https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6272860/2025/04/15/nba-player-tiers-2025-star-role-players/ The are ranking the top 125 players in the league. Here's the Rockets they have so far. Tier 5: 101-125. "Just outside the top 100. A quality rotation player." Tier 4: 61-100. "A player who is a good starter, if not quite a star. Flexible tier, but rounds out the top 100." These they consider "stars in their role." Tari is in Tier 5B. The same tier as Bradley Beal. Here's what they say, "Eason is dynamic on both ends, but his leg has to be managed." Jalen and Dillon are both in Tier 4. Along with Dyson Daniels on the Hawks and John Collins of the Jazz. There are others of course but those two stood out to me as comparisons on other teams I found interesting. About Dillon specifically, "Dillon Brooks is another all-league defender who tends to guard up while emerging starter Amen Thompson guards down. His defense isn’t as strong as it used to be, but he’s also been better offensively than he gets credit for." And about Jalen, "Houston’s defense is significantly better when Jalen Green isn’t on the floor, and he’s simply not an efficient player while in his heavy on-ball role. His catch-and-shoot 3 has improved quite a bit, though, and he has 14 30-point games and two 40-point games to go with his 12 single-digit games. His first postseason is going to be fascinating." No mention of his ironman status or multiple "player of the week" awards. I'm surprised he's this low on the list. I'm assuming we will see Amen and Alpi in the next few days. I wonder if Jabari or FVV are going to make it. It's hard to imagine they would consider Dillon one of the top 125 players in the league but not Jabari.
Jalen is about to have an opportunity to really change the narrative about him around the league, let's hope he shows up
Hate to break it to you, but they mention Jabari as someone who didn't make the cut for Tier 5. Apologies to players such as Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Cam Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Jabari Smith Jr., Aaron Wiggins and Bennedict Mathurin. The 2025 postseason will be interesting for the players who are on teams that qualify, and their future outlooks will ride on that.
But really, if that's all they can say about Tari, their analysis is worth zilch. Even Bill Simmons, who is very neutral at best towards Houston, says it will be fun to see Amen, Dillon and Tari matching up on wings in a 7 game series.
Two things about mentioning this Jalen stat: His DRtg is still equal to the DRtg of the 7th best team rating in the league … per NBA.com and it’s natural that the 18 mpg he’s not on the court, our stellar defensive bench makes defense better … context Also, it’s doubtful Curry’s equally significant on/off difference on defense ever gets mentioned when he’s compared to the top players … lulz
A top 125 player is basically a 4th/5th starter. Even if you think Tari is better than that, he's only averaged 22mpg and missing 1/3 of games so far. He has to be an actual star in his limited minutes for this ranking to be a travesty
Their analysis is what I said sucks, that sentence they provided was pretty lazy. I think the ranking is fine, probably by luck.
Jalen just inconsistent but when hes on… dude is absolutely electric. Thats what makes him so frustrating.
Spoiler https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6278925/2025/04/16/nba-player-tiers-2025-zion-lamelo-ball-injuries/ Tier 3 is a group where you start seeing many players who could be considered the best player on a team. For those teams, their best player being in this group is likely not a strong sign that they have a contender, but having multiple players in this group is almost always going to be helpful for a team to be good. There are 21 teams in this tier, the most of the five I put together this year. Only three teams don’t have a player ranked higher than the Tier 4 or Tier 5 groups, but there’s only one team that clinched a top-six seed without having any players above Tier 3: the Houston Rockets. On one hand, the Rockets have developed a deep roster, with a blend of young players and veterans who populate Tiers 3-5. On the other hand, the Rockets are going to be in exploratory mode this postseason. Their rotation veterans have had mixed success in the postseason, all in previous locations, and their young players have never played in a postseason game. _______________ TIER 3A Bam Adebayo Paolo Banchero De'Aaron Fox Tyrese Maxey Jamal Murray Franz Wagner Jalen Williams Zion Williamson “These players either are All-Stars, have been recent All-Stars or have approached play that could have made them All-Stars if not for ill-timed injuries or other factors.” _______________ TIER 3B OG Anunoby Scottie Barnes Mikal Bridges DeMar DeRozan Tyler Herro Chet Holmgren Domantas Sabonis Alperen Sengun Derrick White Ivica Zubac “These players are either some of the best non-All-Stars in the league or some of the most polarizing All-Star selections.” … Sabonis is a statistically dominant center who winds up on All-NBA teams despite being an All-Star snub. He is still trying to prove that his game can hold up in the postseason, and his biggest issue is that he is one of the worst rim protectors among starting centers. But then again, so is Jokić. Alperen Şengün represented the Rockets as an All-Star this season and has made marked improvement as a rim protector. He’s a much worse shooter and decision-maker than Sabonis, and it will be interesting to see how Şengün’s scoring holds up against playoff defenses. Ivica Zubac has never been considered an All-Star or All-NBA talent, but perhaps that changes with how well he has handled increased minutes, touches and shots to go with anchoring a stout Clippers defense. _______________ TIER 3C Deni Avdija LaMelo Ball Desmond Bane Paul George Aaron Gordon Zach LaVine Lauri Markkanen Kristaps Porzingis Norman Powell Julius Randle Austin Reaves Amen Thompson “This is the most players I have in any sub-tier, and it’s full of guys who are stretched as No. 1 options but can be powerful depending on who they can play off.” … Amen Thompson feels high, as he’s a bad shooter who isn’t asked to lead Houston’s scoring. But he’s a force in every other aspect of the game to go with nuclear athleticism at 6-7. _______________ TIER 3D Jarrett Allen Jalen Johnson Walker Kessler Trey Murphy III Fred VanVleet “I wasn’t planning on having this sub-tier and expected to cut off at 60 players for the top three tiers. But these players either have a lot of fans based on my feedback or happen to be a teammate of Amen Thompson.” Of all the talent the Rockets rely on and have collected, it’s still Fred VanVleet who plays the most and leaves a positive impact on the floor despite having the size and athleticism as an undrafted player. VanVleet’s scoring effectiveness has nosedived, a concern at his age. But the 31-year-old is a decent shooter off the catch and a defensive playmaker who still has a nose for the ball. He also turns in one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios of any point guard in the league. Most notably, VanVleet is a champion who has a role in steadying a young Rockets team into the postseason with home-court advantage through at least the first two rounds. _______________ TIER 4A Rudy Gobert Draymond Green Josh Hart Isaiah Hartenstein Jrue Holiday Herbert Jones Dereck Lively II Myles Turner “The highest part of Tier 4 includes several centers as well as other top defenders who have shown that they are strong connectors. They also all have certain limitations that led me to cap them here.” _______________ TIER 4B Jalen Duren Daniel Gafford Brandon Ingram Brook Lopez CJ McCollum Michael Porter Jr. Andrew Wiggins “The centers in this group are right around average for starter play, a step below the 4A tier. But some notable perimeter players are here as well.” _______________ TIER 4C Christian Braun Malik Monk Aaron Nesmith PJ Washington “For the most part, this group has had to adapt to role changes over the last two seasons. All of them have a higher level of appreciation than two years ago.” _______________ TIER 4D Santi Aldama RJ Barrett Donte DiVincenzo Josh Giddey Andrew Nembhard “This is a blend of players who all have interesting traits that depend on how much they’re asked to do offensively.” _______________ TIER 4E Dillon Brooks John Collins Dyson Daniels Jalen Green De'Andre Hunter Jaden McDaniels Keegan Murray Immanuel Quickley “This is a bloated group of players who all have some strong qualities, but also have a trait that gives you pause before you consider them in a higher tier.” … Houston’s defense is significantly better when Jalen Green isn’t on the floor, and he’s simply not an efficient player while in his heavy on-ball role. His catch-and-shoot 3 has improved quite a bit, though, and he has 14 30-point games and two 40-point games to go with his 12 single-digit games. His first postseason is going to be fascinating. … Dillon Brooks is another all-league defender who tends to guard up while emerging starter Amen Thompson guards down. His defense isn’t as strong as it used to be, but he’s also been better offensively than he gets credit for. _______________ TIER 4F Naz Reid Jalen Suggs Coby White “The last three players in this tier have all shown their value, though they have steps to take to show how much they can help teams as starters.” _______________ TIER 5A Miles Bridges Luguentz Dort Rui Hachimura Tobias Harris Al Horford Khris Middleton Brandon Miller Dejounte Murray Chris Paul Nikola Vucevic “This wound up being the exclusion tier. Even getting to 125 is an act of inclusion. Some players are basically the “best of the rest” outside of the top 100.” _______________ TIER 5B Bradley Beal Toumani Camara Tari Eason Dorian Finney-Smith Cameron Johnson Derrick Jones Jr. Onyeka Okongwu Jakob Poeltl Payton Pritchard Devin Vassell “The 5B group is a step below the 5A group in that it is harder to see these players in the top 100.” … This is a group heavy on small forwards between Tari Eason, Cameron Johnson, Derrick Jones Jr. and Devin Vassell. Eason is dynamic on both ends, but his leg has to be managed. Johnson was a hot trade target, and he is an excellent shooter, but he is a little stretched as a primary option. Jones found a team that lets him be a peak 3-and-D athlete, as more than 60 percent of his field goals are 3s or dunks. Vassell has on-ball chops and a good jumper, and he can make plays defensively. But Vassell’s free-throw rate dropped off while the Spurs were at their worst with Vassell on the floor defensively. _______________ TIER 5C Bogdan Bogdanovic Kris Dunn Jordan Poole Anfernee Simons Russell Westbrook “I felt like this last group of players needed to be on, but was absolutely at the chopping block.” _______________
Dude is 23 how about give him time to grow up and reach his prime? Rox didnt even give him a max contract so theres no pressure to be a star now.
Just a weird (bad) list overall. Sengun and Sabonis carry offenses yet get lumped in with Derrick White and Mikal Bridges? Amen next to Austin Reaves?
Jalen is going to be the breakout star of this playoff series. When people see how much he drives, how little he flops, how he steps up in the clutch, his effort on defense, and his lack of complaining to refs, he'll be the new favorite young player. Once the national media turns on him, then we'll know he made it for real for real.
Bust I really hope you are right. The playoffs are nut-cuttin' time and the stars show themselves. Amen gets a pass because he's still so new to his role. Alpi, Jabari, and Tari less so. Jalen needs to ball. No excuses other than all-star level defense from Jimmy Butler locking him out of the game, because it's not going to be Curry. MystikArkitect said in response to this thread, "Jaters spotted and reported" and I hope he was referring to me. I hope so for two reasons, the first being that it shows his genius level emotiional intelligence to read between those lines, and second is that it opened my third eye [] to my deep Jateristic currents. Thank you o'wise MystikArkitect. That said, I didn't originally share this because I'm a Jater, at least not intentionally, but his comment made me reflect a little. I shared the quotes from the article because I like it when others do that for me so I thought I would reciprocate since I didn't see it already posted. Let's go freaking Rockets! Beat those a$$hole$. Freaking hate GS and their douche fans
Here is Tier 3: "Tier 3 is a group where you start seeing many players who could be considered the best player on a team. For those teams, their best player being in this group is likely not a strong sign that they have a contender, but having multiple players in this group is almost always going to be helpful for a team to be good." Tier 3B: Alperen Sengun. "Alperen Şengün represented the Rockets as an All-Star this season and has made marked improvement as a rim protector. He’s a much worse shooter and decision-maker than Sabonis, and it will be interesting to see how Şengün’s scoring holds up against playoff defenses." Tier 3C: Amen Thompson. "Amen Thompson feels high, as he’s a bad shooter who isn’t asked to lead Houston’s scoring. But he’s a force in every other aspect of the game to go with nuclear athleticism at 6-7." Tier 3D: Fred VanVleet. "Of all the talent the Rockets rely on and have collected, it’s still Fred VanVleet who plays the most and leaves a positive impact on the floor despite having the size and athleticism as an undrafted player. VanVleet’s scoring effectiveness has nosedived, a concern at his age. But the 31-year-old is a decent shooter off the catch and a defensive playmaker who still has a nose for the ball. He also turns in one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios of any point guard in the league. Most notably, VanVleet is a champion who has a role in steadying a young Rockets team into the postseason with home-court advantage through at least the first two rounds." Lots of ink for Freddie V I think that's gonna be it. Unless he has a thing for Cam.
Tier 3 sort of lost me not having Sengun in 3a. I get it, tier 2 is no lower than the 30th best player, so I could see Alpy on the bubble but he should have been in the top tier of 3. Good to see Amen getting some recognition for his freakish athleticism. Having three guys in the top 31-60 is pretty good, but I just don’t see how we’re the second seed in the West with -just- three borderline all-stars.
People focus WAY too much on seeding. The rockets were only 4 games up on the 8th seed and had a worse point differential than the 5th, 6th, and 8th seeds in the west. This isn't like boston being 2nd with 61 wins where they are a true dominant 2 seed. If just 2 game flip for the rockets (who were pretty luck in the clutch, which is mostly just random variance/luck), and we were the 5 or 6 seed, i don't think you would be saying what you said.
