4 big mistakes ESPN made with Top 100 player rankings
![Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) moves to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Alec Burks (5) Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) moves to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Alec Burks (5) Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/47a92617e0a847014901a7dda41f8adb8047f3c0063f7926689439823308afd9.jpg)
The Detroit Pistons were the worst team in the NBA last year, so they aren’t on most people’s radar as we come into the 2023-24 season.
They only had one player in ESPN’s top 100, Cade Cunningham, who plummeted 39 spots from his ranking last season.
The Pistons should have more players in the top 100 soon, and it’s hard to complain about individuals not getting recognition when the team has been horrible.
Related Story. Under 25 rankings, injuries and Cade Cunningham. light
But there were some egregious mistakes in the top 100, as you would expect, as these types of rankings are never going to fly without debate.
Here are four that stood out.
Bojan Bogdanovic is not in the top 100?
I realize that Bojan Bogdanovic is 34 years old, but it seems criminal not to have him in the top 100 players in the NBA.
Bogdanovic was 26th in the NBA in points per game last season, and while scoring isn’t everything, there are players who were well below him who still made this list.
If we are just talking about for one season, then I would take Bojan over a lot of the guys towards the back end of ESPN’s top 100, including Mitchell Robinson, Jonas Valanciunas, Grant Williams, Immanuel Quickley and John Collins. And if we are penalizing players for not defending, then how did Buddy Hield end up 87th? He’s also a one-dimensional player whose numbers weren’t as good as Bojan’s.
Bogdanovic may have been penalized for missing games late in the season or just for being on the Detroit Pistons, but either way, he should have been on this list somewhere.