NBA’s top 10 players 22 and younger: Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero for No. 2 spot behind Victor Wembanyama?

As the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, we here at CBS Sports compiled our annual Top 100 NBA player rankings. There’s so many different ways to analyze a list like that, from who the biggest risers and fallers are from the previous year, to breaking down which teams have the most representatives. 

The top of the list is filled with established All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, but littered throughout the Top 100 are young players who haven’t reached their prime yet. With a league that continues to skew younger these days, we decided to pinpoint the NBA’s top 10 players who are 22 and younger entering the 2024-25 season.

These are players who range from having the potential to become the face of the league and multiple-time All-Stars, to key role players on championship-level rosters. It’s no surprise that 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama tops this list, as he earned the No. 12 spot in our overall ranking. One player who just missed the Top 10 on this 22 and younger ranking is Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., who occupies the No. 100 spot in our overall ranking. 

Looking for more analysis of CBS Sports’ Top 100 list? Listen and subscribe to the Beyond the Arc podcast for breakdowns, debates and more.

The rest of the list has familiar faces — and does not feature any rookies — but where they rank may surprise you.

10. Jalen Green, Rockets

Age: 22
Top 100 rank: 92. Green is supremely talented and an unbelievable athlete, even by NBA standards. Whether he can be an efficient or winning player, however, is still in question. His closing stretch last season was as good as he’s looked as a pro, and offered evidence that the answer can be yes, on both fronts. The potential dilemma for the Rockets, though, is that Green’s best play coincided with Alperen Sengun’s absence due to a season-ending knee injury. This feels like a make-or-break season for Green’s future in Houston. — Jack Maloney

9. Dereck Lively II, Mavericks

Age: 20
Top 100 rank: 90. Lively’s stats may not seem like they warrant a place on this list, especially after two other incoming sophomores above him put up monster numbers in their rookie campaigns. But what Lively lacks in counting stats, he makes up for in all of the intangibles. He regularly posts the highest plus-minus on the Mavericks, and he’s the ultimate lob threat in pick-and-rolls with Doncic and Irving. He is a tenacious rebounder on both ends and gives the Mavericks some much-needed rim protection when he checks in the game. It may not seem like it when you look at the box score, but Lively is routinely Dallas’ third- or fourth-most important player every night. — Jasmyn Wimbish

8. Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors

Age: 21
Top 100 rank: No. 83. The Warriors have all resisted Kuminga as a trade chip, believing he can be not just a future tentpole but a key piece of a team that still believes it can make one last run at honest contention before Stephen Curry ages out. This is his year to really prove it after averaging over 16 points per game in just 26 minutes a night last season. A top-tier athlete, Kuminga is a handful to keep out of the lane and he finished at the rim at a better clip than LeBron James. The 3-point shooting dipped last season, but he was at 37% two years ago. If Kuminga gets back closer to that number, he should be a 20 PPG guy. — Brad Botkin

7. Jalen Johnson, Hawks

Age: 22
Top 100 rank: 80 Johnson averaged 16 points, eight boards and almost four assists last season. Now comes the leap into, dare I say, fringe All-Star territory? He has that kind of ability, and he won’t be lacking for opportunity. The Hawks love him, and rightfully so. Reports have indicated he was their only untouchable player this summer. He can jump out of the gym and shoot from deep. He can really pass, too. He’s the kind of long, athletic defender everyone covets. Johnson just needs to stay healthy. If he does, his stock is going to soar. — Brad Botkin

6. Brandon Miller, Hornets

Age: 21
Top 100 rank: 66. The ceiling is incredibly high. Miller doesn’t turn 22 until November, and he showed as a rookie that he was ready for everything the Hornets threw at him. He often guarded the opposing team’s top perimeter player, and, with LaMelo Ball out for most of the season and Terry Rozier traded in January, he often functioned as Charlotte’s primary playmaker. The 6-foot-7 wing profiles as a franchise cornerstone, a guy who can create for himself and others and credibly defend multiple positions. Let’s see how big his second-year leap is. — James Herbert

5. Cade Cunningham, Pistons

Age: 22
Top 100 rank: No. 49. Cunningham’s already come a long way from his rookie season where, despite high averages, he struggled heavily with efficiency. He’s coming off a career year, but his performance went largely unnoticed because he played on a 14-win Pistons team. That’s a shame, too, because Cunningham displayed all the tools of a franchise player. He shot the ball incredibly well from everywhere, including 35% from 3-point range, which was an important breakthrough in his development. He also ranked ninth in the league among guards in potential assists, showing that he’s making the right passes and reads; his teammates just aren’t making the shots. With a new coach, Cunningham can build upon last season and gain more attention as he’s one of the most promising young players in the league. — Jasmyn Wimbish

4. Alperen Sengun, Rockets

Age: 22
Top 100 rank: No. 47. A breakout season was cut short for Sengun, but he still did enough to finish third for Most Improved Player. He’s often compared to Nikola Jokic, primarily because his court vision and passingecho that of the three-time MVP. But he’s his own player, one that Houston should see as a building block for its future. Sengun’s strength and finesse around the rim make it difficult to defend him when he catches the ball on the move. He’s also a great rebounder and puts teammates in the right spot for easy shots. Statistically speaking, his first three years are on par with what Jokic did, and while he may not be on the perennial MVP trajectory, it’s always a positive when you’re mentioned in the same company as a future Hall of Famer. — Jasmyn Wimbish

3. Chet Holmgren, Thunder

Age: 22
Top 100 rank: 30. The delayed debut for Holmgren was well worth the wait, as he fit seamlessly into an Oklahoma City team built for sustained success through at least the next decade. He’s 7-foot-1 and yet has the handle of a guard. He can drain a 3-pointer just as simple as he can back someone down in the paint. He has already established himself as one of the best rim protectors in the league, with a knack for perfectly timing blocks, something we rarely see out of players his age. Holmgren’s on a career trajectory to be a mainstay at the All-Star Game, as well as end-of-season awards like All-NBA and All-Defense. — Jasmyn Wimbish

2. Paolo Banchero, Magic

Age: 21
Top 100 rank: 29. After a season that saw Banchero become the first Magic player since Mike Miller in 2001 to win Rookie of the Year, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 Draft followed that up with a season that saw his efficiency improve dramatically. He’s still not a consistent threat from 3-point range, but that doesn’t matter much when he can muscle his way to the rim and do damage from mid-range. He earned his first All-Star nod and led Orlando to its first playoff appearance in four years. — Jasmyn Wimbish

1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs

Age: 20
Top 100 rank: 12. After the All-Star break, Victor Wembanyama averaged 23.5 points, 12 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 4.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. I can’t imagine you’ll be surprised to hear no one has ever done that for a full season. No one has even come close. If you trim every one of those numbers by 10%, it’s still only been done once… by peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a reminder, Wembanyama was a rookie. He was playing on a team that was built to lose. We’re not just talking about the next great NBA player here. We’re talking about the sort of player this sport has never seen, the next step in its evolution. He is the ultimate marriage of size and skill, the culmination of everything this sport has been building toward for the past decade. What’s scariest about that absurd post-break stat line isn’t how great it is, but how underwhelming it’s going to look in comparison. In all likelihood, that’s the worst he’s going to be for a long, long time. It might be 15 years before we post another one of these lists that has him outside of the top 10. — Sam Quinn