Following a contending team is draining enough, I'm just not going to be stressed every day in a tank year. Let the ping pong balls fall where they may, and either way I am excited to watch Jordi coach our draft picks next season.

I think the factors of several teams below us being worse than expected, Jordi Fernandez obviously being really good, and basically every player popping off at the wrong time has led us to this situation. It frustrates me but I just can't be mad at it every day.

Not trading Cam Johnson was weird, but it's genuinely possible that they just didn't like the deals for him and a lot of contenders weren't that interested. Also the D-Lo acquisition pushed the team in the wrong direction but no one could argue he was even that good in LA this year.

2. I can't fully blame this on Marks or Tsai. Everyone had our roster as bottom 3 going into the year. They pivoted quickly off Schroder and DFS when we started winning. If you look at our roster even now, we don't have as much talent as a Toronto or NO or even a player like Ball in Charlotte.

Yeah it’s really hard to rank, a ton of guys all over the list where I was like “huh, they’re that low?”. Kawhi was a rough one to rank especially, I mostly went off last years sample where he played 68 games and was like 23/6/4. His injuries make him almost a fake player at this point though.

#10: Lebron James - LAL
#9: Kevin Durant - PHX
#8: Joel Embiid - PHI
#7: Anthony Davis - DAL
#6: Victor Wembanyama - SAS
#5: Jayson Tatum - BOS
#4: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - OKC
#3: Luka Doncic - LAL
#2: Giannis Antetekounmpo - MIL
#1: Nikola Jokic - DEN

#20: Ja Morant - MEM
#19: Jaylen Brown - BOS
#18: Damian Lillard - MIL
#17: Karl Anthony-Towns NYK
#16: Cade Cunningham - DET
#15: Jalen Brunson - NYK
#14: Devin Booker - PHX
#13: Donovan Mitchell - CLE
#12: Stephen Curry - GSW
#11: Anthony Edwards - MIN

#30: Pascal Siakam - IND
#29: Tyrese Maxey - PHI
#28: Domantas Sabonis - SAC
#27: Franz Wagner - ORL
#26: Jimmy Butler - GSW
#25: Evan Mobley - CLE
#24: Trae Young - ATL
#23: Kyrie Irving - DAL
#22: Jaren Jackson Jr. - MEM
#21: De'Aron Fox - SAS

#40: Kawhi Leonard - LAC
#39: Desmond Bane - MEM
#38: Jalen Williams - OKC
#37: Derrick White - BOS
#36: Darius Garland - CLE
#35: Bam Adebayo - MIA
#34: Zion Williamson - NOP
#33: Paulo Banchero - ORL
#32: Jamal Murray - DEN
#31: Tyrese Haliburton - IND

Let's go bottom to top
#50: Scottie Barnes - TOR
#49: Norman Powell - LAC
#48: James Harden - LAC
#47: OG Anunoby - NYK
#46: Michael Porter Jr. - DEN
#45: Kristaps Porzingis - BOS
#44: Zach LaVine - SAC
#43: LaMelo Ball - CHA
#42: Tyler Herro - MIA
#41: Alperen Sengun - HOU

Honorable Mentions: Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Lauri Markannen, Fred Van Vleet, Austin Reaves, Trey Murphy, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Ingram. Gobert was definitely most on the bubble, I'm projecting some regression for him. Murphy will also get there w/ more sample size.

First I want to start with honorable mentions. These are guys who I considered for the list, actively thought about plugging in but decided not too for various reasons.

Out of him somehow. His father was also a Yankee and he could potentially energize the brand a bit. There’s a chance he could be terrible 2021/22 Cody Bellinger, but I am optimistic to say he will at worst be a 2.5 WAR player, and at best have a 2023 type year. Excited to have him in the Bronx.