The Best NBA Player at Every Height Right Now
You know how you find yourself, roughly a couple of times per month, sitting around and shooting the breeze with friends, family members and barstool acquaintances, invariably having the same old debate for the umpteenth time, ultimately thinking to yourself, "If only there was a definitive list of the best NBA players at every height right now?"
Well, fortunately for all of humankind, this list now exists. And it's right here.
Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes and I, Dan Favale, will endeavor to identify the best, most impactful player for this season from every size bucket. The number of names in each subset will be determined by the heights used on Basketball-Reference.
Decisions will be easy in many cases. They will be much harder in others. All of which is to say: This should be fun.
5'8": Yuki Kawamura, Memphis Grizzlies
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Yuki Kawamura wins this category uncontested. The 23-year-old floor general, currently on a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, is the NBA's shortest player.
There is not much else to go off here. Kawamura, a rookie, has logged fewer than 100 minutes this season. Failing injury disaster, he has no clear path to regular playing time. But during his small bursts, he has shown shiftiness on the ball with promising court vision and a distinct comfort level pulling up off the dribble.
—Favale
6'0": Fred VanVleet, Houston Rockets
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We skip right ahead to the six-footers, because the NBA features nobody who has logged any minutes this season standing 5'9", 5'10" or 5'11". Is this because Chris Paul certain players are clearly lying about their height? Who's to say?
Anyhow, the most notable six-footers include Jose Alvarado, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Jamal Shead and Fred VanVleet. The latter wins this pretty handedly, thanks in part to a stark decline from Conley.
CP3 has a reasonable case. He is still a masterful possession manager. But VanVleet, when healthy, remains a mission-critical scorer and spacer to one of the West's best teams. And while Paul has him beat as an orchestrator, VanVleet is head and shoulders more impactful on the defensive end, where he continues to match up versus ultra-tough assignments.
–Favale
6'1": Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
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Trae Young has held the title for most of the past half-decade, but there’s not much of a statistical case to give him the nod over Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star (non-injury-replacement variety, just for the record), Darius Garland.
Garland is a little behind Young in the volume stats, but he’s smashing the Hawks guard from an efficiency perspective, hitting 49.3 percent of his shots overall and 42.5 percent of his threes. That rounds out to a 62.6 true shooting percentage, miles ahead of Young’s 56.1. In fact, Young hasn’t produced the shooting splits Garland is posting in any of his previous seasons.
Surround Young with Garland’s supporting cast, and this is a very different race, but we can’t exactly penalize DG for running the show on the league’s best offense. He’s as responsible for Cleveland’s elite attack as anyone.
—Hughes
6'2": Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
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The pool of 6'2" candidates also features Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Tyrese Maxey and Ja Morant. Really, this comes down to Jalen Brunson and Stephen Curry. And the margins are close.
Everything from their usage rate and assist rate to their true shooting and scoring per minute this season are eerily similar. Brunson's counting stats pop more. That is to be expected—and commended—when he's played so many additional minutes. He also grades out as the more efficient self-created bucket-getter, according to BBall Index.
Curry is nevertheless one of three or four players who count as offensive systems unto themselves. Nikola Jokić is the only name who forces as many defensive adjustments. And even he gets booted if you factor in the chaos Steph incites away from the ball.
If you consider Curry and Brunson equals on offense (which is fair!), the nod goes to the former, who even at 36 years old remains much less of a defensive liability.
—Favale
6'3": Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
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It’s apparently “Cavs Only” among the shorter 6-footers, as Donovan Mitchell joins 6’1” teammate Darius Garland as our 6’3” honoree.
Mitchell’s track record speaks for itself; he’s a five-time All-Star with a career scoring average of 24.7 points per game—one with a knack for elevating his game when the stakes get higher. Who could forget the 36.3 points he averaged in that epic seven-game clash with the Denver Nuggets back in 2020?
History aside, Mitchell is tops among 6’3” players in made threes and rates among the top three in points, assists, steals and made free-throws. He’s even ramped up his defense to career-best levels, posting a Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus that ranks in the 83rd percentile this season.
De’Aaron Fox and Norman Powell were good competition here, but Mitchell’s still the relatively easy pick.
—Hughes
6'4": Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
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Anthony Edwards takes the 6'4" mantle rather easily. His toughest competition includes Jamal Murray, Derrick White and Josh Hart, none of whom match his starpower.
Perhaps Murray can enter the running over any given stretch. But for all the hemming and hawing over Edwards' limitations as the primary driver of offense, he is ferrying a usage rate north of 30 on above-average true shooting.
The only other players doing the same are consensus megastars: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum and Victor Wembanyama.
Everything Edwards does comes within a more difficult context, too. Murray is the most efficient from-scratch creator and grades out as the higher quality passer, but Ant faces the better defenders. And even if you're inclined to consider this a toss-up until now, Edwards' contributions on the less glamorous end turn this into something resembling a runaway.
—Favale
6'5": Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
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Tyler Herro leads 6’5” players in points, James Harden is lapping the field in free-throw attempts and Desmond Bane probably deserves an honorable-mention nod. But Tyrese Haliburton is the only one producing efficient scoring for himself while running the show for a top-10 offense.
Simplify things this way: Hali is the only guy in this group with a true shooting percentage over 59.0 percent and at least 400 assists. Austin Reaves has the efficiency without the dimes, and it’s the opposite for Harden. At this height, a player’s duties tend to skew toward scoring and facilitation, and nobody’s doing both better than Haliburton.
Note, too, that the Pacers’ lead guard is the only guy in consideration at this height to have very recently transformed his team’s attack to staggering effect. His ascent last season coincided with Indy playing some of the most fluid and fast-paced offense in the league, and it hauled them all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. A repeat of that feat is very much in play this season as well, proving Haliburton’s rare ability to lift everyone around him.
—Hughes
6'6": Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
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In another season, this space would mandate an extensive debate between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Dončić. Just not this one.
Calf issues have limited Dončić's availability and effectiveness. He still deserves consideration when weighing the long-term answer. But we are looking at this season only, and Gilgeous-Alexander is going to finish no lower than second in MVP voting.
Extending the parameters doesn't necessarily give Luka the leg up, either. He has the decided edge as a passer, but SGA is every bit as dangerous as a from-scratch scorer and, frankly, worlds ahead on the defensive end.
Shout-out to the 6'6" crew in general, though. This subset is a murderer's row of high-end talent, including Devin Booker, Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Williams. This is also your obligatory reminder that, yes, Zion Williamson is only 6'6".
—Favale
6'7": Jimmy Butler, Golden State Warriors
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We’ve got a generational clash at 6’7”, as the youth corps of Amen Thompson, LaMelo Ball and Scottie Barnes square off against Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard—with OG Anunoby and Andrew Wiggins hanging out somewhere in the middle.
This still has to go to Butler, who is in the process of transforming the Golden State Warriors from a .500 team with no hope to a sneaky Conference Finals threat. He wouldn’t be the pick if performance beyond the next couple of years were the concern, but you just can’t argue anyone else in consideration at 6’7” could be making such an in-the-now impact. Leonard once might have been the right choice, but his career-worst production and limited availability rule him out.
We know Butler’s playoff track record, and his current 62.8 true shooting percentage during a season where he was, shall we say, less than all-in before joining the Warriors, is hard to fathom. This guy is still a Grade-A two-way star. Just make sure no one in your front office ever publicly says anything different.
—Hughes
6'8": Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
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Pascal Siakam deserves some consideration here. Other than him, no one delivers convincing resistance to Jayson Tatum.
Scoring versatility may actually favor Siakam. Tatum has him beat in overall shot efficiency—while taking harder ones. He looms as the more valuable defender to boot, as someone who can rumble with bigs and point-of-attack smalls.
Passing evolution cements the already-sealed deal. Josh Giddey is the only 6'8" player averaging more assists per game, and Tatum's decision-making on live dribbles and versus collapsing defenses has leveled up in a way that ensures he'll remain inside the meat and potatoes of MVP discussions for years to come.
–Favale
6'9": LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
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There’s really no fun in comparing LeBron James to his peers because he has none if you’re sorting by age. He’s the only 40-year-old still suiting up for NBA games.
That he still grades out the best in this class of 45 players, regardless of age, boggles the mind.
James tops everyone listed at 6’9” in total points and assists, holding nearly a two-to-one lead in dimes over second-place facilitator Bam Adebayo. Unfathomably, LeBron is also among the elites at this height in rebounds (second), minutes (third), made threes (second), free-throws (third) and steals (fifth). No one who’s attempted at least 300 shots has a higher true shooting percentage than his 60.8 figure, and Adebayo is the only other guy to whom you’d give even fringe All-NBA consideration.
If you’re struggling with James being listed at 6’9” when 6’8” seems like the height with which he’s been most associated, that’s fine. Just know that either of those figures is roughly one-hundredth the height of the monuments that will one day be erected to honor his greatness.
—Hughes
6'10": Anthony Davis, Dallas Mavericks
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Anthony Davis' case gets shakier while he remains on the sideline with a left adductor strain. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Domantas Sabonis have their own arguments. (Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner normally would, too.)
It is hard to displace Davis in the aggregate. Among this subset, he ranks first in points and blocks per game, second in rebounds, free-throw attempts and minutes and then third in steals. His combination of elite play-finishing, foul-drawing and defense is matched by no other candidate.
Davis is also one of just two players who rate inside the 90th percentile of rim points saved per 75 possessions, self-created shot-making efficiency and passing efficiency, according to BBall Index. His company: Victor Wembanyama.
Full disclosure: Jackson's case gave me real pause. His two-way value has increased exponentially over the past two years. But Davis' overall workload continues to be heavier. He'll have to tumble down the games-played ladder even more before we consider a full-on pivot.
—Favale
6'11": Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
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Giannis Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP still playing at a level that’ll make him a surefire All-NBA first-teamer this season, and Kevin Durant is probably the purest scorer in league history.
And yet Jokić is the easy choice at 6’11”.
It’s fair to label Jokić as the best player in the league over the last five years, as the 2023 MVP he surrendered to Joel Embiid and the one he’ll likely lose to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a few months stem at least partially from voter fatigue. Awards aside, if you’re building a team designed to win right now, and you get to choose a player of any height as its cornerstone, you’re taking Jokić without a second thought.
The best passer now and possibly ever, his level of offensive impact is unmatched. And if it were anyone else, we’d be beside ourselves with awe that Jokić has somehow also become one of the league’s top three-point shooters. Because it’s him, that ridiculous achievement seems somehow unsurprising.
—Hughes
7'0": Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks
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Previous seasons would have seen Joel Embiid turn this into a no-brainer. But, um, well, yeah.
Karl-Anthony Towns is the one turning this into a non-decision. (Apologies to Ivica Zubac and his All-Defense case, as well as Lauri Markkanen.) The defense is the defense. And generally speaking, unless he's enjoyed 11-out-of-10 insulation, it's not good. But his offensive utility is off the charts.
Floor-spacing continues to drive Towns' appeal. Rightfully so. He is not the highest-volume three-point shooter, but his threat level from the perimeter often stretches defenses beyond function and opens up pathways for everyone around him.
More attention should be paid to what KAT does going downhill and on the interior. Among around 60 players who have completed at least 400 drives, no one is generating points more often. And among 45 players averaging at least five paint touches per game, only Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford are scoring on a larger share of their possessions.
—Favale
7'1": Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
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This will probably be a controversial take, but Holmgren is a better defensive player than Rudy Gobert right now.
That might not have been true a year ago, and we spent the better part of a decade acknowledging Gobert as one of the league’s all-time elite stoppers. But Holmgren has comfortably overtaken the four-time DPOY in Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus and block percentage, and the comparison in mobility is a no-contest win in Holmgren’s favor.
Even if you’re not sold on Holmgren’s superior D, you have to concede his ability to space the floor, generate his own shot and attack off the dribble gives the Oklahoma City Thunder big man a clear offensive advantage.
The best Gobert’s defenders can do is cite a small sample, as Holmgren missed most of this season with a hip injury.
We’re not swayed by that argument. Holmgren is superior on both ends.
—Hughes
7'2": Kristaps Porzingis, Boston Celtics
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Kristaps Porziņģis takes the 7'2" cake unless you're in a rush to coronate Donovan Clingan.
Floor-spacing rim protectors still rank among the NBA's most valuable anomalies. The concept of them is no longer novel, which lends itself to a certain numbness from hoops heads. But the number of players who genuinely meet this criteria is infinitesimally small. Porziņģis continues to exist among the scant few.
Injury concerns and ebbing pull-up-jumper efficiency from the perimeter since joining the Boston Celtics may serve to poke holes in his case if there were any viable alternatives. There are none. And Porziņģis still has the ability to punish mismatches in the post, where he's shooting 58.3 percent this season.
—Favale
7'3": Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
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With apologies to Bol Bol, the only other player listed at 7’3”, this was the easiest decision on the board. Victor Wembanyama would have run away with Defensive Player of the Year had he not been shut down following a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis, and the addition of a credible three-point shot this season also makes him a devastatingly valuable offensive weapon.
Wemby closed out his sophomore campaign with averages of 24.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a league-leading 3.8 blocks—all with a stellar 47.6/35.1/83.6 shooting split.
The only way to strip this award from him is to argue he’s actually much taller than 7’3” and doesn’t even belong in this category.
—Hughes
7'4": Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
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Congratulations to Zach Edey on beating out an incredibly deep field populated by...Zach Edey.
This isn't meant to imply the 22-year-old cannot hold his own against actual competition. His impact as a screener, rim protector, rebounder, finisher and even occasional spacer is going to earn him First Team All-Rookie consideration.
A somewhat modest workload makes it difficult to hash out Edey's big-picture trajectory. At the same time, only three other rookies have ever matched his rebounding and block rates while hitting at least as many threes: Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Stewart and Victor Wembanyama.
To say what Edey's shown thus far is encouraging would be an understatement.
—Favale
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