ESPN ranks Jaylen Brown as the 14th best player in the NBA

Former Cal star Jaylen Brown has had quite the year.

He was MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals and helped the Boston Celtics win the championship.

And then he was left off the U.S. Olympic team roster, even though four of his Celtics teammates found spots.

As of Wednesday, Brown was ranked No. 14 in ESPN’s annual rankings of the NBA’s best players. That’s an increase from 19th place a year ago.

Here’s what ESPN’s Tom Bontempts had to say about Brown:

There were a lot of questions about Brown and the Celtics heading into last season. Could he break through and win a title? What would happen if they couldn’t? Was Brown worth the massive contract extension he signed this summer that would make him the highest-paid player in the league this season? In response, Brown made another All-Star team, earned Eastern Conference and NBA Finals MVP honors, and helped lead the Celtics to their record-tying 18th title.

With his latest ranking, Brown is ahead of some notable NBA stars: Devin Booker (15), Tyrese Haliburton (16), Donovan Mitchell (17), Ja Morant (20), Paul George (21), Kawhi Leonard (22), Damian Lillard (23) and Kyrie Irving (25).

He is just behind Anthony Davis (13), Jalen Brunson (12) and Victor Wembanyama (11).

ESPN will announce its top 10 on Thursday, and through the elimination process we decided who we think will take those spots.

We’re also willing to take a stab at how ESPN will rank them. Here it goes:

1. Nikola Jokic; 2. Luka Doncic; 3. Giannis; 4.LeBron James; 5. Anthony Edwards; 6. Stephen Curry; 7. Kevin Durant; 8. Joel Embiid; 9. Jayson Tatum; 10. Shai Gilgeous Alexander.

We’ll find out exactly what order ESPN is ranking these players in on Thursday morning and update this story with their rankings.