With the NBA season right around the corner, national outlets are beginning to reveal their player rankings for the upcoming year. Yes, it’s Rankings SZN! We know the challenges that rankings present, but they’re still a valuable exercise for understanding perceptions of the league and the overall landscape of the player pool entering the season.
ESPN released the first half of its top 100 rankings today, revealing players 51 through 100. This was an area of the rankings completely void of Phoenix
Suns a season ago. In fact, the only member of the Suns to crack ESPN’s top 100 was Devin Booker, who ultimately ranked 16th overall.
This season, however, another member of the Suns has made the jump. Not only did he crack the top 100, he climbed all the way to the 76 spot. Unocal status. That player is Dillon Brooks.
Vincent Goodwill of ESPN had the following to say about our beloved Villain:
Dillon the Villain is now Dillon the culture changer. Last season, he averaged a career-high 20.2 points as the Suns were one of the surprise teams in the West. Brooks deserves some credit for that turnaround, and the Suns gave him a three-year extension. Houston went from 22 to 41 wins in Brooks’ first season there, and Phoenix had a nine-win improvement last season. — Goodwill
Signature stat: Brooks ranked in the top 10 in made 2-point jumpers last season, according to GeniusIQ.
Fantasy projection: 18.6 PTS, 3.6 REB, 1.0 STL
So essentially, according to ESPN’s rankings, the Suns will have two top 100 players, as I doubt Jalen Green or Miles Bridges will appear among the top 50 players revealed later this week.
What makes Brooks somebody ESPN recognizes at this level is his ability to be a culture changer. He’s somebody you can bring into an organization and have an immediate impact on the identity and mentality of the team. His impact comes from the edge he provides and the way those attributes can permeate throughout a roster.
Look at the players surrounding him in the rankings. Brooks sits ahead of Ja Morant and behind Cason Wallace, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Walker Kessler. Some of those players are tertiary options on their respective teams, and Brooks could find himself in a similar position this season, at least from a usage standpoint. Heck, he might be the fourth option offensively. But that isn’t where Brooks’ value is ultimately found.
That’s the funny thing about ranking players. We tend to evaluate them through the lens of offensive hierarchy, as if being the fourth option automatically makes you the fourth most important player. Brooks doesn’t really fit that framework. His value comes from the way he impacts the players around him, sets a physical and emotional tone, and makes an opponent’s night more difficult. If ESPN is recognizing that impact at No. 76, it’s another indication that Brooks’ value in Phoenix extends well beyond his box score.
