The information was released in the ranking that ESPN published ahead of the 2022-23 season.
For the past twelve years, ESPN has been in charge of ranking the best players in the NBA ahead of the upcoming season and this year would be no exception.
They try to place where MVP candidates like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic stand. For rookies and second-year players, can they make the leap to be among the league’s top 100?
LeBron James in his 20th season, where does he rank?
To get the prediction, ESPN asked the experts, which player will be better in 2022-23?
They had to predict what they expected from each player during the season. So far, the players that make up the top 6-100 have been announced, among which the Dominican Republic has two representatives.
Al Horford
The Boston Celtics center had a tremendous participation in last year’s postseason, where his team failed to win its first crown since 2008. In his 15th season and returning to the city of Boston, Horford saw action in 69 regular season games, averaging 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists, while shooting 51.5% from the field.
Heading into his 16th season and at 36 years of age, it is difficult for him to match last season’s performance. The Celtics are expected to be judicious with Horford’s minutes in an attempt to preserve him for another deep run in the playoffs after he averaged 12.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists while shooting 52.3%.
Horford returns to the rankings after not making the 2021 draft.
Karl-Anthony Towns
The Minnesota Timberwolves center is one of the best big man shooters in history and yes, arguably the best, as in his seven seasons in the league, in four he has made 100 or more three-pointers and shot over 40%. Last season he was again selected to participate in the All-Star game and won the three-point contest.
Towns who will be playing his 8th season has some question marks surrounding him, especially on the defensive end, because offensively, he is among the best in the league. Now that he will be playing alongside Rudy Gobert, the defensive benchmark at the No. 5 position, he will move to the No. 4 position and will have to defend more skilled players. In 2021, he averaged 24.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists, while shooting for 52.9% from the field and 41.0% from three-point range.
He is also expected to step up around leadership and his aggressiveness, as in the past playoffs, that role was taken by second-year player Anthony Edwards. In his second postseason, Towns averaged 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while shooting for 48.8% from the field and 45.5% from three-point range.
In 2021, Towns was drafted 24th overall.
Chris Duarte
Dominican shooting guard Chris Duarte was not included in the NBA’s top 100 heading into this season. Duarte has to prove his virtues in this new season, after missing many games due to several injuries in his first season. In 55 games, he averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 assists and 2.1 assists, while shooting 43.2% from the field and 36.9% from three-point range. With the new additions to the Indiana Pacers’ roster, the No. 13 pick should struggle to stay healthy and get playing time.
