As the NBA is about to start in less than a month, there are projections of the players who will dominate in the 2025-2026 season.
While game developers have their own top 10 by placing it in a video game, NBA analysts and reporters also have their own ranking, which may be more accurate than the 2K.
According to NBA writer Shaun Powell, here are his top 10 players for this season, as they made a countdown before the opening.
- Nikola Jokic
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Anthony Edwards
- Luka Doncic
- Stephen Curry
- Anthony Davis
- Kevin Durant
- Kawhi Leonard
- Lebron James
- Victor Wembanyama
Meanwhile, the top 10 2K ratings were also posted as they were officially released in the first week of September, where they can be compared to their accuracy in reality, per NBA 2K26.
- Nikola Jokic 98 OVR
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 98 OVR
- Giannis Antetokounmpo 97 OVR
- Luka Doncic 95 OVR
- Anthony Edwards 95 OVR
- Stephen Curry 94 OVR
- LeBron James 94 OVR
- Jayson Tatum 94 OVR
- Victor Wembanyama 94 OVR
- Kevin Durant 93 OVR
Tatum was not listed in the top 10 for Powell since he had a season-ending injury that took time to recover from for the upcoming season. At the same time, Antetokounmpo is ranked in the top three in 2K, but was nowhere to be found in analyst rankings.
As Jokic, SGA, Doncic, Edwards, Curry, and James almost remained in their spots, it has been shown that the NBA emerges with a combination of the old and new eras.
The NBA preseason games will start in the first week of October. Many expectations from these players as they should be consistent to help their teams reach the top seed.
