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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Per-Minute Monsters
Last Updated on October 9, 2026 5:49 pm by Mike Passador | Published: October 9, 2026
Not every fantasy breakout will be sitting out in the open for all to see. Key players in big roles will often forecast their own improvement on the court, and some will be continually adding to their games over their careers in an obvious way. You can look at a player’s stat line and say, “he’s just missing a 3-point shot,” or, “if he could add some steals we’d be cooking.” Those players are often hot commodities in next year’s fantasy drafts as managers can easily see a breakout bubbling below the surface. Other breakouts, however, are hiding in plain sight. While players can be short on output in a category or two, others have playing time as their missing ingredient. You can’t put up numbers unless you’re on the floor, after all.
Perhaps the easiest way to level the playing field is to boil everything down to per-minute production and then stack all that at a number that can reflect real playing time. The old standby is per-36 minute stats, which help extrapolate numbers from small playing time to show you what things might look like at a star-level workload. Of course, that has become a bit misleading in its own right in recent seasons: last year only four players averaged 36 or more minutes a night: Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Tyrese Maxey and… Toby Okani. In 2024-25, only 14 players logged 36-plus mpg, and three of those were Knicks under Tom Thibodeau’s watch. Per-36s are a good tool to see small numbers balloon but bear in mind that you’re not going to see many guys play that much to begin with. Additionally, statistical production is not necessarily linear — doubling playing time does not mean all the numbers double too. We’ll talk about some of that as more egregious examples come up, but it bears mentioning as an overarching statement of fact.
That said, the players we’ve highlighted are largely ticketed for larger workloads this upcoming season. Some may need a lucky break or two and nobody here is getting 36 minutes a night, but more playing time is on the horizon. Consider the per-36 minute numbers we have listed as a true dream scenario but know that even scaling those down leaves plenty of room for fantasy goodness. One last thing — percentages will not change between full-season and per-36 numbers, so we didn’t list them in the per-36 field. The weight of those percentages changes as volume increases, but that’s not something that is elastic with pure playing time. Shot volume largely depends on coaching and teammates, which will change as playing time increases. Take the percentages with a grain of salt but we’ll let you know if some of the volume looks fishy (or worse).
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | MEM | 15 | 15 | 22.6 | 6.8 | 14.3 | 47.7 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 87.5 | 2.9 | 6.7 | 43.0 | 19.7 | 2.8 | 5.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
Per-36 Minute Stats: 31.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.4 blocks, 4.5 3-pointers, 2.9 turnovers
Per-36 Minute Ranking: 4/6 (8/9-cat)
Jerome’s per-36 numbers are laughable, in a good way. He didn’t waste any time after missing the first half of his first year with Memphis, returning from a significant calf strain and lighting up the box score. The Grizzlies plugged him right into the starting lineup and Jerome rose to the challenge even with a tight minutes cap in place. His season-high in playing time was 24:57 and Jerome managed top-50 per-game value, doing his damage in limited action. The Grizzlies may no longer be hard tanking, with the league’s new lottery rules having a hand in that, but Jerome should clearly sit atop the PG heap and is due for more minutes. Entering the season healthy is a significant step and Jerome’s per-36 minute production points to some massive fantasy value if everything goes right.
There are some important caveats, however. First, it’s unlikely that Jerome would get 22.8 shots per game even if he was given 36 minutes a night. Second, his points, assists and 3-pointers will lose some per-minute steam as he’ll be spending more time (hopefully) alongside actual roster players, as opposed to the tank-tastic squads he captained last season. Still, Jerome is an obvious candidate for a big fantasy season. He can pile up numbers in a hurry and has no real threat to his starting job. The organization made a big commitment to him last season and he even has a history of fantasy intrigue in expanded opportunities. Regardless of where his ADP ends up, it feels like Jerome will be going too low in drafts. He’s not going to be a top-5 player like the per-36s indicate but Jerome is going to be a difference-maker in fantasy.
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | MIA | 77 | 34 | 22.1 | 4.5 | 8.4 | 53.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 74.0 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 39.5 | 11.1 | 9.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
Per-36 Minute Stats: 18.0 points, 14.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks, 1.9 3-pointers, 1.3 turnovers
Per-36 Minute Ranking: 36/17 (8/9-cat)
Fantasy managers who had Ware last season likely have lots of practice at looking at his per-minute numbers. That was perhaps the only thing to calm your nerves last season, as Ware’s continued on-court warts prevented him from logging the minutes that would make him a fantasy star. Erik Spoelstra’s patience wore thin (rightfully so, to be honest) and Ware’s minutes were completely unpredictable. He would follow up games of 21 minutes with games of 11 minutes; games of 32 minutes with games of 19 minutes; 30 to 12, 35 to 17, 21 to five. It goes on an on but those were all real examples of the nightly fluctuations that dogged Ware all season long. He could’ve helped himself by sharpening up his team play but that never happened and the Heat didn’t have the tolerance to let Ware play through mistakes and pile up numbers.
We’re expecting a different story in Milwaukee as the Bucks begin their rebuild. Ware might not start — he should, but that’s not a lock — but either way we’re expecting more minutes and consistency as the Bucks suss out whether or not Ware is a real long-term contributor. There isn’t a lot on the line for the team this year and you can argue that figuring out Ware’s long-term fit in Milwaukee is one of the organization’s bigger goals. He was a middle-round per-game player last season but that might only be scratching the surface if Ware is allowed to get in a season-long groove.
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Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.
