2024 NBA team position rankings: Projecting all 30 teams’ depth charts

Every NBA team begins training camp this week, so we know where rosters stand for the most part. Now is the time to assess the five traditional positions and where each team ranks at those spots.

I've been pushing for more use of the term " positional versatility " over the years as opposed to the game being "positionless." Players, coaches and personnel executives have a more open mind about where players fit on rosters and among other players and how they can be used. The "tweeners" of yesterday are now more likely to be seen as assets today. Players shouldn't be put in a one-position-at-all-times box, if you will. Some of the best stars transcend position, while players fighting for rotation spots help themselves when they can play multiple positions.

You have to start somewhere, though. Every team that made the playoffs last season had a lineup that played at least 14 games and 9.8 minutes per game. The defending champion Boston Celtics had two guards ( Jrue Holiday and Derrick White ), two forwards ( Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum ) and a big ( Kristaps Porziņģis ) that played 37 games together for 16.8 minutes per game. There's a consistency that comes with a starting five, a group of players that will spend a significant part of a game at set positions.

Teams will have different approaches to their starting or primary lineups. There's the LA Clippers , where president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank acknowledges that some teams have bigger power forwards, other teams have glorified small forwards at the four, while his team sticks to "a point, three wings and a big."

Other teams have watched the league get bigger and adjusted accordingly, with the Denver Nuggets winning the 2023 championship with two big forwards next to Nikola Jokić at center, only to be upset this past spring against an even larger Minnesota Timberwolves front line.

We are not yet at the place where teams are just going to fill their rosters and lineups with exclusively wing-sized players. There will be guards, and there will be bigs. Some of those guards will be smaller and will be best deployed as point guards. Some of those bigs will be better as middle-of-the-floor centers, while others will be able to play alongside those centers as power forwards. Not every wing should be considered a guard because of their lack of skill, but they can be helpful defensively as small forwards next to multiple skilled guards. The average sizes of starters from last season still goes up along the traditional positional spectrum:

Average 2024 sizes by position 2023-24 starters Avg. height (inches, total) Avg. weight

For the most part, I look at the traditional positions as roles that teams need to have filled. What I look for at each spot:

Point guard: Primary pick-and-roll ballhandlers, playmakers, passers, pace-setters and caretakers.

Shooting guard: On- or off-ball players with shooting ability across various levels, especially off the catch from 3.

Small forward: Primary perimeter defender, fast-break finisher and half-court cutter.

Power forward: More size than a wing, especially to rebound on both ends, without always having the primary interior responsibilities of a center.

Center: Rim protection and screening, especially in pick-and-rolls.

Then there are the stars at every position — the players who finish most of their possessions scoring out of ball screens, isolations and post ups. Stars have to be able to play in the midrange, be able to make shots from 3 off the bounce, get to the paint and free-throw line consistently, and be able to find teammates for easy and open shots. Stars also have to do those things at a high level without being too much of a liability defensively or off the ball. The teams with stars will rank higher at their position group.

Being at a position does not dismiss what players are able to do at the four other spots. In fact, it enhances it. Every player, especially a starter, has a role that is most ideal for him and his teammates. These subjective team rankings consider how each team projects to line up with respect to the fact that you could line up players on these rosters in a variety of ways.

What to know about these rankings

I chose to rank the teams based on overall strength at each nominal position, while listing each team's possible/likely starter as a representative of that position. These are a subjective projection; if a player is listed at one spot, it doesn't mean you couldn't list them at another, but I am choosing to evaluate the team from that position. While the starter is the primary source of evaluation (about 75 percent), a team's reserves are taken into consideration (second unit players account for about 20 percent).

Other criteria for these rankings include:

Basketball: How do you see a player in terms of non-shooting scoring (baskets inside the paint and generating free throws), rebounding, playmaking, defense and shooting efficiency? In general, players who are consistently good, do a variety of things on either end of the floor, and are capable of high on-ball usage will have their teams rank higher.

Availability: Injuries exist; there is no "if healthy," because we know some players won't play and haven't played as much as others. Players who are more injury- (or suspension-) prone make their reserves more relevant.

Depth: This year, I'm listing second-unit players for depth chart projection purposes, with regards to the fact that they are even more likely to contribute across the positional spectrum. Three-hundred names will be in this list.

Career: I have to consider where players are in their careers. Younger players have upside, but they have to show something too. Players in their 30s are established, but always a cliff threat; this is not a lifetime achievement ranking.

Morale: Actually wanting to play for the current team — and vice versa — with other teams exploring shaking up the position. Stability is going to upgrade some positional situations and downgrade others.

Emphasis on the word team — these are team positional rankings, meaning that I'm considering all 30 NBA squads. For each table, players highlighted in orange are new veteran additions, while players highlighted in green are 2024 first-round picks. After each table, we'll highlight some key takeaways about that particular group.

Point guard

NBA point guard team rankings PG RANKSpencer DinwiddieCason WallaceCameron PayneBrandin PodziemskiTJ McConnellDelon WrightKyle LowryKobe BufkinKris DunnJordan McLaughlinLuke KennardRussell WestbrookPayton PritchardReed SheppardCaris LeVertVasilije MicicJose AlvaradoJaden IveyDavion MitchellTrail BlazersScoot HendersonGabe VincentRob DillinghamCole AnthonyJevon CarterJosh RichardsonMonte MorrisTre JonesBub CarringtonBen SimmonsIsaiah Collier

I debated whether to put the Dallas Mavericks or Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of these rankings. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the best scorer out of ball screens in the league, one of the best isolation scorers and defends at a high level. Ultimately, I went with Dallas and Luka Dončić , the NBA's scoring champion who was also third in assists and just got NBA Finals experience.

Jalen Brunson 's numbers last season (28.7 points, 6.7 assists) made it clear what kind of force New York has at point guard, and he's still in his 20s. That those numbers exceeded what the Golden State Warriors got from Stephen Curry , who is entering his 16th NBA season, necessitated a changing of the guard at the top.

Suspension and injury limited Ja Morant to nine games last season, and the Memphis Grizzlies had no real contingency plan offensively. Morant is good enough to be a top-10 point guard, but the position is stacked and Morant has to show he can stay on the floor and shoot league average from 3; every team ranked above Memphis has a 3-point shooter better than Morant.

On one hand, CJ McCollum is a perfectly fine starting point guard. He has a decent assist-turnover ratio, and he shoots the ball well. On the other hand, New Orleans already has a surplus of primary ballhandlers, and it just added another in Dejounte Murray in part because of New Orleans' unreliable offense in clutch time. It makes McCollum's role, and even his starting spot, relatively shaky.

The stretch of teams ranked in the low 20s is populated with guards who have had to deal with ceding touches to wings or forwards with more influence on the offense. D'Angelo Russell has to defer to LeBron James . Mike Conley Jr. is off the ball more than ever next to Anthony Edwards . Jalen Suggs was starting at shooting guard before settling in at point guard before the playoffs. Coby White was a secondary option to DeMar DeRozan , and now Zach LaVine is healthy. Terry Rozier has long been used to playing alongside other guards who have the ball in their hands more, and now is with a Miami team that plays through Jimmy Butler , Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro .

All of the teams in the bottom-five either have a bridge point guard who is relatively new to the roster, or are a Utah Jazz team that lacks clear direction at the position. Keyonte George had the lowest assist-turnover ratio (1.77) last season of any player projected to be a starting point guard.

Shooting guard

NBA shooting guard team rankings SG RANK Donte DiVincenzoSam MerrillQuentin Grimes Miles McBrideJohn KoncharAyo DosunmuJordan HawkinsBaylor ScheiermanGrayson AllenIsaiah JoeJordan ClarksonDuncan RobinsonAmen ThompsonCam ReddishStephon CastleShake MiltonGary HarrisEric GordonDe'Anthony MeltonPat ConnaughtonNorman PowellMalik MonkBen SheppardTrail BlazersMatisse ThybulleBogdan BogdanovicJohnny DavisSimone FontecchioTre MannJulian StrawtherJa'Kobe Walter

New York has a surplus of wings, but Mikal Bridges has experience starting at shooting guard from when he first arrived in Brooklyn and played the best ball of his career. The Knicks rank the highest at this position for players without an All-Star appearance yet, but the depth between Bridges (the most durable player in the league and one of the best isolation defenders) and Miles McBride (who turned himself into a 41 percent 3-point shooter) is strong. Of course, Minnesota just got even stronger at this spot thanks to New York after it traded Donte DiVincenzo to back up Anthony Edwards, the lone All-NBA selection at the position.

Oklahoma City lacks pull-up shooting, but it was the most accurate 3-point shooting team and could be better with Josh Giddey off the roster. Giddey was traded for Alex Caruso , but I have Jalen Williams moving from power forward to shooting guard due to his combination of ballhandling, playmaking and shooting. He's backed up by Isaiah Joe , who also shot north of 40 percent from 3.

This seems high for Utah, with small guards at the two in Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson . But Sexton is one of the most accurate 3-point shooters off-the-catch in the entire league with volume and efficiency numbers that compare favorably with other players at his position. Sexton also stayed healthy and showed that his athleticism has completely recovered, while Clarkson can still win in isolation. It is one of the better combinations in the league.

Teams such as Orlando , Golden State and Milwaukee added veteran shooting guards to winning teams. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Buddy Hield and Gary Trent Jr. are all best in roles that keep their touches down so that they can focus on efficient shooting. Caldwell-Pope has contributed to two championship teams in a scaled-down starter role where he could shoot and defend without being on the ball for extended stretches.

Some of the best top reserves wind up being shooting guards, and that is a spot that the LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks have been in of late. Norman Powell , Malik Monk and Bogdan Bogdanović have all earned multiple Sixth Man of the Year award votes in the last three seasons, while backing up players who are regarded as better defenders. It will be interesting to see if Terance Mann , Keon Ellis or Dyson Daniels retain starting jobs in camp.

Christian Braun contributed to the Denver Nuggets as a rotation piece, but now he is a likely starter for a team that finished dead last in 3-point attempts with Caldwell-Pope. Braun is a good player, but he has to show that he is capable of shooting more 3s, improving his subpar free-throw percentage and scaling up in general headed into his third NBA season.

Small forward

NBA small forward team rankings SF RANKSam HauserRoyce O'NealeRicky Council IVJaime Jaquez Jr.Herbert JonesKevin HuerterCody WilliamsCaleb HoustanMarJon BeauchampBruce BrownTrail BlazersToumani CamaraRon Holland IINaji MarshallPeyton WatsonCody MartinMoses MoodyNickeil Alexander-WalkerAlex CarusoVince Williams Jr.Bennedict MathurinIsaac OkoroBojan BogdanovicCam WhitmoreKeldon JohnsonDalton KnechtPacome DadietAmir CoffeyTorrey CraigCorey KispertVit Krejci

The Phoenix Suns have had 6-foot-6 Devin Booker at shooting guard most of his career, but he had to take on the point guard role last season next to oft-unavailable 6-4 Bradley Beal . If the Suns start Tyus Jones (6-1), then Beal and Booker are on the wing together. Booker's Team USA role and willingness to guard up might have been a preview of his role this season as a small forward, leaving Jones and Beal in the backcourt.

Sacramento adding DeRozan will be an interesting fit, considering the Kings already have stars who require touches in De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis . DeRozan was one of the heaviest on-ball players in the league, with 62.4 percent of his play types being in ball screens, isolations or post ups, per Synergy; Dončić was at 63.9 percent. But DeRozan was excellent in his pick-and-roll and isolation possessions as well, and he should balance out the Kings in a similar way that Paul George will in Philadelphia.

Klay Thompson also has usually played at shooting guard, but his addition to Dallas comes with a backcourt that already has Dončić and Kyrie Irving , while Dallas lost top defender Derrick Jones Jr. to the Clippers. Thompson's shooting is still good, but his overall efficiency on the ball and defense are concerns. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to a different style of play in Dallas at this stage of his career.

Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Memphis have highly regarded perimeter defenders who either aren't asked to do much offensively or are best suited to not do too much offensively. The Timberwolves have Jaden McDaniels , an All-Defense second-team selection. The Thunder added Alex Caruso, a two-time All-Defense selection, to a team that already starts Luguentz Dort . Marcus Smart had a injury-plagued first year in Memphis, but when Morant was healthy, Smart was starting at small forward next to Morant and Desmond Bane .

Harrison Barnes was added to a San Antonio team that also signed 39-year-old Chris Paul , and both veterans could start. Barnes showed decline last year despite playing in all 82 games, struggling as a defender while averaging career lows in rebounds and assists.

Atlanta got Zaccharie Risacher with the first pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, but his role won't be that of most top picks; he will have to share touches with Trae Young and others. I think Risacher has a higher ceiling than fellow French lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly , but the Washington Wizards have more experience and depth with Corey Kispert than Atlanta does with Vit Krejčí behind Risacher.

Power forward

NBA power forward team rankings PF RANKTaurean PrinceAl HorfordBol BolJarred VanderbiltNicolas BatumJoe InglesJonathan IsaacOchai AgbajiAaron WigginsTrey Murphy IIISanti AldamaObi ToppinGeorges NiangPrecious AchiuwaTari EasonMarvin Bagley IIIDe'Andre HunterDario SaricGrant WilliamsTrey LylesTrail BlazersJabari WalkerAusar ThompsonSandro MamukelashviliKyle AndersonMaxi KleberMatas BuzelisBrice SensabaughKJ MartinNoah ClowneyKevin Love

No position is more star-studded at the top than power forward. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the prototype, a player who has made the last six All-NBA first teams while averaging 30 points and 11 rebounds in back-to-back seasons. Eventually, the Celtics will have Tatum and Al Horford both at the power forward spot once Porziņģis returns from injury; Tatum has made the last three All-NBA first teams and averaged 26/8/4 for the league's best team. Most would have Kevin Durant , LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard above Tatum. Boston is deeper than the Suns, Lakers and Clippers, while Tatum is younger, healthier, more available and wins more consistently in recent years than his counterparts.

Chet Holmgren played next to a paint-bound big at Gonzaga (Drew Timme) so I'm sure he can handle the four in Oklahoma City. Some Thunder opponents did not even consider Holmgren a "big" last year due to his shooting and driving ability ( he's certainly a "tall" ). Every team ranked above the Thunder here had a 2024 All-Star selection, including Orlando ( Paolo Banchero ) and Toronto ( Scottie Barnes ), teams with recent Rookie of the Year winners.

The player that new Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson needs to see break through the most is newly paid Evan Mobley , who starts at power forward next to center Jarrett Allen . Mobley might be a better fit at center, but he is a difference-maker defensively while being an above-average passer. For Mobley to take the step that Zion Williamson and Jaren Jackson Jr. made, he needs to get to the free-throw line more.

Aaron Gordon is a perfect fit for the Nuggets, and has the championship ring to show it. He's arguably the best contested rebounder at his position, finishes at a high level and is versatile on both ends of the floor. The shooting can be a real issue: 29 percent from 3, 65.8 percent from the free-throw line. Every team above Denver has a better scorer and/or shooter at the four.

Detroit , San Antonio and Golden State are looking for the right fit at power forward with three very different players. Isaiah Stewart has played center before, but he shoots the 3 well enough to hold up at power forward. The Spurs wasted half a season trying to put Jeremy Sochan at point guard, but his versatility on both ends of the floor should help San Antonio in the short term. Jonathan Kuminga is clearly a better scorer than Stewart and Sochan, but the holes in Kuminga's game through three years put him, the Warriors and the lineup choices in a funky spot; Kuminga needs to improve his rebounding, passing, defense and shooting.

One of the complaints that George had when looking back on his final year with the Clippers was how he had to do more dirty work due to the Clippers trading all of their power forwards to Philadelphia. Ironically, the 76ers are in a position where their "dirty work" players are relatively undersized. Caleb Martin has been a starting power forward for the Miami Heat before, but he is only 6-5, 205 pounds, while KJ Martin is only 6-6, 215. Rebounding could be an issue for the 76ers.

NBA center team rankings C RANKDeAndre JordanAndre DrummondJaxson HayesAlex LenKel'el WareZach CollinsMitchell RobinsonLuke KornetNaz ReidSteven AdamsBobby PortisIsaiah JacksonDean WadeMo BambaOnyeka OkongwuMason PlumleeWalker KesslerJalen SmithTrayce Jackson-DavisPaul ReedDay'ron SharpeDereck Lively IITrail BlazersDonovan ClinganAlex SarrKelly OlynykJaylin WilliamsMoritz WagnerBrandon ClarkeNick RichardsYves Missi

Joel Embiid is a better shooter, passer and scorer than Anthony Davis , and the 76ers have a more reliable backup option than the Lakers. Embiid is also a better defender than Nikola Jokić, one of the worst rim protectors among starting centers. But Jokić is a three-time MVP and a finals MVP who makes his backup irrelevant due to his durability. The Kings edge the Heat due to Sabonis' superior scoring, rebounding, passing and shooting, though Bam Adebayo is one of the best defenders at the position.

San Antonio tried to have Zach Collins be the starting center while Victor Wembanyama started at power forward last season. After 20 games, Collins was moved to the bench while Wembanyama started the rest of his games at center. Wembanyama went from 43.2 percent from the field at power forward to 47.6 percent as a starting center. New York's acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns is a similar situation; Mitchell Robinson 's injury gave fuel to the notion that Julius Randle was a legitimate center option for Tom Thibodeau, despite Thibodeau's past reluctance. Now, Towns is going from being a power forward in Minnesota next to Rudy Gobert to a center with whom Thibodeau is already familiar. Towns is a better shooter than Wembanyama, but Wembanyama is already one of the league's most impactful defenders with a chance to surpass Towns as a scorer as early as this season.

The value of Ivica Zubac is interesting. On one hand, no other starting center was better at protecting the rim during the regular season, and only Porziņģis was better in the post . On the other, Zubac isn't known for his passing, shooting or athleticism. He will be asked to do more than ever due to the state of LA's roster, while being paired with an elite pick-and-roll partner in James Harden .

Draymond Green started 52 games last season; 27 came at center. Golden State could opt to start Trayce Jackson-Davis at center to put Green back at power forward, but that could hamstring the Warriors offense and create a situation where one of Andrew Wiggins or Kuminga would have to come off the bench.

Dallas and Oklahoma City have interesting center situations in terms of the balance of ability and role. The Mavericks have 48 minutes of vertical spacing and rim protection between Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II , but those centers are never asked to do anything to create for themselves or others or to space the floor. How Isaiah Hartenstein fits bears watching after the Thunder spent last season overwhelming teams with five-out spacing and league-leading driving. Hartenstein is a good passer and rim protector who will help Oklahoma City's woeful rebounding, but he has not consistently shown that he can contribute as a scorer or shooter yet and the ball won't be in his hands much to display it on that team.

Despite being drafted after Alexandre Sarr and Donovan Clingan , Zach Edey is the only rookie starter I have at center. Memphis has not been a strong team since Steven Adams was injured two winters ago, necessitating the need for Edey to be a top-10 pick. I have Memphis above Charlotte ( Mark Williams needs to show he can stay on the floor) and New Orleans ( Daniel Theis has started only 31 games the last three seasons).

(Top illustration: Patrick McDermott / (2); Dylan Buell / ; Nic Antaya / ; Grant Burke / NBAE via )