ESPN Ranks Jaylen Brown as 14th-Best Player in the NBA

The one-time Cal standout was MVP of the NBA Finals but also left of the U.S. Olympic team roster this summer

Jaylen Brown celebrate winning the NBA championship / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Former one-and-done Cal star Jaylen Brown has had quite a year.

He was MVP of the Eastern Conference finals and the NBA Finals while helping the Boston Celtics to a championship.

And then he was left off the U.S. Olympic team roster, despite four of his Celtics teammates finding a spot.

On Wednesday, Brown was tabbed at No. 14 in ESPN’s annual ranking of the best players in the NBA. It’s a boost from No. 19 a year ago.

Here’s what ESPN's Tom Bontempts had to say about Brown: 

Coming into last season, there were loads of questions about Brown and the Celtics. Could he and break through and win a title? What would happen if they couldn't? Was Brown worth the massive extension he signed that summer that would make him the league's highest-paid player that season? In response, Brown made another All-Star team, claimed Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals MVP honors and helped lead the Celtics to their record-setting 18th title.

His latest ranking puts Brown ahead of some notable NBA stars: Devin Booker (15), Tyrese Haliburton (16), Donovan Mitchell (17), Ja Morant (20), Paul George (21), Kawhi Leonard (22), Damian Lillard (23) and Kyrie Irving (25).

He is just behind Anthony Davis (13), Jalen Brunson (12) and Victor Wembanyama (11).

ESPN will reveal its top-10 on Thursday and by process of elimination we have settled on who we believe will occupy those spots.

We’re also willing to take a shot at how ESPN will rank them. Here goes: 

1. Nikola Jokic; 2. Luka Doncic; 3. Giannis ; 4. LeBron James; 5. Anthony Edwards; 6. Stephen Curry; 7. Kevin Durant; 8. Joel Embiid; 9. Jayson Tatum; 10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Here’s the officiall list from ESPN released on Thursday morning . . . I got the first three in the correct order and landed Curry and Embiid in the right spots. Not bad:

1. Nikola Jokic; 2. Luka Doncic; 3. Giannis ; 4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; 5. Jayson Tatum; 6. Stephen Curry; 7. LeBron James; 8. Joel Embiid; 9. Kevin Durant; 10. Anthony Edwards.