Player Power Rankings: Pre Draft Edition

by Matt Rooney

With Draft Day looming, let's take a look at how the players stack up on the first set of power rankings for the 2022 season.

#25 Kiernan Stone

Shockingly, a college athlete brings up the rear in these rankings. This isn't so much a knock on Kiernan, but rather a decision to lower due to the unknown. K-Stone is a brick wall and an absolute tank, but the majority of the league just has no idea just how good he is basketball-wise. Last season, Diego Zuniga began the season in last - just because we had no clue how good he truly was - and ended up shooting up the rankings and becoming an incredibly valuable and sought after player. Can Kiernan follow suit?

#24 Paul Rodriguez

On the most recent podcast, Max Melville told all of NSL that Paul had never played basketball before. So, the handsome Rodriguez twin comes in at the penultimate spot on these rankings. Paul is tall and pretty athletic, but until we are proven otherwise, many believe Paul's most valuable contributions will come OFF the court rather than on it. Notoriously known for bringing an entire fan section to NSL games, Paul will be great for team chemistry wherever he goes. However, it remains to be seen if he will be a positive on the court as well.

#23 Idi Nsbuga

After a three year absence, the legendary Idi Nsbuga sent shockwaves through the NSL community after announcing he would be making a return to the league. With a playstyle similar to Draymond Green and Al Horford, Idi is a former all star, so we know he can play. Still, he remains one of the most volatile players in the league this season. And he definitely comes with a lot of questions: Will he even show up? Is his shot worse than Eric Zhang's? What was he up to in South Beach the past year? Here's some advice to all the captains: buyer beware when it comes to selecting Idi in the NSL Draft.

#22 Kenny Brown

If these were rankings for talking a big game, Kenny would be near the top. However, that is not the case, so KB checks in at 22. Kenny had a season full of ups and downs last year, as he hit rock bottom as he was benched on Team Yagev, but after a trade to Team Matt, he bounced back, playing a pivotal role on the eventual NSL champion. Last year, though, his numbers just weren't there. He averaged just 4.8 points on 34/17/35 splits after spending all of preseason last year saying that the '21 season would be the year he finally broke out. If he gets drafted to the right situation he could be a valuable piece who can bring experience, shooting and post defense - which is important given the influx of new big men into the league. But, if he ends up on the wrong team, this may be another wasted year for him. He is running out of chances to show that "this is the year," but I believe he has it in him.

#21 Cian McCormack

Similar to Idi, Cian announced his return to the league just one day before the NSL draft. The Irishman is known as a lights out shooter who's value as a player going up 10x if he is on a team with Thomas Byrne, Steven Campbell or Matt Rooney or his captain is Sam Thayer. Cian has dealt with a ton of injuries through the years including a torn labrum - which he often calls "the Kiwi injury" in his fantasy football group chat. 21 was as high as I could put him on this list because I honestly have no idea what to expect in terms of effort and attendance, and I'm not sure any of the captains do either. Goodfellas captain, Yagev, owns some rental property in Cian's head, so expect Cian to be basically useless in matchups vs Levi's squad.

#20 Charlie Lewis

Projected to go in the early 4th round of the '22 NSL Draft, Charlie is going to make one captain very happy with his final pick. He brings elite size and rebounding, which is immensely valuable to any team - teams will need players who can guard John Ross, Will Thompson and Lucas Nathanson. What has derailed Lewis in the past has been his questionable shot selection, his limited mobility and his desire to show Kenny, Zhang and Josh Cooke that he is clearly superior every time he faces one of them - which leads to a lot of forcing it. Last year he averaged 8.3 ppg and 9.5 rpg, so he has easy double-double potential. He has the ability to be a really great piece on a championship team, but will he come through? Or will he put up empty numbers?

#19 Diego Zuniga

Diego is one of the best stories from last year. He was overlooked and underappreciated in the draft, and then went on to average 10.2 ppg as a three point sniper, going toe to toe with Thomas Rooney for ROY. He fits on any team and all of the captains have shown interest in potentially drafting him in 2022. However, being 6 years younger than the majority of the league, his ceiling is somewhat limited, which is why he slots in at 19 on these rankings.The Chilean youngster is expected to be in the mix for 4th man of the year award.

#18 John Ross

John Ross averaged 17 and 9 as an alt last season, so you think he would be higher on this list, right? Well his teams went a combined 0-4 in the games he played, he didn't have a single assist, he shot 13% from deep, he took over 20 shots per game and he got in a fight with Nathan Greenstein where he basically refused to come out (Nate was the captain of the team he was playing for). However, there is a lot to like about John. He is probably the strongest player in the league, one of the best rebounders out there, and could absolutely dominate the paint on anyone. If John is on a team with good leadership and he sticks to his role, I wouldn't be surprised if 7 months from now he is thought of as the best value pick of the entire draft, and a major major piece on the eventual NSL champion.

#17 Will Brown

Willy B is one of the most interesting players in the league this season. He has the ability to go on torrid hot streaks - going 6-9 for 18 points and winning over the entire crowd in the play-in game last year vs. Team Henri, and going for 24 points vs. Team Yagev in the regular season finale. Sounds great, right? Well, he can also be ice cold - he had games last season where he shot 4-20, 3-14 and 0-5. He brings lots of energy and will play hard no matter what captain he plays for, but it's anyone's guess as to if the shots will fall or not.

#16 Eric Zhang

Eric had the best season of his career last year, averaging 8.7 ppg and 7.8 rpg while shooting 46% from 2 and playing above average defense. His downfall his been his jump shot (15% from 3 last year which is probably his career high) and his chaotic play at times. He took more threes than Eli AC and Hano and the same amount as the Thomas and Matt Rooney, which shows he may need to reign that in a bit. If he can live in the post and midrange area on offense, and focus on setting picks, grabbing boards, and playing lockdown defense, he will be the perfect third starter on any team. Eric has also been playing a ton of hoops this offseason, so look for him to set new career highs in ppg and 3pt % this season.

#15 Josh Cooke

Josh doesn't bring a ton to the table - he's short, not a great defender and doesn't help out much on the boards. He can't be asked to guard really anyone above him on this list, and even some below him could probably get buckets on him. However, Cooke is elite in the single most important skill one could possess in NSL: shooting. He is a certified sniper and will be the prized possession in the third round of the NSL Draft because of that. Last year, he won a championship in tourney 1, and averaged 17.75 points per game in tourney 2, including a 29 point effort where he hit 9 threes. If he is surrounded by good playmakers, defenders and rebounders, Josh will be an incredibly valuable piece.

#14 Andrew Dorval

Andrew is one of the most interesting players in the league this season. The past two years he has gone 4-23 in the regular season, only topped 20 points once in 16 games last season, and has been pretty inefficient on the court. However, he always plays hard, he brings elite defense and rebounding to the table, he has had some monster games, and was the reason his team won two playoffs games last season (as major underdogs). This year, he should be a lot more comfortable as the third option on his squad, and should absolutely cook on the court vs other 3's. I think this will be a huge year for Andrew where his teams finally get some wins.

#13 Matteo Greenberg

On the first podcast of the 2022 NSL season, Matteo was chosen by Kenny Brown as the most likely to disappoint. However, Teo makes his return to the league after a two year absence looking to prove Kenny wrong - something that has happened a LOT lately. Teo is a good player, but for some reason, many do not like playing with him, and it has been reported that 3 of the projected top 10 picks have zero interest in playing on a team with Matteo, which would lead to a "it's me or him" situation. The all star potential is definitely there for Matteo, but will he reach it?

#12 Nathan Greenstein

The good? Nathan averaged 19 ppg and 10 rpg last season. The bad? He did so on 20/25/67 shooting splits and his team went 0-4. Known as one of the streakiest players in NSL history, Nate is most likely going to be taken in the third round this year. Similar to Dorval, if Nate is the third option on his team this year, he should dominate as many of the other 3rd options will have absolutely no chance at being able to guard him. If Nate focuses more as being a well rounded player, he could easily wind up being an NSL All-Star this year in a stacked player pool.

#11 Hano Garcia

Hano is going to be an incredibly sought after option for many of the captains due to his ability to fit in well with a superstar. The Jayson Tatum hater had a breakout year last season, leading to his first ever all star appearance, where he averaged 11.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 3 apg on 39/34/36 splits. He would be a great fit on a team with DHS or Soup where he can play both on ball and just feed those two in their spots, and off ball where he can capitalize on the open threes they create for him. Hano is never going to be a superstar in this league (I think 10 is probably the ceiling for him in terms of the player power rankings) but he is a safe bet to be a very very good player (14 is probably the absolute floor).

#10 Nov Levi

Continuing the trend of streaky, volatile players in the spots above (Dorval, Nate, Matteo), enter Nov Levi. Nov is an elite scorer and arguably one of the best shooters in the league. He averaged 14.6 ppg and 8 rpg last season and scored over 20 points in half of the games he played in. However, his impact is dependent on his scoring (his shooting, specifically), and if he isn't doing that, he doesn't bring much to the table. It will be huge this season if he gets on a team where he actually respects his captain, cause if he doesn't, it may be bombs away every time he touches the ball. He is a boom/bust player with an incredibly high ceiling. However, with some of the new talent entering the league, I'm not sure he will be able to hang with the big dogs in 2022.

#9 Eli Adler-Cohen

It was tough putting Eli at 9 here - he feels like a much much better player than that. But, with the additions of Thomas Byrne, Will Thompson, David HS and Lucas Nathanson from last season, there wasn't much of a choice. Eli averaged 25.4 points per game last season, but he did so on 32 shots per game which was second to only Henri (37), and 11 more than third on that list. He is an elite bucket getter, a fundamental god, and a total team player. He just wants to win. Eli isn't known for his defense but he was the one responsible for holding Yagev to 0-19 from the field in the deciding game of the 2021 NSL Finals. Eli has some flaws - 19% from 3, mediocre athleticism - but he always seems to get it done on the court.

#8 Thomas Byrne

Thomas is a really really good player. The only reason he is at 8 in these rankings and not higher is because of what happened back in 2019 - he was unable to win a playoff game with Arik as his sidekick (he couldn't hit a shot), and because I really don't totally know what to expect - Matt and Henri seem like safer players to project this season. Thomas is one of the best shooters in the league and one of the fiercest competitors. He could very easily win MVP and be the top dog on the NSL champion. However, he lives pretty far away, and he could just as easily not come much while his team sits in Jacksonville Jaguar territory as a result.

#7 Henri Rousseau

There has been one thing that has evaded Henri in NSL. One thing. Winning. Last season, Henri and co. went 6-10 and were upset by 3-13 Team Dorval in the play-in game of the NSL playoffs. However, he has a major opportunity this year to fix that. Henri has led the league in scoring the past two seasons, and went for 32 ppg last year on 43/28/71 splits. He is borderline unstoppable on offense, and should definitely continue that this coming season. Barring a shocking turn of events, Henri will be suiting up for Sam Thayer and the Roses, which could be the perfect situation to change his narrative as "the boy who couldn't win".

#6 Matt Rooney

Coming off a championship where he averaged 22.6 ppg, 17 rpg and 6 apg, Matt is regarded as one of the safest players in the NSL draft this year, which will likely lead to him being overdrafted as a top 3 pick.. He doesn't have the scoring ability of Henri, Thomas, Spider or Soup, or the ability to flat out dominate like DHS, Lucas or Will, but he may have the highest floor out of any player not named David (ha there's two of them). Rooney wins - and never misses a game, but in a league where so much talent has been added, can we really expect him to do it again?

#5 Will Thompson

Nobody has dunked in an NSL game before. Will has a chance to become the first. He is the most athletic player in the league this year and it's not close, and should absolutely dominate matchups in the paint. There are two things that will decide Will's season: his jump shot and how he gets along with his teammates. If his jumper is falling, he is arguably the best player in the league, but if it isn't, defenders can sag off and his athleticism is neutralized. In 2019, things got to the point where he literally would not speak to his teammate Jack Pomper, and at the Y the other day he got upset with this random high schooler for "throwing the game". He's going to be disrespected in the NSL Draft - most likely falling outside of the first round - and nobody should be surprised if he uses that to fuel himself to an MVP finish and an NSL championship.

#4 Steven Campbell

At #4 in the NSL Power Rankings we have Steven Campbell. Since he first joined the league in 2018, Steven has been one of the best scorers in NSL history and should continue that this season. Last year, he averaged 31 ppg on 40/30/73 splits and can score effortlessly on anyone (although Will T may have something to say about that). He's Kevin Durant. Does that mean he is the best scorer in the league? Or that he can't win without his Curry?

#3 David Speidel

After being in the NSL doghouse the past few years after dropping out of a tourney right before it started, David Speidel finally has gotten his chance to return. David is responsible for the single most dominant NSL season ever - back on Team Hano in 2017 where he went 10-1 and was literally unguardable. The reason he comes in at #3 (and not higher) is because there are some reports that he is a little out of shape, and because he lives over 30 minutes away from the NSL Courts (you can't be #1 if you don't show up), and he is mediocre on defense (Nov-level effort on that side of the ball). He is probably the MVP favorite as of now, and deservedly so.

#2 Lucas Nathanson

After years of consideration, and worries about utter dominance, the league has finally decided to let Lucas Nathanson join. Lucas is tall and an athletic beast, yet has one of the smoothest shooting strokes in the entire league. I know I called Soup KD earlier but honestly, KD may be a better comparison for Lucas. He should be able to score at will, and Max will be making a massive mistake if he ends up passing on Eli's number one fan at pick #2.

#1 David Hamel-Sellman

The number 1 spot goes to 7-year NSL veteran and former champion, David Hamel-Sellman. David is unstoppable and his shooting stroke looks to be absolutely insane this year. He is the best player in the league, and it is nuts that he most likely is going to be picked OUTSIDE of the top 5. His mix of power, skill and aggressiveness will be too much to stop, and whichever team he goes to will be the preseason favorite to win the championship.