2026 NBA Player Tiers: Tier 5Tier 4 is the deepest and rounds out the bottom of the NBA’s top 100 players. Ideally, players in this tier are stars in their role. Some have been All-Stars, and several could still get to that level if they aren’t there now.There are six sub-tiers here, featuring players in roles that either suit them or are necessary for their teams to function. There is a lot of versatility in this group. Some teams have their best player here, which says plenty about the issues that team might have. Others are fine on one end of the court but have a lower floor on the other end than you’d like.Overall, teams should want more than one of these players on their rosters. Having some of the best role players in the league is critical to joining the inner circle of contenders. Even with their flaws or shortcomings, this tier has very good players.Tier 4AAll of these players have shown the ability to be in Tier 3 consideration. I was comfortable settling them for Tier 4.Payton Pritchard is a point guard-sized player who is geared to score in the regular season. He’s one of the better isolation scorers in the league, makes excellent decisions and shoots a ton of 3s at solid percentages. He’s contributed to a championship, won Sixth Man of the Year and shown he could produce as a starter. Pritchard hasn’t quite maintained that level in the playoffs, which may make this his ceiling.The shooting guards here have all taken some time in their respective career phases to get to where they are now, and the best may still be yet to come.Nickeil Alexander-Walker narrowly missed Tier 5 last year as a valued upcoming free agent. His fit in Atlanta was even better than the high expectations, as he played both guard positions as a backup and then a starter, effectively making Trae Young expendable while winning Most Improved Player. Brandon Miller missed most of the opening stretch of the season with a shoulder injury that later required surgery, but he still returned to play 65 games. The Hornets started making sense when he found his rhythm in the winter. Miller is Charlotte’s second option, and while he isn’t as efficient as Kon Knueppel, he is a good scorer out of ball screens who fires a ton of 3s. Trey Murphy III, Alexander-Walker’s former teammate in New Orleans, has similar size to Miller. Murphy is a bit stretched as an on-ball player, as his efficiency nose dives the more he has to dribble. He’s also not the strongest defender. But he is a strong off-ball player with a beautiful shot and threatening bounce, and he makes plays defensively.Jarrett Allen and Isaiah Hartenstein were teammates in Cleveland five years ago after both were drafted in 2017. Now, they’re two of the better rim protectors in the league. Allen scores quite a bit for a player who rarely posts up or shoots much outside of the paint, and he still gets to the free-throw line at a high rate. He doesn’t block a lot of shots, but he is comfortable guarding outside of the paint, and he understands how to challenge at the rim consistently while rebounding at a high level. Hartenstein was a major piece to Oklahoma City’s 2025 championship team, though his durability has been a concern over his two seasons there. Like Allen, Hartenstein rarely posts up, and he doesn’t look for his shot much; he averaged almost as many assists this season (3.5) as field goals made (3.9). Hartenstein also doesn’t block many shots, but he’s consistently in the right spots and he has active hands.Tier 4BWhat you get from this group in terms of volume production largely depends on the phase of your team. That’s especially true for point guards Josh Giddey, Jrue Holiday and Jalen Suggs, three players who have all been asked to do things other than be traditional point guards in recent times because of their teammates, their own limitations and their own abilities that go beyond the basics of the position.Giddey is in Chicago in part because his on-ball time in Oklahoma City was decreased by the emergence of Jalen Williams. On one hand, Giddey has broken out as a lead ballhandler for a Bulls team that plays at a breakneck pace, and only Nikola Jokić has more triple-doubles over the last two seasons. On the other hand, 11 of Giddey’s 20 triple-doubles with the Bulls have come in March or April. Giddey is a highly productive player, but he’s in Tier 4 because a lot of that production is juiced by pace and bolstered by the most unserious portions of basketball the regular season offers. It’s questionable that the Bulls, or any team, can have a proficient half-court offense with Giddey as the primary playmaker. Holiday’s presence was a major factor in Portland visiting the postseason for the first time in five years. He can still get it done on and off the ball offensively, while still displaying a high level of point-of-attack defense. Holiday pulled more 3s than ever in Portland while averaging a three-year high in assists. His mileage is a concern, as he’s played 17 NBA seasons and played his fewest games (53) in a decade. Suggs has been a critical difference-maker for the Magic. He’s a lot like Holiday in that he’s a point guard who fits with other primary playmakers so that he can wreak havoc elsewhere. Suggs blows things up defensively and can get on good streaks from 3. But he isn’t the strongest on-ball player, and when his jumper abandons him, things can get rough offensively (see: Games 5-7 against the Detroit Pistons).Michael Porter Jr. was producing like an All-Star before the break in his first season in Brooklyn. He did not maintain that same level after the All-Star break, one of the perils of playing for a tanking team. Porter was one of the best off-screen 3-point shooters in the league and did well to score 25 points per game before the break while playing with rookie ballhandlers. The Nuggets traded him to reshape their depth, but Denver hasn’t won a playoff series without Porter available since 2019.