Top 10 Sorare NBA stars | To Build Around for the Next 5 Years
Posted 11th October 2022
Here are the new NBA stars you'll need to build your Sorare NBA team around for the next five years and beyond
There seems to be a very exciting young crop of players that are going to be taking over the NBA in the next few years. While we are seeing guys like Kevin Durant, Lebron James and Steph Curry slowly starting to age out of the league, there are certainly players to replace them.
Out of these players, who would you want to build around? This list is going to take a look at the 10 best players to build around going forward. All of the players on this list are 25 or below, as it is difficult to build around a player for more than 5 years if they are older than 25.
10: Scottie Barnes
It may be harsh to have the reigning Rookie of the Year as low as tenth, but there is still a lot of talent to come. Despite three guys being taken in front of him, Barnes was the best rookie from the 2021 class.
In that rookie season he averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 49% from the floor. These are good numbers but they don’t necessarily tell the whole story for Barnes.
The former Florida State forward is a legitimate two way player, with a higher defensive rating than guys in his draft class like Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs. His size and agility is a good example of the way that the NBA is going. With the league continuing to value fast paced play, Barnes will be excellent over the next decade.
There is no doubt that the Cleveland Cavaliers were not certain about picking Darius Garland after a shaky start to his NBA career. Having been the fifth overall pick in 2019, Garland was alright in his first couple of years, showing improvement from his rookie season into his second year.
But that progression really continued in 2021-22 and he had a breakout year. Last season the Cavs guard averaged 21.7 points, 8.6 assists and 1.3 steals while hitting career highs in field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Garland has shown off his electric scoring along with elite playmaking ability.
The recognition came for Garland as he became an All-Star for the first time. This spectacular season was enough for the Cavaliers to start to build a really exciting backcourt, with Garland being partnered with Donovan Mitchell for next season. He is on course to become one of the best point guards in the NBA, so certainly someone you would want to build around.
8: Evan Mobley
It has got to be exciting for Cavaliers fans that they have two players on this list. Despite not winning Rookie of the Year, there is a real case to be made that Mobley looks like the best NBA player to be drafted in 2021.
Building around a big centre is not something that you always see happening anymore and it is part of why Mobley is not higher. But it should not take away from the phenomenal player he looks like. Mobley played 69 games in his rookie season and was consistently very good.
He averaged 15 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in his first year in the NBA. Fifth in the NBA for blocks per game is very impressive in your rookie campaign. Part of the excitement about Mobley is he looks like he has all of the characteristics to be a future frontcourt All-Star.
The 6ft 11in forward does lack a little in terms of strength, but playing alongside Jarrett Allen allows Mobley to stretch the floor a little bit more and their pair of them together are a difficult matchup for any team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a very good young team, but it does look like there performance in the next few years will depend on whether Anthony Edwards continues his progression. Edwards was good in his first year but took a big step forward in year 2.
Last season, Edwards improved on pretty much every stat from his rookie season. He averaged 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists while now shooting 44% from the field and 36% from three. The efficiency will please Timberwolves fans and coaches as while his scoring numbers were good in year one, his shooting percentages were not great.
While his scoring and crazy finishing at the rim is what brings in the headlines, Edwards looks like he can be a proper two way player as he contributes on defence. Despite being only 21, Edwards performances improved in the playoffs, averaging 25.2 points per game in the first round loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Despite the loss, the Timberwolves will have been very pleased by Edwards and his progression should be helped by the improved defence of the Timberwolves now they have Rudy Gobert.
6: LaMelo Ball
Despite becoming a star at 16 thanks to his father, LaMelo Ball actually looks like he can become an NBA superstar. Ball was selected third overall in 2020 to the Charlotte Hornets and impressed very quickly, winning Rookie of the Year in 2021. The progression helped him become an NBA All-Star in 2022.
Averaging 20.1 points per game on 39% shooting from three is impressive, particularly when you see that LaMelo also averaged 6.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists in his second season. It doesn’t mean that there is not criticism of his game. Ball is playing for a very bad team where he is the main option on offence, allowing him to take a lot of shots.
But you have to look at the incredible upside when building around LaMelo Ball over the next ten years. The 6ft 7in guard can easily be any teams lead ball handler and distributor, as well as a very good scorer. Ball is already showing great versatility as he finished in the top 10 for steals and assists last season.
Ball is brilliant and he is shining despite having very little help in Charlotte.
5: Trae Young
In terms of building around a player, Trae Young might be one of the most controversial picks on this list. One of the main criticisms of his play is that it is not necessarily suited to a successful team. There is some evidence of that, but Young has already shown that he can take a team deep into the playoffs.
It is slightly recency bias why people may have Young lower on this list as he was very poor in the 2022 playoffs. But Young was excellent in the 2021 playoffs, scoring 28.8 points per game as well as 9.5 assists and 1.3 steals. Young took his Atlanta Hawks to the Easter Conference Finals for the first time since 2015.
He is the guy who can carry any team and he does make the players around him much better. Youngs dangerous shooting helps to open up opportunities for teammates, something that Dejounte Murray should really benefit from in the upcoming season.
While I understand the criticisms, any team would still be lucky to build around Young for the next ten years as he can easily become one of the best shooters we have ever seen considering the range of shots we have already seen Young hit.
This is another pick which will get people talking and there is no doubt that the positive news coming out about Zion heading into this season are one of the reasons Zion is so high on this list.
If we just look at when he is on the court, there is no doubt that Zion would be incredible to build around. In his 61 games in the 2020-21 season, Zion averaged 27 points, 7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Some very good stats for a player in their first full season of the NBA. What makes the numbers spectacular is that Zion shot 61% from the field while scoring 27 per game.
These are eye watering numbers and speak to the dominance that he has at the rim. This potential is why the Pelicans gave him a huge 5 year, $193 million guaranteed contract which could rise to $231 million. This insane potential sounds like enough for number one on this list.
But so far in his career, Zion has only played 85 games across three seasons, meaning he has already missed 161 games. That Jones fracture in his right foot really slowed his progress and building around Zion is risky considering his injury record, but the potential is incredibly high.
3: Ja Morant
Ja Morant looked good in his first couple of years, but 2021-22 was a phenomenal breakout campaign for Morant. Last season the former second overall pick averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game as well as career highs in field goal and three point shooting percentages.
He looked like one of the best offensive players in the league last year and it has got to be so difficult to guard him. Morant is one of the fastest players in the league, producing ridiculous highlights pretty much every game. All of the attention that he brings gives opportunities to the players around him.
His playmaking ability is really underrated and this has helped him to some playoff success. Morant was phenomenal the last time we saw him, averaging 38.3 points in the first three games of the Western Conference Semi-finals. Morant was incredible in those playoffs and things could have been very different if he didn’t injure his knee in game 3.
2: Jayson Tatum
I think that you can’t really have many arguments about the top two on this list, beginning with Jayson Tatum. Despite being drafted all the way back in 2017, Tatum is still not gotten to his 25th birthday. That is despite being a three time All-Star and All-NBA First Team in 2022.
In those first couple of years there were questions about whether Tatum could be the number one guy, but he has silenced those over the last couple of years. Tatum has scored more than 26 points per game over the last two years as well as averaging more than seven rebounds per game in the last couple of years.
Tatum really has everything that you would want from a number one scorer. He can drive inside powerfully as well as hitting the shots from mid-range or from the three. If you needed anymore evidence that Tatum could be a number one scorer, you saw Tatum be the main man for the Celtics as they reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
The rangy wing can also find space for his teammates, while matching up well on defence thanks to great athleticism and being able to switch onto smaller, faster guards.
1: Luka Doncic
This was probably the easiest pick on this list despite all of the talent I have already highlighted. Luka Doncic has just been one of the best players in the NBA over the last few years and just looks exceptional.
27/8/8 as a stat line across three seasons is brilliant, particularly for a player who has only been in the league for four years. Doncic was incredibly impressive in the EuroLeague, but it is impressive that these performances have translated over pretty much straight away. In four years he is already a three time All-Star, three time All-NBA First Team as well as Rookie of the Year.
It is difficult to compare Luka to anyone that we have ever seen before as he does so much of what different NBA legends do. He has the rebounding and playmaking that has helped to make Lebron James successful, even if he is not just quite as physical. But Doncic combines this with phenomenal, Kobe and Curry like scoring, already not far from that level.
His combination of size, IQ, scoring ability and work without the ball means he is incredibly close to getting to MVP level. What is also special about his game is that Doncic always turns up when it matters, averaging 32.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in his 28 games in the playoffs so far.
Honourable Mentions: Jordan Poole, Jalen Green, Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderandJaren Jackson Jr.
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