2026 Basketball Leagues Tier List
Snapshot 2026-09-08. No Ceilings club SRS from 12 Jan 2026: NBA 63.7 in S; EuroLeague 51.0 and Spanish ACB 42.5 in A. Thirty-two men’s club competitions.
Snapshot 2026-09-08. Club SRS from No Ceilings, 12 Jan 2026 (five years of player movement, RealGM). Olympics 59.9 and the FIBA World Cup 42.1 are national-team events, so they stay off S–D. Club records: NBA teams tier list.
Club competitions, S–D
NBA regular season 63.7 sits alone in S. EuroLeague 51.0 and Spanish ACB 42.5 go to A. B runs from the G League 36.1 down to VTB 25.6. C runs from Lithuanian LKL 23.8 to BAL 14.0; Polish PLK is not in that top 50 and sits in C on import-pay range. D has no SRS.
| Tier | Competition | SRS | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | NBA | 63.7 | Domestic |
| A | EuroLeague | 51.0 | Continental |
| A | Spanish ACB (Liga Endesa) | 42.5 | Domestic |
| B | NBA G League | 36.1 | Domestic |
| B | EuroCup | 34.5 | Continental |
| B | French LNB Élite | 33.3 | Domestic |
| B | Italian Lega Basket Serie A | 33.0 | Domestic |
| B | Basketball Champions League | 31.7 | Continental |
| B | Australian NBL | 30.9 | Domestic |
| B | ABA League | 29.0 | Domestic |
| B | Turkish BSL | 28.1 | Domestic |
| B | Greek GBL (HEBA A1) | 27.8 | Domestic |
| B | Israeli BSL | 26.9 | Domestic |
| B | German BBL | 25.8 | Domestic |
| B | VTB United League | 25.6 | Domestic |
| C | Lithuanian LKL | 23.8 | Domestic |
| C | Puerto Rican BSN | 23.4 | Domestic |
| C | FIBA Europe Cup | 20.1 | Continental |
| C | B.League Premier | 19.0 | Domestic |
| C | Chinese CBA | 15.2 | Domestic |
| C | Basketball Africa League | 14.0 | Continental |
| C | Polish PLK | — | Domestic |
| D | BNXT League | — | Domestic |
| D | Romanian Liga Națională | — | Domestic |
| D | Hungarian NB I/A | — | Domestic |
| D | Czech NBL | — | Domestic |
| D | B.League One | — | Domestic |
| D | Portuguese LPB | — | Domestic |
| D | Finnish Korisliiga | — | Domestic |
| D | Danish Basketligaen | — | Domestic |
| D | Bulgarian NBL | — | Domestic |
| D | B.League Next | — | Domestic |
How we ranked this
Snapshot 2026-09-08. Men’s club competitions only. Leagues with an SRS land in S–D by No Ceilings score: S ≥ 60, A 40–55, B 25–40, C 14–25. Polish PLK is not in that top 50; it sits in C on EuroProBasket import-pay range. D has no SRS — mid-to-lower European domestics plus B.League One / Next for 2026–27. Olympics 59.9, FIBA World Cup 42.1 and EuroBasket 42.0 are national-team events and stay off the main table. Names: docs/glossaries/basketball-leagues-glossary.md. NBA clubs: NBA teams tier list.
| Source | Snapshot | Basis | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Ceilings world-league SRS | 12 Jan 2026 | Five years of player movement, FIC/40 diffs, SRS; RealGM | Primary |
| Datawrapper full table | Same piece | Top 50 club / national / NCAA scores | Primary |
| EuroProBasket overseas salaries | Verified Sep 2026 | Import ranges from agents/clubs, not league disclosures | Support |
| NBA 2025-26 salary cap | Official release | $154.647 million | Support |
| Basketball-Reference contracts | Sep 2026 | 2026-27 cap $164,961,000 | Support |
| NBPA G League CBA points | From 2025-26 | Standard $45,000, then +3% a year | Support |
| EuroLeague / FIBA BCL / FIBA Europe Cup 2025-26 | 2025–26 / 2026-27 | Who runs which European club cup | Support |
| Wikipedia: B.League | 2026–27 restructure | Premier 26 / One 25 / Next 4; club cap ¥800m | Support |
Pay, same snapshot
Caps and the G League standard come from the NBA and the NBPA. Overseas figures are EuroProBasket import ranges verified in September 2026, not published payrolls. CBA imports are listed around $1–3 million a season, above the EuroLeague $500k–$800k band; on the same SRS the CBA is 15.2 and EuroLeague is 51.0.
| Competition | Verified figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| NBA | Salary cap $154.647m (2025-26); $164.961m (2026-27) | NBA PR / Basketball-Reference |
| NBA G League | Standard salary $45,000 (2025-26), then +3% a year | NBPA key deal points |
| EuroLeague | Imports about $500k–$800k / season; max $5.6m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Spanish ACB | About $250k–$500k / season; max $4m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Turkish BSL | About $250k–$500k / season; max $3.75m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| VTB United League | About $200k–$450k / season; max $4m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Italian LBA | About $180k–$350k / season; max $2m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Greek GBL | About $60k–$250k / season; max $3.1m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| German BBL | About $100k–$350k / season; max $1.16m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Israeli BSL | About $80k–$250k / season; max $6m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| French LNB Élite | About $80k–$200k / season; max $2m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Polish PLK | About $80k–$140k / season; max $290k | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Chinese CBA | About $1m–$3m / season; max $4m | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| B.League Premier | Imports about $120k–$300k; max $1m; club cap ¥800m (2026–27) | EuroProBasket / Wikipedia |
| Australian NBL | About $120k–$250k / season; max $500k+ | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
| Puerto Rican BSN | About $10k–$14k / month | EuroProBasket Sep 2026 |
European club cups
SRS: EuroLeague 51.0, EuroCup 34.5, BCL 31.7, FIBA Europe Cup 20.1. Euroleague Basketball runs the first two; FIBA runs the last two.
B.LEAGUE 2026–27
Premier (26 clubs, two conferences, no promotion/relegation), One (25), Next (4). Premier club cap is ¥800 million. No Ceilings files “Japanese BLeague” at 19.0; this piece puts Premier in C and One / Next in D.
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2026 World Basketball Leagues Tier List
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