ESPN released its annual top 100 players in the NBA poll, and Orlando's Paolo Banchero was ranked much lower than he should've been.
To get their rankings, ESPN asked its expert panel to vote on player-versus-player matchups from more than 20,000 possible pairings. The panel consisted of more than 150 reporters, editors, producers, and analysts, who were asked to rank players based on their predicted contributions, quality, and quantity for the 2025-26 regular season only.
Using the criteria of past production and projecting how the player will perform this season, Banchero should've been a top 15 player at minimum.