These 5 players have no business being ahead of RJ Barrett in recent NBA rankings

RJ Barrett appears to be taking a leap this calendar year. He had the best stretch of his career last season upon arriving in his hometown of Toronto, then balled out at the Olympics and had a scorching hot preseason performance before injuring his shoulder. He'll sit out the rest of the preseason, but his arrow is clearly pointed up.

Given that Barrett played at Duke, was drafted third overall and played for one of the NBA's flagship franchises in the New York Knicks, Barrett's profile has always been higher than he deserved based on his performance. That likely led to some rankings that overrated him over the years even as he struggled to bring consistent two-way performance.

Now that he is improving as a player in multiple facets of his game, and clearly deserves to be respected and recognized for that improvement, the opinion on him seems to be swinging the other way, or at least in the eyes of one NBA player ranking.

RJ Barrett was disrespected in latest ranking

Matt Moore and Brandon Anderson of The Action Network ranked the top 100 players in the NBA, from Nikola Jokic at No. 1 to Deni Avdija at No. 100. There were plenty of controversial rankings, including Tyrese Haliburton showing up at No. 6 or Jaylen Brown not showing up until No. 32.

Scottie Barnes was reasonably ranked at No. 35; he had an excellent season last year that saw him make the All-Star Game as an injury replacement and rise into this range of NBA star. Immanuel Quickley showed up at No. 80, which is a bit low but reflects that his place in the league is a bit unknown until he gets a full season as a starter to prove himself.

The real outrage Toronto fans should feel looking at this list is that RJ Barrett doesn't show up until No. 93 on the list. Barrett can create shots for himself and for others, is an above-average rebounder for his size and a gifted playmaker and can score from multiple levels, all while playing good defense. That sort of player should be ranked more highly than 93rd, especially after the strong summer that he had.

In fact, there are some specific players ranked above Barrett who are without a doubt worse players. Let's look at five in particular who stand out like sore thumbs when ranked above the dynamic Barrett.