Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2025: Risk/Reward Players

Last Updated on September 22, 2025 6:32 pm by Keston Paul | Published: September 22, 2025

One of the keys to success in fantasy basketball is getting the calls right about the players that you know can produce when they’re healthy, but it’s the health part that is the biggest challenge. If you can get them on the right year with a value pick in your draft, then you’ll be on your way to a championship, but if it goes wrong as it can so often do, playoffs may quickly become a pipe dream.

A big part of this is how risk-averse you are as a fantasy manager, whether you want to keep it simple and avoid the stress whilst picking consistent unexciting players, or if you love living life on the edge and find it fun going for the risky picks. Below we delve into some players that could make or break your fantasy season.

Jaylen Brown

SG, Boston Celtics

Season	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	FTM	FTA	FT%	3PTM	3PTA	3PT%	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
24-25	BOS	63	63	34.3	8.2	17.7	46.3	3.9	5.1	76.4	1.8	5.7	32.4	22.2	5.8	4.5	1.2	0.3	2.6
23-24	BOS	70	70	33.5	9.0	17.9	49.9	3.0	4.3	70.3	2.1	5.9	35.4	23.0	5.5	3.6	1.2	0.5	2.4
22-23	BOS	67	67	35.9	10.1	20.6	49.1	3.9	5.1	76.5	2.4	7.3	33.5	26.6	6.9	3.5	1.1	0.4	2.9

Boston heads into the season in an interesting position, with the absence of Jayson Tatum leading to Boston potentially favoring more losses than wins to secure a more favorable draft pick before targeting contention in the following season. There’s no big names in the frontcourt, but plenty of talent remains in the backcourt which should still see them be able to match it with teams and still win a reasonable amount of games.

Jaylen Brown is now the main man and when he’s on the court, he should be posting some pretty gaudy lines in points, boards and threes, but his fantasy profile has always been slightly overrated compared to his rank. Last season he posted per-game value of 98th in nine-cat rankings, which leaves a lot to be desired due to a lack of defensive stats and some inconsistent free-throw shooting. As long as he’s on the court, he should provide plenty of value, but if the losses start piling up, there is a very real risk of Brown starting to see either his minutes managed or the risk of missed games.

Anthony Davis

C, Dallas Mavericks

Season	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	FTM	FTA	FT%	3PTM	3PTA	3PT%	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
24-25	DAL	51	51	33.5	9.2	17.8	51.6	5.6	7.2	77.5	0.7	2.4	28.2	24.7	11.6	3.5	1.2	2.2	2.2
23-24	LAL	76	76	35.5	9.4	16.9	55.6	5.5	6.8	81.6	0.4	1.4	27.1	24.7	12.6	3.5	1.2	2.3	2.1
22-23	LAL	56	54	34.0	9.7	17.2	56.3	6.2	7.9	78.4	0.3	1.3	25.7	25.9	12.5	2.6	1.1	2.0	2.2