The first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs is nearly complete, and while having great role players matters (just ask the Detroit Pistons), it is your stars that will ultimately dictate how far you advance.

So, in honor of our star-driven league, we graded the performance of all 16 teams’ best players.

Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

As we alluded to earlier, the Pistons are on the wrong end of the most surprising first-round series. Trailing 3-1 to the Orlando Magic, Detroit is one wrong move away from being sent home early. Cade Cunningham isn’t the main person to blame here. The Pistons’ inability to field competent shooters around him without sacrificing defense has made it nearly impossible for him to operate in the lane. However, even with this undue burden in mind, Cunningham has turned in some historically bad games in terms of turnovers, and some of these can’t be blamed on his peers. See, kids, it isn’t always cool to be so nonchalant.

Grade: C

Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

I still believe that the fully healthy version of Jayson Tatum is the Boston Celtics’ best player. However, given that he tore his Achilles just eleven months ago and Jaylen Brown has been a monster all season, it feels fair to crown him as Boston’s top dog. That trend has continued throughout the postseason. In five games, Brown is averaging 25.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 1 BPG on 56.6% true shooting while also taking on the challenge of guarding Paul George (who has turned back the clock this postseason). The Philadelphia 76ers may be holding their own more than most people thought they would, but that is more about them playing well than Brown and the Celtics being disappointing.

Grade: B+

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Jalen Brunson’s production is starting to border on metronomic. Four playoff runs with the New York Knicks, and four times the fan favorite has averaged over 27.8 PPG on solid efficiency. The defense is always going to be problematic against high-level teams, especially when his co-star is Karl-Anthony Towns. But when it looked like the Knicks were on the brink of an unfathomable first-round exit, New York responded with back-to-back wins by a combined margin of victory of 45 points. Brunson tallied 39 points on 73.5% TS and a game-high +23 plus-minus in Game 5 for good measure. He may be deserving of the good ole’ “death, taxes” writer’s cliche here soon.

Grade: B

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Donovan Mitchell’s claim to fame as an NBA superstar is how great he is at leveling up his game in the playoffs. He is seventh all-time in postseason career PPG (28.1). This season, though, he is producing at a notch below that historical clip. His PPG (24.3) is the third-lowest of his eighth-year career and his efficiency (54.9% TS) is the lowest its been since 2023. This is mainly because the Toronto Raptors are doing a great job of keeping him from the charity stripe (Mitchell has taken just five free throws in the last three games). If this current trend continues, his free-throw rate (3 FTA per game) would be the lowest of his postseason career. With the series knotted up at 2-2, there is still plenty of time for Mitchell to right the ship. But right now, he looks just really good instead of like the top ten player in the world. I thought he was prior to this.

Grade: C

Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

Any questions about whether Scottie Barnes is fit to be the leading man on the next great Toronto Raptors’ team should be laid to rest now. His box score slash line of 25.8 PPG/4.8 RPG/7.3 APG/1.0 SPG/1.3 BPG on 63.4% TS is excellent, but it also undersells all the different ways Barnes can impact a game. Need him to guard Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen on a switch? Got it. What about providing full-court ball pressure on James Harden? Sounds good to me. Oh, and if it that wasn’t enough, just give him the keys to the car and let him function as a primary ball handler on offense. The Raptors have no business being in this series to the degree they are, and they have Barnes’ versatility to thank for keeping them in the mix.

Grade: A+

Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks told the basketball world that they were ready to build around Jalen Johnson after trading away their franchise point guard midway through the season. Johnson responded by earning his first ever All-Star appearance and putting up some of the gaudiest counting stats in the association. But the postseason has a way of magnifying flaws in a way that you don’t see in the day-to-day grind of the regular season, and, unfortunately for Johnson, he has become its latest victim. His inconsistent jumper, inability to dribble in tight spaces, and deference toward contact have caused his efficiency to plummet (TS% is 4.4% lower than the regular season), and his increased offensive usage has led to a dip in his ability to impact the game on the other end of the floor. Overall, his net rating is the second-worst of the Hawks’ starters, trailing only Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Johnson is only 24 and has plenty of time to improve, but for now, he does not seem ready to be the number one guy.

Grade: D-

Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers

More than any player featured in this article, I don’t know what to make of Tyrese Maxey’s postseason showing. His scoring numbers are unspectacular (although that may be from a lingering hand injury), and yet the 76ers have pushed this series further than anyone thought possible. Maxey has shown in the past that he is built for playoff basketball (see the 2022 and 2024 Playoffs), and the 76ers have just been such a weird team this year (you never know when his two best teammates will even be available). So, I’m going to reserve my judgment on Maxey as a player and stay conservative with this one.

Grade: C

Desmond Bane, Orlando Magic

With Franz Wagner being unable to remain healthy, Desmond Bane has been the Magic’s best player this year. Of players have played at least 40 games for Orlando this year, Bane is first on the team in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus and second in overall EPM (per Dunks & Threes). The only player ahead of him is his Energizer Bunny three-and-d running mate, Jalen Suggs. Like everyone else involved in this series, Bane has not put up pretty numbers on the offensive side of the ball. But his ability to handle the extra physicality of the postseason while also being able to provide ball handling and shooting (44.1% from three on 8.5 attempts per game) is what makes this Magic team different from past iterations, and has been one of the main differences between these two teams in the series.

Grade: C+

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

By all accounts, it seems like only a matter of time before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander takes home his second MVP award in as many seasons. Now, he’s trying to make sure his Oklahoma City Thunder accomplish the same feat when it comes to championships. They got through the first checkpoint of that mission, becoming the only team to sweep their first round series this postseason. And Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be his usual All-World self. The only player to score more points than him this postseason (135) is Brunson, and that’s only because the Southpaw has played 37 more minutes than him.

Grade: A+

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Whenever a budding star makes their postseason debut, there are always questions about how they will adjust. Through one round, it is safe to say Victor Wembanyama is made for the moment. The scoring (22.3 PPG on 69.1% true shooting) is effective, the rim protection is pristine (3.3 BPG, the highest mark of anyone this postseason), and the San Antonio Spurs are dominating the Portland Trail Blazers in his minutes (+13 per 100 possessions). Game 4 was the perfect encapsulation of all of this. The Spurs were a +28 in his minutes and Wembanyama led them to a historic comeback win. We do have to penalize him a bit for missing a game and a half (the best ability is availability), but I don’t envy whoever draws the Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Grade: A

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

I get that Nikola Jokic has his hands full with the greatest defensive rim protector of his generation and playing most of the series without his two most athletic teammates (Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson) against a team that is loaded with horizontally/vertically gifted studs. But this does not feel like the same three-time MVP who has dominated the league for the last half-decade. The push shots that seemed automatic once upon a time are falling short. His jumper doesn’t have the same ultra-precise calibration. And his defense has gone from passable to uninspired. His playoff field goal percentage (42.1%) is the lowest it has ever been and the Minnesota Timberwolves are scoring more points in the paint per game under The Joker’s watch. The Denver Nuggets will probably still come back to win this series, but only because Minnesota got the kiss of death from the injury bug.

Grade: C-

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

This sounds bizarre to write about (probably) the greatest player we’ve ever seen playing in his 23rd season, but is what LeBron James is doing with the Los Angeles Lakers in this series his most impressive postseason accomplishment? No Luka Doncic. No Austin Reaves. Yet, James has the junior varsity team up 3-1 against the Houston Rockets. James has managed to turn the NBA into his own personal LA Fitness, dominating the game through old man strength, skill, and IQ. Through four games, he is averaging 21.5 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 8.8 APG (all team-highs) all while playing just a hair under 40 minutes per game. It is safe to say that 41 has NEVER looked so good.

Grade: A+

Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets

This is one of the few times you will ever see me get hyper critical about an athlete, but enough is enough. First off, got to pay the injury tax here. Kevin Durant has only played in one game in this series and he looked completely bamboozled by the Lakers’ exotic coverages. Yes, the Houston Rockets aren’t doing him any favors with their roster construction, but still, neither are the hospital Lakers with James and you see how he has managed to make it work. It’s dangerous to try to read too much into body language with these things, but it is so hard to miss with Durant. The rumors of burner accounts. The dirty looks he gives teammates after mistakes. The being indirectly called out by teammates to media. It is just too much to overlook. My Durant stock has never been lower than it is right now.

Grade: F

Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves 

All season long, something seemed off with the Timberwolves. Inconsistency and a lack of attention to detail plagued their regular season and, as a result, they came into the series as an underdog (+260, per FanDuel). It looks like they were just saving themselves for the postseason, and their undisputed leader – Anthony Edwards – looked like the best player on the floor (one that featured Jokic) when he was out there. Edwards struggled in Game 1, was in foul trouble in Game 3, and left Game 4 with a knee injury (that will keep him out for the rest of the series), but you saw what makes him one of the most complete players in the association in Game 2. His defense was stout for a high-usage guard, playmaking was measured, and his ability to barrel in the paint in a controlled matter was too much for the aging-Nuggets to manage. It’s a travesty that we may not seem him again this postseason.

Grade: A-

Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers

Deni Avdija entered this postseason in a similar spot to Johnson. It was his first time being an All-Star and first time entering a series being at the top of the other team’s scouting report. He was never going to dominate as Blazers were severely overmatched and going against one of the few teams with a legitimate shot of winning the whole event. While Blazers will never admit it, this postseason was all about seeing what they have to work with moving forward. And unlike Johnson, Avdija showed that he is someone you can credibly build an offense around. His brand of bullrush basketball works. Only Gilgeous-Alexander has generated more free throws this than Avdija (47). He had some monster individual performances (Game 1 and 4) and times where he realized he needed to improved (Games 2 and 3). But overall, I’m feeling pretty good about Avdija after seeing these five games if I’m the Blazers.

Grade: B

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

Devin Booker’s shining moment of the first round was accusing referees of biasing toward the Thunder. That is usually not a good sign. The Phoenix Suns were completely overmatched and, frankly, never stood a chance in this one. That isn’t all Booker’s fault. After all, no one man is an island. But it is not a great look when your All-NBA guard posts his lowest playoff PPG (21.3) and is outscored by Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.

Grade: C-