How does every NBA player stack up heading into 2017-18, based solely on the level at which we expect them to play during the upcoming season?

That’s the question 16 NBA Math staff members and contributors sought to answer, ranking each and every player in the sport’s premier league on a 1-to-12 scale and then seeing who emerged with the highest averages. The distant past was irrelevant. Long-term potential doesn’t matter. Only what could come to pass in 2017-18 is factored in, assuming health for those currently healthy and full recoveries from those presently injured. For example, Brandon Knight will still be included in this analysis; we just assumed he’d already completed his rehab for the torn ACL and now has that as a prior portion of his overall injury history.

All players were graded on the following scale by each evaluator, and ties between players with identical averages were broken by sorting the 16 scores from best to worst and propping up the men who had the highest mark at any point in the top-down progression:

1. Shouldn’t Get Minutes
2. End-of-Bench Pieces
3. Depth Pieces
4. High-End Backups
5. Low-End Starters
6. Solid Starters
7. High-End Starters, Non-All-Stars
8. All-Star Candidates
9. All-NBA Candidates, Non-MVP Candidates
10. Lesser MVP Candidates
11. MVP Frontrunners
12. Best Player in the League (only one player could earn this grade on each ballot)

Journey with us team by team as we unveil the entirety of these rankings, culminating in a look at every player set to suit up for the 2017-18 campaign.

Today’s featured squad? The Los Angeles Lakers, who are trying to climb their way back into the Western Conference playoff race under Magic Johnson’s supervision.

18. V.J. Beachem: 1.20

• Age at start of 2017-18: 22
• Position: SF
• 2016-17 Stats: 14.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.1 blocks, 106.33 TPA (for Notre Dame Fighting Irish)
• Highest Grade: 2 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

All the concerns about V.J. Beachem’s game translating from Notre Dame to the NBA hint at him becoming a specialist at the next level. He can become a disinterested defender. He’s not adept at driving into traffic or putting the ball on the floor, and his passing vision is basically nonexistent. His rebounding isn’t anything to write home about, partially due to a lack of athletic explosiveness.

And yet, Beachem is getting a shot because of, well, his shot.

The 22-year-old had a serious chance to be drafted after his breakout junior season, but he failed to back the strides up as a senior for the Fighting Irish. If he can regain the form that helped him shoot 44.4 percent from beyond the arc on 5.5 attempts per game, rather than what was produced in the follow-up campaign (36.1 on 6.7 attempts per contest), he’ll have a chance to eventually carve out a role as an off-the-bench sniper.

17. Stephen Zimmerman: 1.40

• Age at start of 2017-18: 21
• Position: C
• 2016-17 Stats: 1.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.1 steals, 0.3 blocks, minus-15.9 TPA (for Orlando Magic)
• Highest Grade: 2 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

Stephen Zimmerman was a project when the Orlando Magic selected him at No. 41 in the 2016 NBA draft. For all the athleticism and floor-stretching ability contained within his 7’0″ frame, he simply didn’t have the strength necessary to withstand the rigors of the NBA calendar. Opponents pushed him around in the post far too frequently, whether they were bullying him before finishing easy layups or knocking him away from his preferred positioning on any given possession.

The upside is still there, though.

Zimmerman has displayed developing post moves during his time playing in the NBA’s subsidiary level and at summer league. He’s shown solid instincts as a shot-blocker, and the athleticism/ranginess that originally made him so intriguing hasn’t gone anywhere. But he still needs to add strength in order for those skills to outweigh the distinct negatives against the highest level of competition.

16. Vander Blue: 1.60

• Age at start of 2017-18: 25
• Position: SG
• 2016-17 Stats: 24.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.1 blocks (for Los Angeles D-Fenders)
• Highest Grade: 3 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

Vander Blue wasn’t just good in the G League last year. Those per-game numbers you can see listed above came on shooting splits of 43.5/35.1/80.7, making him so impressive that he was named MVP for his efforts while setting multiple franchise records.

Now, you might not think those percentages are too impressive. They’re not, until you dive deeper. Blue was a mediocre finisher around the basket and struggled to connect from downtown with praiseworthy levels of efficiency, but he was such an aggressive guard that he made 9.6 trips to the charity stripe during his average game. That parade boosted his overall play rather significantly while also hinting at the role he could fill for the big-league Lakers.

If Los Angeles wants a change-of-pace guard with one of its final roster spots, it could turn in his direction for that fearless, attacking nature and penchant for seeking out the rim at all costs.

15. Thomas Bryant: 1.69

• Age at start of 2017-18: 20
• Position: C
• 2016-17 Stats: 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.5 blocks, 124.32 TPA (for Indiana Hoosiers)
• Highest Grade: 2 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

Making sense of Thomas Bryant is a difficult task.

His remarkable wingspan (7’6″)  gives him a distinct advantage over other 6’10” big men with athletic limitations on the defensive end. He’s not explosive around the basket, but he’s an adept shot-blocker who can use his size to score over frontcourt players from the low blocks. Though he’s a turnover machine who rarely sets up his teammates, he helps them by spacing the floor—38.3 percent from downtown on 1.8 attempts per game as a sophomore with the Hoosiers.

If that shooting sticks for the Lakers, Bryant will become a rotation mainstay off the pine. But that’s a big “if” during his rookie season.

14. Briante Weber: 1.81

• Age at start of 2017-18: 24
• Position: PG
• 2016-17 Stats: 3.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.1 blocks, minus-12.85 TPA (for Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets)
• Highest Grade: 3 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

Briante Weber hasn’t yet found a permanent NBA home after spending his first two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets. And that’s when he wasn’t suiting up in the G League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Why? Because he’s failed to demonstrate any semblance of shooting ability, entering 2017-18 with career marks of 39.4 percent from the field and 6.7 percent from three-point territory.

But Weber also keeps getting looks, like this one with the Lakers, because of his growing skills as a secondary facilitator and his intense defensive presence. The 24-year-old understands that preventing points is his true calling card, and he pours so much effort into that facet of the game from the moment the clock starts counting down. Even if you didn’t realize he was part of VCU’s “havoc” defense during his college years, you can tell pretty quickly he has the same mentality.

13. Josh Hart: 1.94

• Age at start of 2017-18: 22
• Position: SG
• 2016-17 Stats: 18.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.3 blocks, 239.06 TPA (for Villanova Wildcats)
• Highest Grade: 3 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (multiple voters)

Does the 6’5″ Josh Hart have the size necessary to survive against NBA wings?

He certainly has the skill and poise, emerging as one of the NCAA’s most valuable players during his final two seasons with Villanova. First came a national championship, then he followed that up by emerging as the Big East Player of the Year while trailing only eight players in TPA.

Thanks to his relatively advanced age and a game that seems almost fully developed, Hart may not possess too much upside. His floor, however, is rather high. Because he can score from all over the half-court set, whether operating off the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations, he’ll be a malleable presence off the bench who can work with a number of different roster combinations, especially if he continues to rack up steals and develop as a distributor.

12. Tyler Ennis: 2.38

• Age at start of 2017-18: 23
• Position: PG
• 2016-17 Stats: 4.3 points, 0.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, minus-58.45 TPA (for Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers)
• Highest Grade: 5 (Louie Vicchiollo)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (Brian Sampson)

Statistically speaking, Tyler Ennis hasn’t done much to prove he belongs in an NBA rotation. His three seasons in the Association have produced largely negative results, though he finally started to show major strides during his brief 22-game stint with the Lakers in 2016-17.

What changed? He became much more comfortable passing the rock, averaging 4.8 assists and only 1.9 turnovers per 36 minutes. If that sticks and he continues to look more comfortable playing defense against the league’s better guards, he could carve out a larger slice of the minutes and show off some of his two-way upside.

Opinions about Ennis were rather varied in our survey. Fourteen of the 16 panelists viewed him as either an end-of-bench or depth piece, but one significant outlier emerged on both ends.

11. Corey Brewer: 2.69

• Age at start of 2017-18: 31
• Position: SG/SF
• 2016-17 Stats: 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks, minus-71.76 TPA (for Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers)
• Highest Grade: 4 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 2 (multiple voters)

If you’re going to make the most of Corey Brewer’s presence on your team, you need to do two things.

First, make sure he’s able to get out and run in transition. Though he’s a detrimental presence in the half-court set due to his extreme lack of shooting ability, he’s typically been a significant threat to parlay his athleticism into easy points on the break. Except…he wasn’t in 2016-17, and he’s been declining for the last few seasons. One season after scoring 1.1 points per possession (49th percentile) for the Houston Rockets, he dropped off to 0.73 PPP (5.9 percentile) last year.

If that skill is gone, Brewer’s gambling-oriented defense becomes even more important. He’ll always go for steals and attempt to wreak havoc in the half-court set, which works nicely if his team can position an interior defender behind him to clean up his mistakes.

10. Ivica Zubac: 2.75

• Age at start of 2017-18: 20
• Position: C
• 2016-17 Stats: 7.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.9 blocks, minus-29.99 TPA
• Highest Grade: 4 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (Brian Sampson)

Ivica Zubac struggled immensely during eight games at Las Vegas Summer League, averaging just 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.3 steals and 1.1 blocks while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and going 0-of-2 from downtown. The stretchiness just wasn’t there, and the 20-year-old big man looked overmatched by the fast-paced proceedings. Without getting many touches, he couldn’t quite figure out how to make a decidedly positive impact.

But don’t let exhibition season change your opinion. Zubac has a decent mid-range shot and can knock down hooks from the blocks. He’s working to expand his range, and an increased knowledge of proper defensive positioning will only help him prevent more points in 2017-18.

The acquisition of Brook Lopez might be best of all, though. Now, he can continue along his developmental timetable without rushing through the process, building the muscle and skill he needs to become a featured offensive presence who’s capable of holding his own on the less glamorous end.

9. Kyle Kuzma: 2.94

• Age at start of 2017-18: 22
• Position: PF
• 2016-17 Stats: 16.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks, 103.4 TPA (for Utah Utes)
• Highest Grade: 5 (Nick Birdsong)
• Lowest Grade: 2 (multiple voters)

As Lakers.com’s Joey Ramirez made clear, Kyle Kuzma is trying to build upon his summer-league showings by becoming a two-way asset for the Lakers:

And while fans have offered their praise for his summer performance, Kuzma knows that all of this will disappear if he falls short of expectations, comparing his situation to a sand castle that can be washed away by the tide at any minute.

So his longterm focus is locked on becoming a “great two-way player” over the course of his career.

That goal starts from year one, as he looks forward to the challenges of guarding the league’s best, naming the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“Rookie year’s gonna be hard enough (with) playing all the games and getting used to guarding the heavy names every night,” Kuzma says. “For me it’s just defense. Offense is gonna come, because I can score the ball.”

Kuzma will be fighting an uphill battle for playing time, beginning the year behind Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. in the power forward rotation. But quite a few of our panelists believed in his skills, with one calling him a solid starter and all but three others viewing him as at least a depth piece during his rookie go-round.

8. Luol Deng: 3.00

• Age at start of 2017-18: 32
• Position: SF
• 2016-17 Stats: 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.4 blocks, minus-76.24 TPA
• Highest Grade: 5 (Nick Birdsong)
• Lowest Grade: 1 (Tim Stubbs)

Luol Deng is quite clearly no longer the same player. Perhaps Father Time has come to take what’s rightfully his. Maybe Tom Thibodeau overused the small forward during their mutual time with the Chicago Bulls.

No matter the reason, Deng has devolved rather dramatically.

He’s still an adequate defender on the perimeter, capable of matching up against both bigger and smaller players. But without the quickness that enabled him during his prime seasons in the Windy City, he’ll have to regain his shooting stroke in order to earn virtually any playing time in this increasingly crowded rotation. Deng simply isn’t a strong enough defender at this point to justify much run if he’s misfiring on all his attempts.

7. Jordan Clarkson: 3.69

• Age at start of 2017-18: 25
• Position: PG/SG
• 2016-17 Stats: 14.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.1 blocks, minus-137.72 TPA
• Highest Grade: 6 (Nick Birdsong)
• Lowest Grade: 3 (multiple voters)

Fourteen of 16 voters viewed Jordan Clarkson as either a depth piece or an upper-tier backup. So what prompted the two outliers on the positive side?

Clarkson excelled during his first two seasons while primarily filling a ball-handling role, but he was increasingly pushed away from the primary action by the now-departed D’Angelo Russell.  He’ll likely continue to work as an off-ball guard after Lonzo Ball’s arrival, but he’s learning how to improve his shot selection and can still serve as a secondary pick-and-roll handler. All the skills could come together this season, and his size (6’5″ with a 6’8″ wingspan) makes a defensive breakout possible, as well.

The growth he’s already displayed gives him a solid floor. And if his defense comes around to the level it was at during his Missouri career, the two positive outliers will look prescient.

6. Larry Nance Jr.: 3.81

• Age at start of 2017-18: 24
• Position: PF
• 2016-17 Stats: 7.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks, 59.18 TPA
• Highest Grade: 6 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 3 (multiple voters)

Larry Nance Jr. is by no means a perfect player, and he won’t come even remotely close to sniffing such status until he fixes his broken jumper. He’s a legitimately atrocious shooter at this stage of his career, now coming off a season in which he knocked down 27.8 percent of his three-point attempts. Then again, he hit enough long twos to show he has some enduring potential.

But Nance fills legitimate needs for the Lakers, thanks to his knack for finishing plays around the hoop and playing high-quality defense.

During the 2016-17 campaign, Nance hit 70 percent of his shots from inside three feet and 47.8 percent of his attempts from between three and 10 feet—outpacing Julius Randle in both spots. He also finished the year ranked No. 11 among all power forwards in ESPN.com’s defensive real plus/minus. That’s a valuable combination, even if this Wyoming product is still a limited player.

5. Julius Randle: 4.94

• Age at start of 2017-18: 22
• Position: PF
• 2016-17 Stats: 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.5 blocks, minus-4.37 TPA
• Highest Grade: 7 (Nick Birdsong)
• Lowest Grade: 3 (Tony East)

On Nov. 15, Julius Randle torched the Brooklyn Nets for 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists:

On Jan. 3, he took apart the Memphis Grizzlies to the tune of 19 points, 14 boards and 11 dimes:

On March 7, he racked up his third triple-double of the season with 13 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists at the expense of the Dallas Mavericks:

The upside is obvious. It’s why he was called a high-end starter by one voter and a solid starter by another four. But until consistency arrives, he holds his own on defense and he demonstrates an ability to attack with his right hand, he still won’t quite be living up to his lofty potential.

4. Brandon Ingram: 4.94

• Age at start of 2017-18: 20
• Position: SF
• 2016-17 Stats: 9.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks, minus-187.06 TPA
• Highest Grade: 7 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 3 (Jordan McGillis)

Is a breakout coming? Brandon Ingram looked far more comfortable defensively during the second half of his rookie season, and his shot showed signs that it was coming around.

Now, he’s coming into his sophomore season with added muscle (#MuscleWatch) and a year of experience under his belt. Maybe it’s too soon to predict a complete breakout—six of the 16 voters for this project still viewed him as a depth piece or top-end backup—but he’ll certainly be more effective in a number of areas. The Lakers even plan to make use of his court vision this time around.

Here’s what general manager Rob Pelinka said on an NBA TV broadcast, as relayed by Lakers Nation: “He’s gonna be our end of the game playmaker. He’s gonna have to step up and make big plays on both sides of the ball. Because of Brandon’s versatility, Walton will play him at the 1, the 2, the 3 and really call on him night in, night out to make those big plays in key moments.”

3. Lonzo Ball: 5.00

• Age at start of 2017-18: 19
• Position: PG
• 2016-17 Stats: 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.8 blocks, 285.83 TPA (for UCLA Bruins)
• Highest Grade: 7 (Nick Birdsong)
• Lowest Grade: 4 (multiple voters)

Can Lonzo Ball’s unorthodox shooting stroke translate to the NBA? It certainly didn’t during summer league (38.2/23.8/76.9 in six Las Vegas games), but he was able to knock down plenty of pull-up and step-back jumpers throughout his UCLA year. Can he hold his own against the league’s quicker defensive guards? He was a strong defender for the Bruins, but plenty of adept collegiate stoppers have struggled with the speed turned up a few notches.

Questions remain—and will for some time—but Ball’s vision will undoubtedly carry over. He’s a preternatural passer with the technical skill necessary to squeeze the rock into tight spaces, and he should instantly invigorate a Lakers offense in need of a jump. Best of all, his distributing will probably help the development of the young teammates surrounding him.

Maybe Ball wins Rookie of the Year. Maybe he struggles to gain his footing and embarks on a slower learning curve. Either way, he’ll be plenty entertaining.

2. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: 5.56

• Age at start of 2017-18: 24
• Position: SG
• 2016-17 Stats: 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.2 blocks, 45.05 TPA (for Detroit Pistons)
• Highest Grade: 6 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 4 (Brian Sampson)

Up to this point, the idea of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been better than the actual version of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

He profiles as a tremendous shooter who can help space out the floor off both the bounce and the catch…but he’s coming off a season in which he hit a career-high 35 percent of his treys while taking 5.8 per game. He was often viewed as the best perimeter defender on the Detroit Pistons…but the team was 6.9 points stingier per 100 possessions when he was on the bench, he finished exactly average in NBA Math’s defensive points saved and he placed No. 60 among shooting guards in ESPN.com’s DRPM.

This is why Caldwell-Pope is on a one-year balloon deal. He needs to prove himself in a new location—something he’s certainly capable of doing no matter how much inconsistency plagued him during his time in the Motor City.

1. Brook Lopez: 6.50

• Age at start of 2017-18: 29
• Position: C
• 2016-17 Stats: 20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.7 blocks, 70.34 TPA (for Brooklyn Nets)
• Highest Grade: 7 (multiple voters)
• Lowest Grade: 5 (Jordan McGillis)

As Adam Spinella penned for NBA Math, Brook Lopez transformed his game in 2016-17 by making use of that three-point arc that’s taking the league by storm:

He made 134 of them last year while first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson’s offense teetered on D’Antonian levels of triplemania. His career total of makes prior to the 2016-17 season? Three.

A nearly ten-year veteran added such an impressive and difficult facet to his game, yet somehow Lopez’s incredible season has slipped beneath the national radar. Perhaps that’s due to the fact the Brooklyn Nets have been losing games for so long that casual fans have tuned them out completely. But this type of change in playing style and ability is absolutely stunning. Lopez now feels less like a back-to-the-basket center on the verge of extinction and more like a building block for a reliable offense.

The Lakers might not feature Lopez as heavily as the Brooklyn Nets did, but the big man will still show off his value by dragging defenders out of the paint and opening up lanes for the young guards, wings and forwards surrounding him. If he truly is Los Angeles’ best player in 2016-17, he’ll ensure that he doesn’t fill that role for too much longer by facilitating breakouts at every other position.

Who’s rated too high? Who are we selling short? Join the conversation using #CrystalBasketball on Twitter.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from NBA Math or NBA.com.

Many thanks to our entire panel of voters: Andrew Bailey, Arjun Baradwaj, Nick Birdsong, Michael Brock, Tony East, Dan Favale, Adam Fromal, Ryan Jarvis, Jordan McGillis, Tom Rende, Brian Sampson, Adam Spinella, Eric Spyropolous, Tim Stubbs, Frank Urbina, Louis Vicchiollo