Ben GolliverCloseBen GolliverESPN Senior NBA WriterBen Golliver is a senior NBA writer who joined ESPN in May 2026. Prior to joining ESPN, Golliver covered the NBA on a national level since 2010 for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports. He is the author of Bubbleball, an account of his 93-day stay at the NBA’s “Bubble” in Disney World during the coronavirus pandemic. He is based in Los Angeles. and Zach KramCloseZach KramZach Kram is a national NBA writer for ESPN.com, specializing in short- and long-term trends across the league’s analytics landscape.
He previously worked at The Ringer covering the NBA and MLB. You can follow Zach on X via @zachkram.Multiple AuthorsSep 22, 2026, 07:00 AM ET season’s top 100″ data-type=”article”>Open Extended ReactionsESPN’s NBA Rank top 100 is underway, with players Nos. 100-51 for the 2026-27 season already unveiled. (The countdown continues Wednesday with Nos. 50-11 and Thursday with our top 10.)But here, we’re focusing on players who missed the cut. Which young stars are on track to make their NBA Rank debut next season? Which veterans are poised for a return?
Let’s breaking down 10 names to watch for the 2027 countdown, including a reigning Western Conference champion, a former Defensive Player of the Year runner-up and a onetime No. 2 draft pick.Carter Bryant, San Antonio SpursIt’s easy to lose sight of the 20-year-old Bryant in the Spurs’ sea of promising prospects. As a rookie and a 2025 lottery pick, Bryant occupied a minor bench role as a wing defender and played sparingly during San Antonio’s memorable playoff run.But the future looks bright for the 6-foot-6 forward, who fits neatly between franchise center Victor Wembanyama and young guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper on the positional depth chart. San Antonio will be thrilled if Bryant can fulfill the classic 3-and-D archetype: He already has the size, strength and quickness to defend multiple positions, and he shot 37% from deep as a freshman at Arizona. The babyfaced Bryant also flashed his athletic tools and charming smile while competing in the 2026 slam dunk contest.Realistically, a breakthrough might still be a few years away.
Bryant was guilty of his fair share of rookie mistakes, and he seems destined to be an afterthought on offense given San Antonio’s scoring talent. — GolliverToumani Camara, Portland Trail BlazersHonestly, Camara should have been included in this year’s NBA Rank. The 6-foot-7 forward, who earned 2025 All-Defensive honors, started all 82 games for Portland and averaged a career high in scoring while shooting 37% on 3-pointers in 2025-26.The most likely explanation for Camara’s snubbing: He shot poorly throughout a first-round playoff loss to the Spurs, raising questions about his ability to be a two-way contributor in the postseason. Even so, the 2023 second-round pick has been a major asset for the Blazers, ranking first on the team in minutes, second in points and third in win shares.Camara, 26, cashed in with a four-year, $82 million contract in 2025 because forwards with his combination of size, length, motor, quickness and the ability to defend multiple positions are hard to find. The fact that he’s happy contributing in a low-usage offensive role is just the icing on the cake. — GolliverDyson Daniels, Atlanta HawksDaniels ranked 55th in NBA Rank 2025, but probably slid off this year’s list because his 3-point shooting plummeted from 34% in 2024-25 to 18.8% in 2025-26.
Unfortunately, the Hawks’ guard had the worst 3-point shooting percentage among all NBA players with at least 100 attempts last season.Though Daniels won’t ever be confused for Stephen Curry, his standing among his peers shouldn’t be reduced to the most glaring weakness in his game. A 2022 lottery pick, Daniels is a tireless on-ball defender, and he leads the NBA in total steals over the past four seasons. Daniels also boasted a healthy plus-6.2 rating last season because he’s a willing passer, good decision-maker, crafty downhill scorer and excellent rebounder for his position.Looking ahead, the 23-year-old Daniels should benefit from the Hawks’ continuity. After trading Trae Young in January, Atlanta is poised to bring back its entire projected starting lineup. — GolliverTy Jerome, Memphis GrizzliesTwo years ago, Jerome finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting for the Cavaliers.
Then he fell off the national radar because he signed with Memphis, only for injury issues to delay his debut with the Grizzlies until after they’d already fallen well out of the playoff race.But Jerome was even better in his 15 games last season than he had been during his breakout campaign in Cleveland. He averaged 19.7 points, made 42% of his 3s on high volume and ranked among the NBA’s advanced stats leaders on a per-possession basis.All of that production came in a very limited sample for a team that didn’t care about winning, but if Jerome can even come close to replicating it in 2026-27, he’ll leap up the Top 100 rankings. — KramCameron Johnson, Denver NuggetsJohnson’s reputation took a hit last season because of his slow start in Denver. But he still finished the season with a 43% mark from distance, which ranked eighth among qualified players, sandwiched between teammate Jamal Murray and Kon Knueppel.Johnson’s biggest problem was a lack of volume in his first season with Denver, as his 3-point attempts fell from 7.2 per game to just 4.7, and his usage rate dropped to 15%. If he plays with more confidence this season by having more immediate comfort in his situation — and as he plays for a new contract, before entering unrestricted free agency next summer — then those numbers could perk right back up and propel Johnson into the Top 100 next year. — KramCollin Murray-Boyles, Toronto RaptorsThe only thing standing between Murray-Boyles and a spot in future editions of NBA Rank is time.
The 21-year-old forward made a great first impression as a rookie thanks to his disruptive defense and high-energy play, and he looks headed for All-Defensive team consideration in the near future.The South Carolina product is an opportunistic on-ball defender, and he provides added value by shifting up to play as an undersized center in versatile lineups. After ranking fifth in his draft class by win shares during his rookie season, Murray-Boyles turned in an excellent all-around performance in a first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.Perhaps the best reason to have confidence in Murray-Boyles is his clean fit within Toronto’s new identity as a fierce defensive outfit. The Raptors ranked fifth in defensive efficiency last season, and they added Kawhi Leonard to an imposing frontcourt group that also includes Scottie Barnes. — GolliverOnyeka Okongwu, Atlanta HawksNot enough people noticed the strides Okongwu took last season. In the 2024-25 campaign, he made 32% of his 3-point attempts (2.0 per game), but last season, he made 38% of his triples (5.2 attempts per game).
He played the same number of games in both seasons but made exactly three times as many 3s in the latter.Okongwu’s newfound shooting ability is vital for a Hawks team full of shaky shooters on the perimeter, and it fills out a well-rounded skill set for the former No. 6 pick. Okongwu is a solid defender, if somewhat undersized at center, and he even averaged a career-best 3.1 assists last season. That sounds like a Top 100 player to me. — KramBrandin Podziemski, Golden State WarriorsPodziemski is underrated because he’s a jack of all trades, master of none. He was one of 13 players last season to average at least five rebounds and three assists while making at least 37% of his 3s; those other 12 include 10 players in our Top 100, the underrated Okongwu and Kyshawn George, who was another player I considered for this list of players to watch.Even if Podziemski is unlikely ever to develop into a star, his all-around solid play makes him a valuable contributor.
