SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide

Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2025: Busts

By Mike Passador Published October 10, 2025 Updated August 24, 2026 2 min read

Everyone loves sleepers; who wouldn’t love taking a big swing and hitting a home run late in the draft that proves you did your homework better than your leaguemates? Sometimes, however, it’s the mistakes not made — the things you decided to forgo — that have an outsized impact on your fortunes. Picking a key sleeper can help you to victory, but dodging the landmines on draft day can also get you to the top of the mountain.

Between the disappointment of watching a player fail to live up to his draft slot and the opportunity cost of missing out on better options, the wrong choice can haunt you all year long. Let’s try to avoid that, shall we?

The baseline level of fantasy analysis you can find is higher than ever, and as a result, it’s getting harder and harder to look at draft boards and point out obvious busts. There aren’t many players left who totally flame out, or any guys who clearly won’t sniff their ADP a la late-career Russell Westbrook. When we label someone as a bust here, it’s not saying that they’re going to be way outside the scope of standard-league relevance necessarily, but rather that they will fall short of expectations by a reasonable margin. Someone can be a bust and also deliver must-start value, and the key to a successful draft is maximizing your profit margin and avoiding the players who come up too short.

To see this season’s biggest fantasy basketball busts, 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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About the Author

SportsEthos Contributor

Mike Passador

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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.

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