There are some bold claims in ESPN’s list of the top-100 players in the NBA at the onset of the 2025-26 season. Oklahoma City Thunder sidekick Jalen Williams comes in at No. 11, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is No. 12, and Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg is already No. 52 before ever playing a game as a pro.
It’s important to remember that ESPN’s list is predictive for how players will end the season, not how they will begin it. While I don’t think Cunningham is better than Donovan Mitchell or Anthony Davis just yet, those are minor quibbles. Overall, ESPN’s cast of writers did a good job helping inform fans on what the hierarchy of the league looks like right now.
I wrote about four players overrated on ESPN’s list earlier in the week. Now, here are the three most underrated players in the NBA right now based off these rankings. If I’m right, all of these guys are going to be much higher when ESPN does this exercise next year. Check back then.
No. 61 Zion Williamson, F, New Orleans Pelicans
God help me, but I’m buying into the Zion hype again. I’ve been covering him extensively since he was in high school, so maybe I have some bias in his journey and subconsciously want to it to have a happy ending. There’s no doubt that Zion bears some responsibility for failing to prepare like a professional to this point, but he looks great right now and he’s saying all the right things. The bone bruise in his back that ended his season shouldn’t be a lingering injury, and it’s possible he would have returned from it if the Pelicans weren’t tanking. In the 30 games he did play, Zion was fantastic: a 96th percentile offensive player and a slight positive defensively by EPM, Williamson also continued to show his improved passing vision (32.5 percent assist rate) while adding value on the offensive glass. Yeah, Williamson has missed more games than he’s played since entering the NBA, but he’s been pretty durable basically every other year of his career. He’s due for good health this season based on that pattern, and his preseason conditioning is undeniably impressive. At his best, Williamson can be the league’s most ferocious high-volume paint scorer this side of Giannis (who is also underrated on ESPN’s list at No. 4), and at 25 years old, he’s fully in what should be the prime of his career. It’s time for Zion to put up or shut up, and I’ll choose to bet on his rare talent and hope he’s finally improved his habits for real. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s 40 spots higher on this list next year.
No. 63 LaMelo Ball, G, Charlotte Hornets
Yes, I’m still in on LaMelo too, who I had rated as the best player in his class entering the 2020 draft. Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton likely would have zoomed past Ball even if he was able to stay healthy, but his constant injury issues have made him something of a mystery even as he enters his sixth season. I’m a bit worried that Ball’s ankle injuries are more chronic than Zion’s various ailments. If he can stay healthy, though, Ball remains one of the most electric young guards in the league. He ranked in the 98th percentile of offensive performance last season per EPM in the 47 games he actually played, finishing only behind Trae Young, Cade Cunningham, Nikola Jokic, and LeBron James in assist rate (39 percent). Ball’s scoring efficiency was pretty poor last year, mostly due to his own terrible shot selection. I like that he’s become one of the league’s highest-volume three-point shooters (11.2 attempts per game), but he’s certainly got plenty of room to cut out a few overly ambitious pull-ups from his shot diet. I’m bullish on rookie Kon Knueppel being a big help both with his knockdown shooting and with a little bit of on-ball juice that will hopefully allow LaMelo to get off the ball at times. Ball has tons of natural talent, but he needs to grow up. I don’t think there’s a better 6’8+ ball handler alive, and his shooting improvement would be a lot more evident if he reigned in his approach a little bit. It’s easy to forget that Ball was named an All-Star in his second-season at 20 years old. If he can stay healthy and show more maturity, he’s going to 30 spots higher on this list next year.
No. 25 Alperen Sengun, C, Houston Rockets
I’m obviously very high on Sengun coming off his starring run in EuroBasket after putting him No. 6 on my preseason MVP watch list. To me, there’s no question he’ll be regarded as Houston’s best player after the season, even if ESPN has Kevin Durant at No. 9 on this list right now. Sengun morphed into an All-Star in his age-22 season, and there’s reason to believe he has another jump in him. The big man is one of the most creative passers in the league, and should be used often as Houston’s halfcourt hub now that Fred VanVleet is out for the year with injury. Sengun’s scoring efficiency would benefit from turning some floater range shots into rim attempts, and any improvement as a three-point shooter and/or free throw shooter would go along way towards improving his efficiency. It’s hard to believe he actually graded out better defensively than on offense in EPM last year, and if that defensive improvement holds, there’s plenty of low-hanging fruit in his scoring package that will help him level up again if adequately addressed. Being able to play off Kevin Durant instead of Jalen Green is only going to help unlock more of Sengun’s game. The Rockets are still going to be really good without VanVleet, and Sengun is a main reason why.
