Every player in the 2026 NBA Finals, ranked

Ahead of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, it’s good to get a baseline of who is actually who coming into the big show. Because once the uber-expensive, ultra-hyped, NBA media partners’ dreamiest-possible-dream series begins, there’s no telling if Devin Vassell will be universally heralded as an All-NBA player come Game 3 or if Josh Hart will be part of the coaching staff. No plan survives first contact.

Ranking things is a lifestyle. Despite the appearance that we’re just putting numbers in front of things, I try to keep it as fair as possible for everyone involved. For this exercise, I went with each team’s top eight, as I think that is a mostly exhaustive list. There is of course a chance we get some Ariel Hukporti or Jose Alvarado minutes, but this is everyone I know for sure will actually play. 

Tier 1: The obvious top tier

1. Victor Wembanyama
2. Jalen Brunson

The Spurs enter this series as a pretty big favorite over the Knicks, and Victor Wembanyama is the reason why. The Oklahoma City Thunder were perhaps the team best equipped to slow him down and simply could not. The Knicks played Wemby well in their March 1 victory, and they have big bodies to throw at him like OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, but keeping him at bay in a best-of-seven series is another story.

Brunson, meanwhile, has been figuring out how to impact and win games with 100 percent success for a month now, but has not faced defensive guards like the Spurs will throw at him since like … Dyson Daniels in Round One? I have no doubt he’ll figure it out, but he at least has a problem to solve. Victor can just go out there and execute. 

Tier 2: Second options who could decide the series

1. Stephon Castle
2. Karl-Anthony Towns
3. De’Aaron Fox

Castle versus KAT was a tight one for me, as Towns is probably more important to the series in a vacuum given that his handling of Wembanyama may be the ball game (ask Chet Holmgren about that), but Castle was simply too important in the Conference Finals for me to persistently underrate. Fox’s health will continue to be a factor, further underscoring Castle’s importance, though he is still the only true point guard the Spurs have and the only one they trust to dribble through traps and traffic. To think he was quarantined in Sacramento for all these years.

Tier 3: Elite supporting cast

1. OG Anunoby
2. Dylan Harper
3. Mikal Bridges
4. Devin Vassell

What a group. Bridges has executed one of the great single-playoff turnarounds we’ve seen, while Anunoby — often seen as a defensive stopper — has been one of New York’s most prolific scorers in these playoffs; I put him above Harper because he’s actually been New York’s second leading scorer lately. But Harper and Vassell were both absolute menaces against OKC, and what Harper is doing at age 20 feels like Hall-of-Fame-bound stuff. Literally how did Rutgers not make March Madness last year?

Tier 4: Extremely important role players

1. Julian Champagnie
2. Josh Hart
3. Keldon Johnson
4. Mitchell Robinson

Another tremendous group, owing to the incredible depth this series has to offer. Hart versus Chapagnie has the vibes of a UFC Main Event, with two stylistically different fifth-starters throwing down to see who can steal the show. Hart has made his bank as a hustle/rebounding small baller, but Champagnie, known for his shooting, is also sneakily a physical player and board-grabber. He’s second on the Spurs in rebounds, trailing only 800-foot-tall alien Victor Wembanyama. You should get extra points for that.

Tier 5: How long can we leave you out there?

1. Landry Shamet
2. Luke Kornet
3. Deuce McBride

The Luke Kornet Block™ was one of the hypest plays of Game 7, but the non-Wemby stretches have been the Spurs’ great weakness so far in these playoffs. We know they are going to lose those minutes, but they can’t lose them by that much. This is a long-con revenge series for Kornet, who began his career with the Knicks in 2017. Shamet and McBride, meanwhile, have made some moves during this run and will need to make some more — specifically Shamet, a critical floor-spacer who has helped turn the tide in some Knicks comebacks that otherwise might have ended the winning streak early. 

Honorable mentions: Harrison Barnes, Jordan Clarkson, Jose Alvarado, Ariel Hukporti, Carter Bryant, Jeremy Sochan (who was traded from the Spurs to the Knicks this year, meaning he gets a ring no matter what!)

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