Piecing together SI’s annual list of the NBA’s Top 100 players is naturally a subjective task, and deciding who to omit can feel just as arbitrary as the ranking process itself. So much of players’ performance within basketball’s fluid construct is contextual—particularly in the case of those who work in complementary roles. As always, many of the players who missed the cut have legitimate cases, and others warrant mention regardless.
It’s better not to view this list as players 101–125, and that’s certainly not how I put it together. But here are 25 players (in alphabetical order) who, at one point or another in the process, received legitimate consideration for a place in the Top 100, and who might find themselves ranked in the future.