Ranking of the top of the new season: Legend of Jamdu, Little Ka No. 5, Butler No. 8, Flag made the top 20

Translator's note: The original text was published on HoopsHype. The data in the article were as of the time of the original text (August 19 local time). The dates and times involved were all local time

Previously, we had scheduled the top 26 point guards and shooting guards for the 2025-26 season. Today, we will rank the small forwards in the new season.

The list has various best teams and All-Star players, as well as some role players with excellent offense and defense. Interestingly, the top rising stars in the league still fail to surpass the top two legends on the list.

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26, Jonathan Kumingga 2024-25 season data: 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 45.4% shooting percentage, 30.5% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $10,240,287 (qualification quote) (168th in the league)

If you are the number one star of a weak team, Jonathan Kumingga may be a scorer who is averaging 20 points per game, although the efficiency may not be high. But the fact is that because he has been playing for the powerful Warriors, Kumingga has failed to go further in data output. Last season, as the Warriors introduced a top ten player on the list, Cumingga's situation became even worse, causing the fourth-year forward to even drop out of the team's rotation at the end of the season.

Despite playing in the NBA for so long, Kumingga still has potential because he is a breakthrough player with excellent athleticism and strong physical strength, and has a certain ability to score in mid-range emergency stop jump shots. He needs to continue to hone his ball control skills and improve his three-point shooting ability in order to realize his potential.

Changing the environment may not be a good thing for him.

25, Devin Vassel (Spurs)

2024-25 season data: 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 44.3% shooting percentage, 36.8% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $27,000,000 (65th in the league)

24, RJ ​​Barrett (Royals)

2024-25 season data: 21.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 46.8% shooting percentage, 35.0% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $27,705,357 (United Nations No. 63rd in the league)

23, Andrew Wiggins (Heat)

2024-25 season data: 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 44.8% shooting percentage, 37.4% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $28,223,215 (61st in the league)

Another Canadian forward-guard swinger, former No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins has never fully realized people's expectations for the No. 1 pick, but he is still a reliable starter in the NBA, thanks in large part to his emergency stop jump shot, off-ball cutting ability, explosive power at the basket and his solid defense. Wiggins has excellent lateral movement speed and long arms, and is also very committed to defending such dirty and tiring tasks.

As a scorer, he may lack the stability of the night, and some even question how strong his willingness to fulfill his full potential is (this is no longer possible until now). But Wiggins is talented and still grows into a championship-level starter.

22. Bennedict Mathering (Pacers)

2024-25 season data: 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 45.8% shooting percentage, 34.0% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $9,187,573 (18th in the league 3)

21, Brandon Miller (Hornets)

2024-25 season data: 21.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 40.3% shooting percentage, 35.5% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $11,968,400 (147th place in the league)

20, Cooper Flag (Mavericks)

2024-25 season data (NCAA): 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 48.1% shooting percentage, 38.5% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $13,825,920 (130th in the league)

We didn't see much in the summer league because he didn't play again after only two games (in these two games, he averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game), but Cooper Flag is probably one of the players we most look forward to seeing in the 2025-26 season on this full list.

As an 18-year-old, Flag has the potential to be selected for the best team, and he has the potential to play dominant performance on both ends of the offense and defense. Flag has an excellent figure and wingspan, and according to body side data in the NBA Draft Joint Training Camp, he is 6-foot-9 inches tall and 7-foot-span. Flag has the ability to hold the ball and can hit difficult shots in three scoring areas. He is athletic and, perhaps most importantly, has a top-notch competitive spirit, which should help him have a huge impact on the defensive end, which may be reflected as early as his rookie season.

From the first day of the 2025-26 season, countless pairs of eyes will be staring at Flag, and we think he will be able to meet the challenge and live up to expectations.

19. Lu Dott (Thunder)

2024-25 season data: 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 43.5% shooting percentage, 41.2% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $18,222,222 (99th place in the league)

18, Paul George (76ers)

2024-25 game Seasonal data: 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 43.0% shooting percentage, 35.8% three-point shooting percentage 2025-26 season salary: $51,666,090 (13th in the league)

After the 76ers' disappointing first season, nine-time All-Star Paul George suffered an injury during the offseason and underwent knee arthroscopy. The Sixers announced that he would re-evaluate him before training camp.

So, although this ranking seems to be low for a player who is likely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the future, given George's injury troubles over the past year, and his 35-year-old and severe physical wear and tear, it's hard to predict the former Fresno State star player will still play in the All-Star season in the future.

Maybe he will prove us wrong, after all, George was an All-Star just two seasons ago. And, in good health, he is a top-notch high-difficulty shooting finisher and defender, and an efficient rebounder and organizer. But the fact that George had knee surgery this summer is really worrying.

17, DeAndre Hunter (Cavs)

2024-25 season data: 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 47.0% shooting percentage, 40.5% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $23,303,571 (79th in the league)

2024-25 season data: 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 45.4% shooting percentage, 36.1% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $25,000,000 (73rd in the league)

15, Jaden McDaniels (Forest Wolf)

2024-25 season data: 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 47.7% shooting percentage, 33.0% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $24,393,104 (78th in the league)

14, Brandon Ingram (Roads)

2024-25 season data: 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 46.5% shooting percentage, 37.4% three-point shooting percentage

2025-26 season salary: $38,095,238 (36th in the league)

As the second Raptors wing on the list, Brandon Ingram has not yet completed his debut with the Raptors due to injury. It will be interesting to see how Ingram and Barrett's play will affect each other, as the personal data of the two players may decline due to the large amount of offensive tasks shared.

Ingram and Barrett have different technical characteristics, which should allow both to continue to be efficient. Ingram is a more silky mid-range scorer, and in the area between the basket and the three-point line, he is almost the top scorer, and he can always hit high-difficulty shots even when facing excellent defense. He is also a better three-point shooter and basket finisher than Barrett.

Ingram is also a very excellent wing rebounder and creator, and is one of the only 12 players who have averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in the past three seasons.

Led by Ingram and Barrett and one of the top five players on this list, the Raptors have a chance to return to the ranks of playoff contenders in the 2025-26 season after a brief rebuild. He also ranked in the top 40 in the league in both VORP and BPM statistics in the 2024-25 season.

If Wagner can get his three-point shooting back to at least the level of his first two seasons of his career, he will likely make his first All-Star game next season.

2. Kevin Durant (Rockets)

2024-25 season data: 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 52.7% shooting percentage, 43.0% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $54,708,608 (4th place in the league)

The NBA has changed a lot, but sometimes some things are consistent, and the next two players are good examples. Even though the NBA's tactical strategies are constantly changing based on data analysis, in our opinion, Kevin Durant and LeBron James are still the best small forwards in basketball. Last season, Durant was one of only six players to average 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and did it with a 43% three-point shooting percentage. According to VORP and BPM, Durant is about the top 30 players in the league.

Can he still become the best player in a championship team?

We are about to find the answer as Durant joins the powerful Rockets in the offseason, with players with championship experience like Fred VanVleet and hopeful players like Amen Thompson and Alperen Shinkin.

Join a comprehensive team that has both resilience and skills on both sides of the offense and defense. If Durant remains a best-ranked player and can raise the team's cap, he should be able to prove it in the 2025-26 season, because he will not have to be forced to take on such heavy offense and defense tasks as he was in the Suns.

1. LeBron James (Lakes)

2024-25 season data: 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 51.3% shooting percentage, 37.6% three-point shooting percentage, 2025-26 season salary: $52,627,153 (12th in the league)

Regarding James, what else hasn't been talked about?

First of all, we think he is the best player in history, and one important reason is that he can still play at the best team level at the age of 40. James was one of only two players last season to average 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, and the other was Jokic, who voted second in the MVP. Last season, he ranked in the top 8 in both VORP and BPM, and was selected for the second team of the All-Squad and ranked sixth in the MVP voting.

Of course, our questions about Durant's ability to lead the team to win the championship in the 2025-26 season also apply to James, because even though James plays at his current level, the Lakers have not been able to break through the first round of the playoffs in the past two seasons.

It is also worth noting that James' net efficiency poor in the 2024-25 season was negative for the first time. When he was on the court, the Lakers actually had 5.3 points less per 100 rounds than when he left the court. This is the first time James has seen a negative value on this stat.

Will this be an accident, an instance that we can ignore? Or is this the first potential sign that James finally began to feel the struggle with the Old Man of Time? It should also be noted that James' BPM last season was the second lowest in his career, while his VORP was the fourth lowest.

In any case, we are confidently predicting that James will remain the best small forward in the NBA in the 2025-26 season, because his basic data output is still so excellent that it cannot be ignored. We will keep an eye on how advanced data will evaluate his output and impact in the upcoming season.

Author: Frank Urbina

Translator: GWayNe