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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Third-Year Players
Last Updated on October 2, 2026 5:38 pm by Keston Paul | Published: October 2, 2026
We did second-year players previously…but they’re mystery boxes, they’re boring, they’re full of risks. THIRD-YEAR PLAYERS ON THE OTHER HAND…
Jokes aside, by a player’s third season, we start getting a good idea of the player mold and what their stat strengths are in the league. At the same time, there is still untapped upside if the player unlocks a new skill set, something that is entirely possible given the relative youth of these players. That means third-year players can provide reliable production while possessing some amount of growth.
Look at someone like Brandon Miller, who made steady improvements. Look at Anthony Black, who improved his finishing and added a bit more three-point making. Keyonte George took a massive leap, becoming one of the faces of the Jazz. On the other hand, you have names like Jarace Walker who pretty much stayed the same. Others like Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson provided what fantasy managers expected but failed to take that extra leap in their game.
You get the picture. You shouldn’t expect these draft picks to fail, but you would probably be shocked if they exploded. With that in mind, we’ll examine at all relevant third-year players in this article. I’ve grouped them into Standard-League Radar Names, Late-Round Sleepers/Fliers, Watch-List Names and Stat Specialists. For each player, I’ll discuss where they currently stand and if you should aim to select that player in their current ADP range. Remember — if I say I wouldn’t draft this player, it’s because it’s all relative to ADP. It’s not necessarily because I don’t like them, but rather that I’m out here to win.
All stats are from Basketball-Reference unless otherwise stated. All ADPs are from Yahoo and current as of 10/1.
Standard-League Radar
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | POR | 77 | 77 | 27.2 | 4.6 | 8.9 | 52.0 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 68.0 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 34.1 | 12.1 | 11.6 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
| 24-25 | POR | 67 | 37 | 19.8 | 2.7 | 5.0 | 53.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 59.6 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 28.6 | 6.5 | 7.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
Last year’s ADP: 89.6
Current ADP: 41.9
It says quite a bit about this draft class that Donovan Clingan has the highest ADP among them at the ripe pick of (approximately) 42. That isn’t negative commentary about Clingan himself, more so just a statement on the upper-end of the draft class. Anyway, Clingan easily secured the starting big spot in Portland after Deandre Ayton was bought out. He proceeded to blossom into a bona fide classic fantasy center in part due to 11.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 12.1 points on 52.0% from the field in 27.2 minutes a night. While Robert Williams III at times pushed Clingan for minutes (notably in the playoffs), this is Clingan’s job full-stop.
Now in year three, the question for Clingan is if he can provide more than the classic fantasy big man stats. Clingan did make 1.1 threes on acceptable efficiency, although the volume remains muted at 3.2 attempts a night. 52.0% from the field sounds alright, but Clingan’s finishing is weaker compared to centers who possess a similar shot diet. Lastly, Clingan’s usage as a passing hub could be explored further. He averaged 2.1 assists a game and does have above-average vision for his position, so it’s not too much of a stretch (five) to envision Clingan getting past three assists.
How likely do I think Clingan can do all of that? He probably won’t do all three. But is improvement in one of those areas too much of an ask? Probably not. Clingan is probably being drafted closer to his peak value at his current ADP, but teams that require his strengths will find that value acceptable. With the plus of additional upside elsewhere, it makes Clingan one of those “safe floors with upside” picks.
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | SA | 68 | 67 | 30.0 | 5.7 | 12.0 | 47.1 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 73.4 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 33.2 | 16.7 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.2 |
| 24-25 | SA | 81 | 47 | 26.7 | 5.2 | 12.2 | 42.8 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 72.4 | 1.2 | 4.1 | 28.5 | 14.7 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
Mark C can help you make better redraft decisions on Third-Year Players thanks to his dynasty knowledge. Want to get access to the 2026-27 SportsEthos Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide and continue reading this article? You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required
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After years of playing redraft fantasy basketball leagues with my friends, I branched out to dynasty leagues. As my hunger for competitive leagues grew, I found myself having lengthy conversations in various forums and developing my own thoughts on rookies and veteran players alike. Among the dynasty community, I found a gap in understanding on-court play and valuing transactions properly and thought to myself “I have a lot to say that could help dynasty managers!” I eventually came onto Sports Ethos as the Dynasty Lead, producing Dynasty Fantasy Basketball content such as rankings, rookie profiles, and other sorts of articles to enable managers to make informed decisions on their own squads. I pride myself in marrying on-court NBA and fantasy basketball analysis, giving readers and listeners of my content a holistic knowledge base of not only dynasty basketball projects but also the NBA itself.