The NBA In-Season Tournament debuts in 2023-24. Here is how it will work. There are six groups consisting of five teams. The team with the best record in group play (a period where teams play the rest of their group mates) in each group qualifies for the quarterfinals and the team in each conference (East and West) with the next best record outside of the group winners. From there, it's single-elimination. Each player on the winning team will take home $500,000 apiece.

The West Group A is one of the more loaded groups in the tournament. The Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Portland Trail Blazers comprise the group. There are a lot of very good teams and star power in this group. How should the players in this group be ranked?

5) Devin Booker

Devin Booker made his first All-NBA appearance in 2022. He would've made another if he didn't get injured last season. He certainly played like one in the playoffs.

Devin Booker averaged 33.7 points per game on an astonishing 64.9% effective field percentage. In other groups, he has a great chance of being regarded as the best player in that group. There's no shame in being behind any of the three in front of him.

4) Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard isn't on the Miami Heat yet. Until that happens, he's a Blazer and while he's a Blazer, he will play in this group in the NBA In-Season Tournament. If he's playing in this group, he's the fourth-best player in this group. Lillard has made seven All-NBA teams and yet last season was his best season to date. It's a shame it ultimately led to the third pick in the NBA Draft. Until Lillard is traded, he has to fit in this top five.

3) Kevin Durant

Devin Booker was better than Durant in the playoffs for the Phoenix Suns. For the second season in a row, Durant looked flustered at times with the ball in his hands and lost it for turnovers that a player of Durant's quality should not be committing. But it's still Kevin Durant. He still averaged 26 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 57/53/58.6/83.3 percent shooting. All while masquerading as a secondary rim protector defensively too.

Durant has only played 184 games since tearing his Achilles. That, along with his postseason that hasn't lived up to Durant's standards drops him to third on this list. But Durant is still a top-ten player and can climb even higher.

2) LeBron James

LeBron is not the indestructible, apex predator force we've been accustomed to him being. But he's *still,* in Year 21, one of the ten best players in the NBA. James' 26.7% usage rate in the playoffs was the lowest of his career. But, he was able to dial up the notch when the Lakers needed him to.

LeBron still averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in the regular season on 50/32.1/58/76.8 percent shooting. His three-ball eluded him in the playoffs but his percentages outside of that were even better. Timeliness and IQ allow him to still get by on defense. He's up there in age, but LeBron still has some juice.

1) Anthony Davis

Much of the public rhetoric regarding Anthony Davis revolves around his faults. He gets injured a lot. He doesn't get the ball enough. Well, he plays more than plenty of other stars in the NBA.

And when he does get the ball, especially in the biggest moments, he does a lot with it.

And that's before getting to his defense. Davis is arguably the best defensive player in the NBA. He completely nuked Golden State's movement offense and forced them to pivot to a totalitarian, pick-and-roll attack emphasizing Steph Curry trying to drag Davis out of the paint to set up other Warriors to be able to attack the paint. The Lakers had no reliable plan for when Davis sat. The Lakers were +18.2 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs according to Cleaning the Glass with Davis on the floor. When LeBron was on the floor and Davis was off, the Lakers were -12.1 points per 100 possessions. Davis has to find his groove as a shooter again and stay on the floor. But make no mistake, he's the Lakers' best player and one of the five best players in the Association who should shine in the NBA In-Season Tournament.

Honorable Mentions

Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bradley Beal, Austin Reaves, Lauri Markkanen, Desmond Bane, Scoot Henderson