Heading into the 2026-27 season, just having one lone superstar is a speedrun to a second-round exit. Every potential title threat in the league has a running mate who can completely hijack a game, get a bucket whenever the offense stagnates, or carry the load for two weeks when the franchise player needs a breather.
Trying to pin down a “second option” isn’t as simple as pulling up last year’s scoring average, though. The league’s landscape got completely tossed into a blender this summer. Giannis Antetokounmpo is wearing a Heat jersey, LaMelo Ball is running the point in Minnesota, and LeBron packed his bags for a loaded 76ers roster that somehow also traded for Jaylen Brown. Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton is finally back after missing all of last year, sliding Pascal Siakam right back into his natural role after a year of solo heavy-lifting in Indiana.
For this list, we’re looking at who actually brings the most juice as a secondary star or offensive engine for 2026-27. Shot counts will shift night-to-night (especially on teams juggling three or four stars), but the core question stays the same: after the main guy, who is the absolute best secondary player you can rely on?
From former All-NBA wings to fresh champions and guys putting up first-option stats in a secondary role, here is my ranking of the top 10 second options in the league right now.
10. Bam Adebayo
The offensive hierarchy of the Miami Heat got flipped upside down the second Giannis rolled into town. Moving Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, and a mountain of draft picks to Milwaukee meant instantly handing the keys to Giannis and bumping Bam Adebayo down to No. 2.
Honestly? It might be the best thing for him. Last year, Bam was forced to force it a bit. He took a career-high 15.7 shots a night, finishing with 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. But efficiency took a visible hit, as he shot just 44.2% from the floor (down 8% from his career average) and hit only 31.8% from deep despite taking over 5 triples per game.
That scoring dip is why he’s down at ten. As a total basketball player, Bam is higher on any tier list. He’s an All-Defensive monster who can switch onto anyone, but strictly as an offensive secondary engine, there are still fair questions.
With Giannis eating in the paint and guys like Andrew Wiggins and Bobby Portis spacing the floor, Bam won’t be asked to manufacture 20 points out of thin air every night. He can go back to what makes him elite: screening, short-roll playmaking, opportunistic scoring, and anchoring a defense that now features two world-class rim protectors.
9. LaMelo Ball
Trading the comfortably chaotic life in Charlotte to play next to Anthony Edwards in Minnesota might be the most aggressive change of scenery anyone on this list experienced this summer.
The Wolves gave up Naz Reid and a haul of picks to grab LaMelo, and let’s be clear: this isn’t a long-term development project. The Timberwolves have lost in back-to-back deep playoff runs, and they brought Ball in to help Ant cross the finish line right now.
LaMelo’s last year with the Hornets was a weird stat line. He stayed mostly healthy (72 games) and put up 20.1 points and 7.1 assists, but shot just 40.7% from the field with a mediocre 54.6% True Shooting. Charlotte ran everything through him (30.6% usage rate), forcing him to take tough shots late in the clock. In Minnesota, he won’t have to carry that burden. Edwards is the undisputed top dog, which lets Ball do what he does best: push the pace, pick apart defenses, and throw dime after dime.
His 6-foot-7 frame and elite passing vision are going to give Edwards the easiest transition buckets of his life. The gamble is shot selection. LaMelo’s career field goal percentage sits at 41.8%, and he’s never played a single minute of playoff basketball. If his efficiency snaps into place alongside Ant, he’ll leap up this list fast.
8. Franz Wagner
Judging Franz Wagner off last year is tough because a nagging injury capped his season at just 34 games. But if you look at the tape from when he was on the floor, it’s clear where his game is going.
In those 34 games, Wagner put up 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in just 30 minutes a night, while quietly boosting his three-point clip back up to 34.5%. That came off the heels of a massive 2024-25 campaign where he dropped 24.2 a night and showed real chops as a primary creator when called upon.
The Magic’s core isn’t a strict two-man show anymore. Paolo Banchero is the undeniable face of the franchise, but with Desmond Bane in the mix and a deep supporting cast, Wagner operates as an overqualified co-pilot. His length, straight-line drive ability, and secondary playmaking give Orlando an element of off-ball creation that pure spot-up shooters just can’t replicate.
He’s only 24, and assuming his health holds up, Wagner has all the tools to make this No. 8 spot look way too low by midseason.
7. Alperen Sengun
The Rockets can throw the ball to Kevin Durant whenever a possession breaks down, but make no mistake: the operational hub of Houston’s offense still runs straight through Alperen Sengun.
That’s what makes Sengun such a unique entry here. He’s not a wing who just waits for kick-out passes; he averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists last year as a 23-year-old center. Having a big man who can orchestrate an offense out of the post, low elbow, or short roll takes an immense amount of pressure off a veteran perimeter star.
Spacing can still get a little cramped. Sengun is a career sub-30% shooter from deep and sub-70% from the line, which means Houston has to build lineups smartly around him. But with KD drawing gravity, plus guys like Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr. around, Sengun doesn’t need to be a shooter, he just needs to be a playmaker.
Durant turns 38 this season, and the Rockets simply can’t rely on him to carry a heavy usage rate for 82 games. Sengun gives them a secondary engine that operates completely differently, keeping the offense fluid, creative, and unpredictable.
6. Pascal Siakam
Last season forced Pascal Siakam into a role he hadn’t played in a while: the lone, undisputed primary option for a tanking Pacers team that simply knew they weren’t going to be anywhere close to contention with Tyrese Haliburton missing the entire year after tearing his Achilles in the 2025 Finals.
Siakam then had to step up and delivered an All-Star campaign, dropping 24.0 points, 6.6 boards, and 3.8 assists a night. He kept Indiana competitive on some nights when things could have easily gone off the rails with nothing to play for at that stage. It really speaks volumes about his game and heart when Siakam was included in the All-Star Game for a team that finished with only 19 wins.
Now, with Haliburton fully cleared and returning to command the ship, Siakam slides back into his natural habitat as one of the best sidekicks in the game. He doesn’t need to force half-court sets out of nothing. With Haliburton pushing the tempo, Siakam gets to feast in transition, bully smaller guys in mismatch post-ups, and slice up defenses as a secondary cutter.
We already know this combination works when the lights are brightest. Siakam took home Eastern Conference Finals MVP honors during Indiana’s 2025 run, and he has a ring from his Toronto days. At 32, he is who he is: a battle-tested, high-IQ forward who makes playing second fiddle look effortless.
5. Karl-Anthony Towns
Walking away with a championship ring completely changes how a player gets evaluated, and Karl-Anthony Towns enters 2026-27 with hardware that most guys on this list are still chasing.
Towns was a huge reason the Knicks finally lifted the trophy last season. During the regular season, he gave them a clean 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds while shooting over 50% from the field and nearly 37% from deep. His stretchability as a 7-footer opens up massive driving lanes for Jalen Brunson, giving the Knicks a lethal inside-out pairing.
Now, why isn’t he top three? Well, the Finals showed the weird duality of KAT’s role. Across those five games against San Antonio, he averaged just 13.0 points on under 10 shots per game, deferring heavily while Brunson (32.6 PPG) and OG Anunoby did the heavy lifting.
To his credit, Towns played winning basketball and registered a team-best +8.8, proving he doesn’t need to force shots to impact a game. But if we’re ranking pure, self-sufficient secondary creation, a few perimeter guys just edge him out. Still, an efficient 20-and-12 center coming off a championship run is a hell of a luxury to have at No. 5.
4. Jalen Williams
If you only looked at last season’s stat sheet, this ranking might look crazy. Jalen Williams played just 33 games due to injuries and saw his three-point mark slump down to 29.9%. So why is he sitting at No. 4? Because we haven’t forgotten what a fully healthy J-Dub looks like.
Back in 2024-25, Williams put up 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals while making All-NBA Third Team and All-Defensive Second Team. He is quite literally the blueprint for what every GM wants next to an MVP candidate like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He can organize the second unit, tear down a tilted defense, create his own mid-range jumper, and quietly lock down the opposing team’s best wing player.
At just 25 years old, last year’s injury hiccup shouldn’t define his trajectory. The Thunder have an absurdly deep roster, meaning Williams doesn’t have to go out of his way to chase numbers. But when it comes to pure two-way impact and high-stakes versatility, a healthy J-Dub is as good as it gets.
3. Austin Reaves
Throw out the “undrafted feel-good story” narrative. Austin Reaves isn’t just a nice role player anymore. he’s a legit 23-point-per-game scorer running co-pilot next to Luka Doncic.
Reaves took another massive leap last year, putting up 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on almost 49-36-87 shooting splits. With LeBron leaving town for Philly over the summer, the hierarchy in this Lakers‘ new roster is crystal clear now: Luka is the maestro, and Reaves is the primary perimeter engine alongside him.
What places Reaves this high is his ability to generate efficient offense entirely on his own. He isn’t just standing in the corner waiting for Luka kick-outs; he took nearly 15 shots a game and generated 7.3 free-throw attempts per night. He manipulates pick-and-rolls, gets to his spots in the mid-range, and draws fouls like a seasoned veteran.
The playoff series against the Thunder in the West semifinals hit him with some rough efficiency patches (42.6% FG, 30.4% 3PT, high turnovers), showing he still has room to grow when defenses sell out to stop him. But heading into his prime at age 28, Reaves is primed for a massive year in a streamlined, two-star system.
2. Jamal Murray
For years, the argument for Jamal Murray as a top-tier second option was built almost entirely on his legendary playoff heater moments. Last season, he finally brought the regular season receipts to match.
Murray blew past his career numbers, averaging 25.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists over 75 games for Denver. The efficiency was flat-out ridiculous: 48.3% from the field, 43.5% from three on heavy volume, and 88.7% from the line. He made his first All-Star team and earned an All-NBA Third Team nod.
Playing alongside Nikola Jokic means Murray gets incredible looks, but he also returns the favor by running an elite two-man game that nobody in the league has figured out how to stop. He turns the ball over just 2.3 times a game despite carrying a heavy playmaking load, giving Denver an elite half-court safety net.
He laid a complete brick in last year’s playoffs (shooting just 35.7% from the field), which is ironic considering his history. But one bad series doesn’t wipe away a championship ring and years of big-game clutch shots. At 29, Murray is at the absolute peak of his career, and there’s only one guy in the entire league standing ahead of him here.
1. Jaylen Brown
Calling anyone on this new-look 76ers roster a “second option” feels a little strange, but whichever way you slice the dynamic between Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Tyrese Maxey… Jaylen Brown is the single best basketball player on earth filling a secondary role.
The Sixers pulled off a blockbuster to land Brown from Boston in July, and his individual baseline right now is absurd. With Jayson Tatum sidelined for almost all of last season, Brown was forced to be Boston’s solo lead option, and he responded by putting up 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, finishing 6th in MVP voting and landing on the All-NBA Second Team.
Now, drop that player into a lineup where he doesn’t have to carry 22 shots a night just to keep the offense afloat. Embiid will still command double teams down low, Maxey will pull defenses apart with speed, and LeBron will manage the floor. That leaves Brown to operate as a hyper-efficient, elite two-way force who can destroy single coverage, finish in transition, and lock down the opponent’s best perimeter scorer.
Oh, and his resume? Already boasts a 2024 Championship, a Finals MVP, and an ECF MVP. Brown has already proven he can be the co-star on a title-winning team. Coming off the best individual year of his life, having Jaylen Brown as your secondary star almost feels like a cheat code.
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