For the fourth straight year, ESPN.com and the TrueHoop Network are ranking every NBA player and counting them down on Twitter (@ESPNNBA) from No. 500 to No. 1.

We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to predict the overall level of play for each player for the upcoming NBA season. This includes both the quality and the quantity of his expected contributions, combined in one overall rating.

As the rankings are announced, you also can find them here on the pages of ESPN.com.

The players on our list keep getting better and better. We're counting down five more players today, revealing them one at a time on Twitter, until Oct. 28, opening night in the NBA. Today we roll out players 45 through 41.

Eric Bledsoe set career highs in PPG, RPG, APG, FG pct, PER and win shares last season. He was the first Suns player to average at least 17 points per game, five assists per game and four rebounds per game in a single season since Steve Nash in 2005-06.

-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)

@ESPNNBA @EBled2 got paid, now got to show he can stay healthy a full season! #NBArank — Gabriel Cruz (@cru2492) October 15, 2014

Rank

Player

Score

42

7.04

Kenneth Faried | @KennethFaried35

Denver Nuggets | PF | Age: 24 | 2013 rank: #47

Rank

Player

Score

43

7.00

Chandler Parsons | @ChandlerParsons

Dallas Mavericks | SF | Age: 25 | 2013 rank: #58

Chandler Parsons and Steve Francis are the only players in NBA history with at least 3,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 700 assists and 300 3-pointers in their first three seasons.

-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)

#NBArank @ESPNNBA parsons is a great fit for the mavs and the perfect partner for the ellis-dirk team. 43 seems to be right. — hb (@hbmavs) October 15, 2014

Rank

Player

Score

44

6.98

Pau Gasol | @paugasol

Chicago Bulls | PF | Age: 34 | 2013 rank: #29

Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan are the only two players to average at least seven rebounds, two assists and one block per game in each of the last 13 seasons. They're also the only two players in NBA history to average those numbers in each of their first 13 seasons.

-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)

@ESPNNBA @paugasol Is an upgrade over Boozer. Another passing big man to complement Noah. Bulls will be scary this year. #NBArank — Deven Parikh (@DParikh91) October 15, 2014

Rank

Player

Score

45

6.98

Ty Lawson | @TyLawson3

Denver Nuggets | PG | Age: 26 | 2013 rank: #38

Ty Lawson joined John Wall, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry as the only players to average at least 17 points per game and eight assists per game last season.

-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)