With the regular season beginning next week, many publications have been posting their lists of the best NBA players for the 2025-26 season. ESPN, HoopsHype, and The Ringer have all recently come out with their top 100 player lists. All three of them include the same five Timberwolves players (none include a sixth). Here is where each of the three ranks those five amongst the top 100 currently in the NBA for 2025-26.
Naz Reid
Highest: HoopsHype (68), Lowest: ESPN (90), Middle: The Ringer (74)
There is a significant discrepancy between ESPN's ranking of Reid and those of the other two publications. All three would have to agree that the 26-year-old is one of the most productive bench players in the league. Reid won Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-24 and finished fifth last season.
Jaden McDaniels
Highest: The Ringer (58), Lowest: ESPN (75), Middle: HoopsHype (73)
Apparently, The Ringer places more value on McDaniels’ elite defense than ESPN or HoopsHype. Taking a step forward on offense could vault the 25-year-old into each publication’s top 50 next year. A season where McDaniels puts up numbers similar to his 2025 postseason (14.7 points per game, 38.2% 3-point accuracy) may do the trick.
Rudy Gobert
Highest: HoopsHype, The Ringer (47), Lowest: ESPN (49)
All three seasons that Gobert has been on Minnesota’s roster, they have finished with a top 10 defensive rating (first in 2023-24). For the 10th straight year, the 33-year-old averaged a double-double in points and rebounds. A four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert’s 12.0 points per contest last season were his lowest since 2015-16.
Julius Randle
Highest: HoopsHype (34), Lowest: The Ringer (48), Middle: ESPN (42)
A three-time All-Star, Randle was still one of the more polarizing players in the league entering last year. Turning 31 years old on November 29, he finally experienced his first solid postseason after 2 extremely inefficient ones with the Knicks. The Ringer is lowest on Randle, considering him the third-best player on the Timberwolves.
Anthony Edwards
Highest: HoopsHype, The Ringer (5), Lowest: ESPN (6)
Edwards finishing as the fifth-best player would be excellent news for Minnesota. Every NBA champion since the Pistons in 2004 has rostered a player who has recently made the All-NBA first team. Just 24 years old, Edwards led the league in 3-pointers made in 2024-25 and has finished in seventh place in MVP voting the last two years.