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NBA playoffs 2024: LeBron at 9?! Here are the top 25 players in the postseason
Chris Herring, ESPN Senior Writer
Apr 21, 2024, 08:00 AM ET
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Now that we’ve made it through the play-in round, we’re finally here! The NBA playoffs began on Saturday. Each conference has what appears to be a clear favorite to reach the Finals, but as we saw last year when the No. 8 seed Miami Heat stormed from the play-in all the way to the championship round, any team is capable of making a run, and particularly so with a bevy of injury questions hovering over the first round.
With those questions swirling, and the intrigue building, we ranked the best players in this year’s playoffs. (For the time being, we held out star players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson and Jimmy Butler — all of whom sound unlikely to see much, if any, game action in the opening round.)
The votes are in. The data has been analyzed. Film has been watched. Here are the top 25 players in the postseason.
25. Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Get this: The second-year guard, still just 23 years old, led the NBA in clutch field goal percentage (minimum 25 attempts) by a wide margin. He’s an absolute midrange monster, having drilled almost 49% of his long midrange looks on the year — metrics that rival the best marks the league has seen in 10 years from that distance. The scariest part of all: his shooting efficiency — 54% overall, and almost 43% from deep — skyrocketed from Year 1 to Year 2, even as his usage rate spiked. It usually doesn’t work this way. But Williams is anything but usual for someone this new to the league. And now he gets to experience his first playoffs.
24. Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
The star forward does it all for Orlando, leading the team in points, rebounds and assists this season, and improving considerably as a shooter, hitting nearly 34% of his 3s (up from last season’s 29.8%) and 42% of his long midrange attempts (up from just 35% last season). Banchero’s first-round opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, did hold him in check in the last two regular-season matchups, though, with just 30 combined points on 10-for-29 shooting. But Banchero also had one of his best scoring performances of his career — a 42-point outing — at Cleveland in December. In Game 1, a 14-point loss, Banchero tallied 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists in a game-high 41 minutes.
23. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards is clearly Minnesota’s superstar, but Towns is a legitimate 50-40-90 threat as a big man. The former No. 1 pick was dominant at times this season, particularly in January, when he averaged almost 26 points per contest and drilled about 50% of 3s while launching nearly six of them each night. That was the same month he had his 62-point outburst against Charlotte. What will be worth watching in the playoffs is how he fares defending power forwards this postseason, particularly when opposing teams opt to go with smaller, quicker lineups.
22. Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
It has been three and a half years now, but we certainly haven’t forgotten when Murray went supernova in the 2020 playoff bubble and notched 50 points twice in a series against the Jazz. And the Lakers haven’t forgotten about his incredible showing in last year’s Western Conference finals, when Murray averaged more points (32.5) than he did in that aforementioned 2020 Jazz series (31.6). It wouldn’t be surprising if this postseason ends up being more of the same, given that this season marked the most efficient shooting campaign in Murray’s career.
His two-man game with Nikola Jokic — a set the duo has perfected over the course of almost eight years together now — is unstoppable. For that reason, you’ll see it countless times over the weeks to come, whenever Denver needs a bucket.
21. Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves
Rudy Gobert, who should win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, anchored the NBA’s best defensive unit, limiting players to a sub-45% effective field goal rate — the best mark in the league among those who contested at least 1,000 shots. And when players tested him one-on-one, he was the second-best defender in the association in points allowed per chance.
20. Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks
His worst field goal percentage over a full campaign since his age-25 season. The 3-point mark that is below league average. The scoring average that dropped nearly eight points from his career-best mark the season before. All those stats were indications that it wasn’t a banner campaign for Lillard. But by just about anyone else’s standards, it would have been seen as a solid season. Still, Milwaukee — which has gone through a bevy of changes, including nixing first-time head coach Adrian Griffin, hiring Doc Rivers midseason and trying to get its star trio enough reps together — traded for the star guard to make an aggressive run at another NBA title.
The injury to Antetokounmpo shifts more of that burden to Lillard. However it also gives the 33-year-old an opportunity to rewrite his narrative if he replicates some of the postseason magic he has shown in the past — especially if it helps the Bucks prevail without Antetokounmpo.
19. Paul George, LA Clippers
This was the most efficient season of George’s illustrious career — impressive in Year 14. George had a career-best effective field goal percentage and shot better from 3 than he ever has — he ranked fourth in the NBA on catch-and-shoot 3s this season (45%) — all while continuing to be one of the best perimeter defenders and theft artists in the sport. Perhaps most important: With him playing off the ball more, he was able to stay healthy and appear in 74 games, his most since 2018-19. It could pay huge dividends for the Clippers this postseason.
18. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia Sixers
Maxey could take home this season’s Most Improved Player award following a leap after the 76ers dealt James Harden at the start of the season. And he stepped up even more when Joel Embiid went down with an injury, helping Philadelphia maintain a spot in the playoff picture. He was a fantastic distributor, finishing the campaign with 433 assists — more than twice as many as he had last season.
17. Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks
With Luka Doncic’s brilliance and newcomers Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington taking the Mavs to new heights since the trade deadline, it’d be easy to forget that there’s far more to Dallas’ dominance as of late. Irving, with averages of 25, 5 and 5 on nearly 50-40-90-level efficiency, is a massive part of the team’s ascension. One of the biggest year-over-year improvements for Irving: his accuracy from 3, which jumped from 37.9% to 41.1% this season. Irving successfully tweaked his jumper, shortening the duration of his shot release on catch-and-shoot 3s by more than any volume shooter in the league, per Second Spectrum data.
16. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
This year’s Celtics have incredible balance, which makes it harder for the team’s stars to earn certain league-wide awards. But the upside is that balance shows up in the stars’ advanced data, and Brown is a prime example. He just posted the best field goal percentage of his career while also tallying a career-best assist-to-turnover ratio. With how many close calls Boston has had in the playoffs over the past several years, all the Celtics faithful care about is what will bring the franchise its 18th championship. Brown limiting his turnovers would go a long way toward meeting that goal.
15. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Between his switchability and his willingness to take on assignments of all sizes, the Miami big man may be the league’s most versatile defender. According to Second Spectrum data, he was one of just seven players in the NBA to defend 175 shots or more in half-court matchups against guards, forwards and centers — an indication of how he’ll often square off with anyone.
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