Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2025: Yahoo & ESPN Points League Busts

Last Updated on August 24, 2026 12:32 pm by André Lemos | Published: October 14, 2025

Before we get into this season’s busts, I am going to look back at my choices from last season.

Reviewing My 2024-25 Busts

DeMar DeRozan (early 30s, ESPN) -> Result: 61st per game
Kawhi Leonard (top-40 at the time ESPN, Yahoo) -> Result: 41st, 46th per game
Jalen Green (41, ESPN) -> Result: 92nd per game
Coby White (top-50, ESPN) -> Result: 74th per game
Kristaps Porzingis (top-70/90, ESPN/Yahoo) -> Result: 51st, 53rd per game
CJ McCollum (70-to-80, ESPN, Yahoo) -> Result: 70th, 69th per game
Buddy Hield (top-85, ESPN) -> Result:  224th per game
Isaiah Hartenstein (top-95/85, ESPN/Yahoo) -> Result: 69th, 68th per game
Trey Murphy III (top-95, Yahoo) -> Result: 55th per game
Naz Reid (95-to-105, ESPN, Yahoo) -> Result: 107th, 109th per game

Overall Result: 6-4 record.

Leonard did get close, but you had to survive until March to reap the benefits of a swing on him since he finished strong. DeRozan might have delivered by totals, but there were better choices behind him who gave you per-game upside and total-value upside. Evan Mobley is a player I know I was able to get who was going after him last season for example. Reid also got close, but his season was one of hot runs and cold runs; some of those cold runs resulting in weeks of barely being rosterable for a standard points format.

I can dance on that Hield win. I was adamant. I was right! He proved me wrong for two weeks at the start of the season (real-life NBA playoffs obviously don’t count).

Porzingis isn’t actually a miss, but I am measuring this on per-game rank. I called him a bust because I didn’t expect him to play enough coming into the season injured. He returned earlier than expected, but was still limited in the second half of the season due to illness and only played 42 games. I did not think Hartenstein had the points-league volume upside and I just did not see the Murphy breakout coming. I also thought McCollum was completely washed. He was only a little washed!

My bonus picks:
Franz Wagner (45/56, Yahoo/ESPN) -> Result: 34th, 30th per game
Mikal Bridges (62, ESPN) -> Result: 85th per game
Bobby Portis (98, ESPN) -> Result: 108th per game
Austin Reaves (65, ESPN) -> Result: 49th per game
D’Angelo Russell (49, ESPN) -> Result: 126th per game
Trayce Jackson-Davis (95, ESPN) -> Result: 278th per game
Rookie Reed Sheppard (110, ESPN) -> Result: 399th per game
Amen Thompson (85, ESPN) -> Result: 57th per game
Russell Westbrook (86, ESPN) -> Result: 100th per game
Donte DiVincenzo (99, ESPN) -> Result: 129th per game

Overall Result: 7-3

I felt shakier on a couple of these calls. I was very 50-50 on including Wagner and I lost that bet. I liked Reaves as a pick, just not at that spot. I drafted him in the 80s in my ESPN home points league last season. I did not see the level of breakout coming, obviously. For Thompson, I did not see the path. The path was that he is just too good. The Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason injuries also allowed him to show he was “too good.”

Bridges was likely less of a win if you look at this by totals, but I think you had better combinations of per-game and totals options in the 60s and later anyway (like Reaves). If I remember right, Jaren Jackson Jr. was going in the 60s too. The other wins were easy. I did not expect Jackson-Davis to be that bad, but I was never going to touch him anywhere near that range.

If you want to combine everything, I went 13-7 for a 65% success rate. That is a winning record.

What is important to note is that I do not inherently view a bust as a do-not-draft player. Maybe some of my choices are, but it usually just means I would prefer to take that player at a lower spot. That was my reasoning with Austin Reaves for example, despite him beating the mark.

I already discussed in the Sleepers article that the best way to approach these platforms is by using the ADP on Yahoo and the actual rankings on ESPN.

So that is what I am doing here.

Click here to find the Points League Sleepers!

Yahoo & ESPN Points League Busts

Josh Hart (Yahoo, 56.8) & (ESPN, 41)

Last season, Hart was 40th on ESPN, averaging 39.5 fantasy points per game and 45th on Yahoo averaging 37.60 fantasy points per game. I am aggressively against thinking Hart can do anything like that this season.

Why?

For one, Mitchell Robinson started the preseason opener over Hart (who has missed the games since with a minor back injury). Secondly, this Knicks team is so much deeper. I don’t think Robinson is more than a 24-to-26 MPG starter; however, the combination of Miles McBride, Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson and possibly Malcolm Brogdon means the bench depth is so much better. New head coach Mike Brown can feasibly roll with the “hot hand” or matchup-based advantage from that group each game. Hart has more challenges in his way. Full stop.

Why did I say I’m aggressive? I don’t think I’ll end up drafting Hart anywhere because I cannot see myself drafting him inside the top-90. I feel that strongly about it.

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

Keston Paul

Keston majored in Biology and minored in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), St. Augustine. Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, Kes grew up loving cricket, then football (soccer, not NFL) & never missed a Barça game in the 2010s. Later on, he grew obsessed with basketball/fantasy basketball & unfortunately claims to be a Sixers fan for some reason.

• Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Pace Report
• Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Multi-Category Punt Builds Review
• Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Single-Category Punt Builds Review
• Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Impact of the 3-2-1 NBA Draft Lottery Reform
• Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Punt Strategy