The Ringer's NBA Top 100, now in its 34th edition since launching in December 2022, has crowned a new no. 1 heading into the 2026-27 season. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio's 22-year-old phenom, has overtaken Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the summit of the rankings - becoming the youngest player ever to hold the top spot in the project's history, and only the fourth player overall to do so, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander himself.
Wembanyama's rise is remarkable given he fell short in the NBA Finals in June. But his postseason impact told a different story: San Antonio posted a net rating of plus-12.9 with him on the floor during the playoffs, collapsing to minus-2.0 when he sat. That swing, combined with his status as the league's first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in just his third season, has been enough to push him past more established stars - even with his offensive game still considered a work in progress heading into year four.
Depth Separates Contenders From the Rest
The rankings also expose how unevenly top-tier talent is distributed across the league. Oklahoma City leads with seven Top 100 players, bolstered by promising rookie big man Aday Mara, while San Antonio and a surprising Portland side each have six. New York and Philadelphia stand alone as the only two teams boasting three top-25 players apiece - the Knicks with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby, and the 76ers with Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James. At the other extreme, five rosters feature just one Top 100 player, including Golden State, where Stephen Curry begins his 18th season in a notably solitary position.
The Old Guard Cedes Ground
Perhaps the clearest sign of generational change: Curry, James and Kevin Durant are all absent from the preseason top 10, ranking 11th, 15th and 21st respectively. Only Kawhi Leonard, at 35, cracks the top 10 among players over 31. None of this diminishes what these three have accomplished at advanced stages of their careers, but the rankings suggest their grip on the league's absolute peak has loosened.
Risers, Fallers and a Counterpoint on Size
Detroit's Jalen Duren offers one of the more dramatic arcs in the league. After climbing to no. 24 in March on the back of All-NBA-caliber play, his postseason production cratered - his paint scoring dropping from third-best in the league during the regular season to third on his own team in the playoffs. Despite signing a five-year, $200 million deal after a tense free-agency standoff, Duren has fallen to 46th, even as he remains the biggest riser in the rankings over the past year.
Ja Morant's decline has been steeper and more prolonged, from a peak of ninth in January 2023 to a fresh start in Portland this season. He's joined on the list of biggest fallers by Darius Garland, De'Aaron Fox and Trae Young - four former top-30 point guards, all 28 or younger, all traded since 2025. It raises a pointed question about whether undersized, defense-limited guards are losing favor around the league. Brunson's own ascent - from 51st in 2022 to sixth today, with a Finals MVP in between - complicates that theory, proving that elite production can still override size concerns at the very top of the game.
