Six Suns Make Top 125 Players List

The Athletic's Seth Partnow used combination of EPM (Estimated Plus-Minus) among other factors to compile a list of NBA tiers.

The Phoenix Suns have had quite the talent on their roster the last few years, as runs to the NBA Finals and setting regular season records couldn't be achieved in any different manner.

NBA fans and analysts, especially in the offseason, love to debate player rankings and who would top who in theoretical arguments. 

For the third year in a row, The Athletic's Seth Partnow used combination of EPM (Estimated Plus-Minus) among other factors to compile a list of NBA tiers.

"This results in a sort of “good-to-great” range of 125 to 150 players who “matter” from a championship perspective at any one time, and thus form the structure of the tiers," said Partnow

"In general, I’m aiming for three-to-seven Tier 1 guys, with Tier 2 stretching out over the rest of the top 20, down to the top 45 or 50 for Tier 3. Tier 4 makes up the rest of the Top 75 or so, and the remainder of the top 125 includes Tier 5, with 125 being an arbitrary (and somewhat conservative) number that has caused no small bit of agitation about the exclusion of certain players each season.

"To slot players into those tiers, I start, but don’t end with metrics, as I’m trying to identify their impact towards winning (or at least contending) for a championship."

Cameron Payne was one of 29 players who dropped out of the rankings from the 2021 list.

However, six Suns players made their way on the list through different tiers.

Here's how they ranked:

Tier 5 (85-125)

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Cam Johnson

2022 Tier Ranking: 5A

Estimated Plus-Minus: 1.27

Players just above: Reggie Jackson, Patrick Beverley

Jae Crowder

2022 Tier Ranking: 5A

Estimated Plus-Minus: 1.33

Players just above: Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love

Tier 4 (41-84)

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"Tier 4 is where we start to see the real needle-movers. There is even a smattering of recent All-Stars in the mix here. For the most part, this is the province of the top-end role players, not-quite-stars, and those either on the way up to or down from a higher peak," said Partnow.

"I’ve divided this Tier into two sub-tiers, with placement in Tier 4A (19 players) or 4B (25 players) indicating that while the players are fairly close in overall impact, the former would be preferable in most situations and likely team constructions."

Deandre Ayton

2022 Tier Ranking: 4A

Estimated Plus-Minus: 3.22

Players just above: Brandon Ingram, Darius Garland

Analysis on Ayton: 

"Deandre Ayton is worth a word here due to the oddity of his contractual situation at the end of his rookie deal. His inability to progress into Tier 3 or above this past year illustrates why I thought Phoenix was wise to not offer him a max extension before the season," said Partnow.

"However, he remains right on that border, with the most obvious area of improvement being to play with force more consistently. He took about one free throw attempt for every five field goal attempts, a ratio which ranked him 135th out of 228 minutes-qualified players, per Basketball-Reference. 

"This is a stat dominated by bigs, with 18 of the top 25 being listed as centers or PF/C’s. Among centers, only Nikola Vucevic, Mo Bamba, Bobby Portis, Al Horford and Chimezie Metu were lower, all of whom made up for the lack of free throws with high 3-point attempt rates.

"After showing signs of the desired aggression for much of Phoenix’s 2021 Finals run, Ayton put it on display only intermittently last season. Still, he shot over 63 percent from the floor, is a better-than-solid interior defensive presence and will be just 24 next season."

Mikal Bridges

2022 Tier Ranking: 4A

Estimated Plus-Minus: 1.53

Players just above: Jarrett Allen, Marcus Smart

Bridges was placed in the "elite role players" category along with Andrew Wiggins, Dorian Finney-Smith and OG Anunoby.

"While the other three players in this group might not fit perfectly into Wiggins’ role with Golden State, they share three important characteristics: great size and length on the wing, above-average-to-elite defense and the ability to make a play – or at least an open shot – on offense. With those commonalities, this pod will greatly help any team, but shouldn’t be asked to carry one," said Partnow.

Tier 3 (20-40)

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"Tier 3 of The Athletic’s annual NBA Player Tiers project is where we get into the bonafide star-level players. If a team is measured in terms of having a “Big X,” this is where we start counting to X. With 21 of the 40 remaining players in Tier 3, this group represents the back end of All-Star status, but not really players who challenge for All-NBA places year in year out — though there is one member of the three 2021-22 all-league teams in here," said Partnow.

No Suns were listed in this portion.

Tier 2 (9-19)

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"Tier 2 is for the best of the best — except for the guys who are just a little bit better. Is the answer to “can he be the best player on a title team?” a shrug of the shoulders and a non-committal “maybe?” Then we’re talking Tier 2," said Partnow.

"These are perennial All-Stars on the short list for All-NBA teams every year, and genuine stars around whom a very competitive team could be formed. But they’re not quite at the very top of the mountain."

Chris Paul

2022 Tier Ranking: 2C

Estimated Plus-Minus: 4.84

Players just above: James Harden, Trae Young

Devin Booker

2022 Tier Ranking: 2C

Estimated Plus-Minus: 4.47

Players just above: Chris Paul, Damian Lillard

"Chris Paul and Devin Booker might be victims of a week-long Suns bad stretch at the worst possible moment. I had both at least a sub-tier higher midseason, but Dallas holding Phoenix to 104.1 points per 100 possessions over the final five games of their second-round series has me a little spooked about the Suns’ two main offensive cogs. In particular, the combination of Paul’s age and seeming tendency to wear down over playoff runs raises concerns about the degree to which his regular season dominance can be sustained against the sort of rangy, athletic defenders that top teams can throw at him. (For the record: Paul was a legitimate MVP candidate in my eyes before his February thumb injury)," said Partnow.

The Suns didn't have any players listed in Tier 1, but here's what that list looked like:

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo

2. Kevin Durant

3. Nikola Jokic

4. Stephen Curry

5. Joel Embiid

6. Luka Doncic

7. Kawhi Leonard

8. LeBron James

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