just turned 23, so you can hope on him improving and growing his value-over-contract. He did play fairly well in the playoffs this season too. Not an untouchable guy, but not a guy you rush out to trade either.
should have said most the bbs for half the year. The hype on him was insane. He’s a decent player, but I’ll trade him if the right deal came. I would keep Sengun over him.
All I get out of this list is we need to fire not only the Udicker, but also the Stoner. a 2nd pick, a 3rd pick, and a 4th pick, all in consecutive drafts, and the best player is still the Eli Witus pick at 16th.
I don’t think where exactly Jabari ranks 75-150 is relevant. How average of a starting power forward he is doesn’t matter. He simply can’t be 1/5th of what you train every day if you need to beat Spurs and Thunder level to win a championship in the next 10 years. He’s not that level of athlete, the schematic disadvantages are already apparent. Those guys run fast, catch, dribble under pressure, can all pass and get really close to ball handlers and make them uncomfortable. 22-23 years old is the right age to judge's a player’s speed and coordination. Not trading him for something good if given the opportunity is too high risk for me.
I assume he based this on the regular season but Wemby as a anything other than 1a (or arguably 0a) after the playoffs is not credible. Jokic is in his rear view and Shai is struggling to keep pace - he can't be a tier below
Don't think it's fair to bury Jokic like you're saying because he suffered ONE injury, and it was just someone diving into him. He was BY FAR the best player in the league pre injury, so unless you think he's just done because of it nobody should be ahead of him.
There are a lot more people here who want to get rid of Jabari than those who hype him up. It think you are pretty selective in reading this board.
It is a wash.....can Jabari do better than the Houston Rockets? For sure, he could be riding the Knicks bench or the Spurs bench....... He has been alright, just a luxury on a 1st Round exiting team.
