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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
The 2025-26 Bruski 150
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B150 RELEASE SCHEDULE
Ethos 360 Members
September 30
All Sport FantasyPass Members
October 7
NBA FantasyPass Members
October 14
INTRO TO THE BRUSKI 150
Just take me to the ranks!
Hi, everybody!
I could just say here are the ranks and have fun dominating your leagues.
And honestly, if that's all you're here for just click the link, devour the list and destroy the competition. LFG!
But the intro to the Bruski 150 has always been more than me just standing on the porch and ringing a dinner triangle. It’s my one chance each year to step back, update you on where we are as a company, where I am as a human and why any of this even matters.
So, the bad news that many of you know about and I will mention it for some of our newer readers is that I have a pretty brutal injury – I've been battling TOS for a decade now. Talking about it is frustrating, exhausting and all of the things, and so much of me wants to keep it from taking any more space in my life than it already has, but it's extremely significant and it has shaped every single decision we've made at SportsEthos (and my life).
Ignoring this part of who I am and its impacts, both good and bad, doesn't make sense for me and would also leave too many blanks for people wondering why I wasn’t pumping out 10,000 word columns every week.
The truth is, I had to change how I work. I had to delegate, trust, build systems and double down on process over everything – and above everything – keeping our analysis sharper than anyone else’s. That was my one non-negotiable. Family first, then fantasy dominance. Even if I couldn’t always show the work publicly, the work was being done.
This is why, year after year, the Bruski 150 is untouchable. My guarantee to myself and our members was that no matter what, nobody would come close to our numbers and the process would be light years ahead of anybody else.
That's how we build credibility, how we have kept the lights on, and how we got to Year 10 of SportsEthos … Stronger than ever in a down industry.
Okay, let's get to some great news – all sorts of amazing things are happening and my role is expanding yet again. My injury slowly improves. Our team has grown. Our platform has grown. And for the first time in a long time, I can say with confidence that you’re going to be getting a lot more from me, from the B150 and from everyone here.
And zoom out with me for little bit here because this isn't just about my comeback or a rankings list. It's about the bigger picture of making fantasy basketball better than ever while also, frankly, keeping it alive.
15 years ago, FSWA Hall of Famer Steve Alexander and I ran the fantasy NBA operation over at RotoWorld and along with that historic coaching tree we took NBA coverage from being a little better than hockey to doing more traffic than the original fantasy sport, baseball.
Twitter joined the scene and was amazing for maybe five seasons before the rot started to set in. Companies had already been folding left and right as bad bets on Facebook video, corporate shortsightedness and eventually algorithms would start an avalanche of budget cuts and layoffs.
Legacy companies which had led the way had no ideas and no plan for the monopolization of an already soft advertising market by tech giants Google and Facebook. They weren't even playing music on the decks of the Titanic, they were sunbathing and then oops we just fell into the freezing ocean.
I saw it all up close and I realized the only way forward wasn’t through ad dollars or Silicon Valley lifelines. It was through one thing – delivering so much value directly to customers that they couldn’t say no.
That’s why SportsEthos exists. Not as a content farm, not as an algorithm-chasing echo chamber, but as a sustainable platform that respects the intelligence of fantasy basketball players. In an era where free, disposable content is everywhere, we’ve stayed focused on quality, tools, research, analysis and community.
The stuff that actually helps you win.
And let’s be honest, the fantasy industry is struggling right now. Commissioner platforms are a mess. Head-to-head leagues are hostage to tanking and late-season rest. Social media has turned content into Monopoly money, rewarding hot takes and fluff over research and real analyst work.
Industry greats, the very people who built this space, have been discarded in favor of “viral-friendly” slop. Left unchecked, it’s a death spiral. But with disruption comes opportunity. And at SportsEthos, we’re more ready than ever to seize it, building on the massive strides we’ve taken over the past 12 to 18 months.
We didn't collectively build this industry just to see it die because social media companies and corporate America suck at all of this. A lot of us over here have five, 10, 20, 30 years building this industry up. A lot of our readers have been on this ride that long as well. A lot of people we don't know and who don't know us ride on this ride.
When I say this work matters, I mean it. Fantasy sports are more than just a game. They’re community. They’re connection. They’re the excuse for that 25-year Vegas draft trip with your buddies, or the bridge between two people who disagree on everything else in the world but still crack a beer together on draft night. They’re the reason you can turn off the noise for a moment and just focus on making a damn lineup change.
That’s worth fighting for.
And fight we have. Building this platform has been messy, difficult and exhausting but it’s also been the most rewarding work of my life. I am surrounded by people who share the same values of integrity, effort, honesty and a deep love for this game.
That alignment has fueled us to where we are today. We are expanding product lines, rolling out new content, launching a free app and weaponizing the B150 process into tools that touch everything we do. We are having more fun than I've ever had in my career. It truly is a blessing considering all of the different circumstances and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.
This season? We’re rolling out more new stuff than ever before. Across mediums, across platforms, across the board. And the rankings you came here for? They’re not just numbers on a spreadsheet. They’re the distilled product of years of work, research and hard-earned perspective. They win at the highest levels for the highest buy-ins every year. I win with them against the world's highest earning and best fantasy players even as they use my list against me.
That's what tens of thousands of hours gleefully competing and writing and blurbing and calculating and taking risks and honestly evaluating my own losses and shortcomings and advancing through the long game will get you.
So yes, go grab the ranks. Win your league. Wreck your friends. But also know this – every dollar you’ve spent supporting us, every click, every subscription it’s been fueling something bigger. It’s keeping fantasy sports alive, building a sustainable future and preserving the community that makes this game so damn special.
Thanks for sticking with me both in this article and through the years. Thanks for letting me rant. Thanks for giving me the motivation to be an ambassador of how to win against TOS. Thanks for giving me and SportsEthos the chance to keep doing what we love.
Now let's ride this Tidal Wave I'm about to unleash!
THE BRUSKI 150 PROCESS
Creating the Bruski 150 takes about 400 hours between July (August this year) and October and we accumulate corporate knowledge every single season. I do full-blown evaluations of about 450 players overall with about 225 players that end up in the ranks, which as you might have guessed started off as a 150 player list starting in 2010 I believe. Overall I evaluate every player on a roster. This is how we win.
RESULTS
And WIN we did! Even with the competition buying the Bruski 150 and using it against me, I was still able to run wild in public high stakes leagues, with 6-of-6 Main Event squads finishing top-4 in possibly my best season ever, bringing back right around $20,000. I got another FSWA nomination to bring my total to four (including two FSWA Writer of the Year awards), which are largely because of these ranks.
A lot of folks know the numbers. The real edge is breaking down film fast, projecting on scraps of evidence and calling the long shots before they’re obvious. Premium writing forces you to sharpen that skill or get left behind.
Anyone can drop takes after the fact, but that’s second place work.
We stay ahead, prepared to compete at the highest level while keeping it accessible and effective for every fantasy player who wants to enjoy the game and win.
Nearly 20 years in the trenches, plus the corporate knowledge you can’t fake, gives us the ability to out-produce, out-rank and out-project every season. Our subscribers? They boatrace the field, year after year.
That’s what happens when you work every angle, chase every lead and process the game at the apex level.
NEW PRODUCT BENEFITS
The Draft Tracker Season 3 is easily the thing I'm excited about the most. We have basically put B150 projections and ranks into a quick and easy drafting death machine. Using it for all of my high stakes drafts it has turned the whole drafting process on its head. Being able to see the angles more clearly and from further away, not to mention having all of the right intel plugged right into it, it was as if all of the sliders of difficulty moved favorably in my direction.
When your membership group has access to the B150, that's when you get access to the Draft Tracker including the B150 ranks.
Any NBA FantasyPass holder can use it prior to then but the B150 ranks are not in there.
Members: Get the Draft Tracker
NEW FANTASYPASS BENEFITS
IN-SEASON BRUSKI 150 RELEASES
As we did for the first time ever last season, I will be producing two additional B150 releases in the middle of the season. One during the In Season Tournament and the other during the All-Star break. Between that and the B150 projections you can just keep making great moves all season long.
NEW AND IMPROVED IN-SEASON TOOLS
B150 PROJECTIONS POWER EVERYTHING!
There are very few humans on this planet who know how to understand basketball statistics and be able to project them into the future like we do. Vegas can't keep up with us and your fantasy competition has no chance. It's what happens when thousands of hours of research get harnessed into technology and filtered through human intelligence that is at the top of its game. The only way this can happen is because of the entirety of our process over here spanning the entire news, content and technology sides of our operation. We treat this like it's NASA and you win!
IN-SEASON MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
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Vegas can't keep up with the B150 Projections, so how could your fantasy opposition?
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Get Your Questions Answered by Pros
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New Tools Incoming!
Members always enjoy access to our latest and greatest tools (hint: SSSHHHH, something BIG is on the way!)
CAN THE B150 HELP ME WITH DFS AND WAGERING?
DFS players, player prop enthusiasts and wagering buffs of all levels get access to the best projections that money can buy. We use B150 projections to power everything we do here and all of our other DFS and wagering systems, content, etc. have an unfair advantage because of it. Check out the Ethos 360 membership to get all-inclusive access to all of it!
MORE MEMBER BENEFITS: KEEP YOUR PRICE
The best thing about all of these memberships is that if you keep them active you get to keep the price that you're paying as long as they are active. We want our early supporters to enjoy great pricing as we inevitably start charging market rates for these memberships. Some of our earliest customers are getting well over 80% off or whatever the number is and that's the least we can do for your continued support.
Your memberships don't just help to power this current iteration of SportsEthos – they also represent support for a platform that has paid more to content producers than any other site in the fantasy basketball space. We're tired of watching the slow decline and rot within the online sports space, fantasy or otherwise, and your memberships allow us to keep leading the way with value – creating the economic circumstances to keep this wonderful game from decaying.
Without further ado the ground rules for this list!
This is a fearless ranking set
I’m not trying to play it safe. I’m not trying to stay in the friendly confines of industry consensus. I’ll probably have a high profile miss. But as regular readers know, we’re going to hit far more than we miss. And we’re going to hit real big on a bunch of them. This list will guide how much you should pay, who you should reach for and who you should run the other direction from.
How these ranks work
By ranking a player (for example) No. 33, I am predicting they will finish as the 33rd ranked player at the end of the year, cumulatively. In that respect, it is vital fantasy GMs know that I am not intending for them to draft players in this order.
- You may also consider a player’s early or late season trajectory. A young player that profiles better at the end of the year will probably play under that rank to start and over that rank to finish. As a result, it might not be easy to roster certain players early on in the year.
- The only place on this list where I might eschew predicting end-of-season value is toward the bottom of the ranks. I do build in some logic for flier picks and upside guys over the plodders who are going to get three yards and a cloud of dust for 76 games.
These ranks are pure, so they work easily for Roto, and for Head-to-Head you need to consider your settings and strategy
It’s not a head-to-head list or a points league list. It’s not a list to account for playoff formats. It can still dominate those formats, but you need to consider your league's settings and your own strategy.
- Make adjustments along the way for a player whose categories or schedules impact their value differently than ranks which are measuring cumulative value over the course of an entire season. Heavy turnover guys may lose 2-4 rounds of value. A bad playoff schedule or outlook might make a player many rounds less desirable. Classic punt players may look terrible in these pure ranks. Use your head and you'll be fine!
What about ADP?
You can sort the list by ADP. The ADP losses and gains don’t relate well for players toward the beginning and end of the draft as they do for players in the top 30-100, nor does it correlate well to actual fantasy value being returned. But it does give you a quick way to know how early or late a player is going.
ADPs are pulled from ESPN, Yahoo and other sites. ADP data is a total mess so just keep that in mind. For undrafted players they are given ADPs of 200 or 225 when the systems aren’t providing that data, but you’ll notice for ESPN they give players an ADP of 140 when they’re selected and nothing when they’re not. Yahoo stops somewhere in the 150s. We do our best to compile and combine this data.
- Again, fantasy GMs need to consider their specific marketplace and determine where they would like to draft players based on ADP, strength of their league and the like. Just because I rank a guy way ahead of his ADP, or if the ADP doesn’t exist because the guy isn’t getting drafted enough – it doesn’t mean you grab him where I rank him.
These ranks are constantly updated
Check the time/date stamp right before the ranks so you can know that if something was reported after that there could theoretically be a gap in my updates. It's rare but when I compile updates deep in draft season there is a ton going on, whether it's the hard news that's rolling in or confidence factors increasing based on all of the changing circumstances.
UPDATED THROUGH ITEMS POSTED: October 21, 3:54 p.m. ET
| 8C | ADP | +/- | NAME | TEAM | POS | NOTES | 9C | ADP | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.8 | -1.8 | Victor Wembanyama | SAS | C | It has been a slow start for Wembanyama if anything because intergalactic domination has not happened quite yet. The injury situation to date can be explained away to a large degree, leaving the fact that his team is ready to play a full season and their collective improvement has potential to unlock everything everybody has hoped for | 1 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
| 2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | Nikola Jokic | DEN | C | Death, taxes and Nikola Jokic destroying everything in front of him. People love to forget that he continues to get more dangerous with each passing day. There are no significant impediments or rationales to suggest any downward trend. | 2 | 1.9 | 0.1 |
| 3 | 2.9 | 0.1 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | OKC | G | With significant factors making the case for SGA to let off the gas, including the championship exhale and mileage associated with that, there are also other players in Oklahoma City who he may get excited to defer to after receiving peak accolades. | 3 | 3.9 | -0.9 |
| 4 | 4.4 | -0.4 | Luka Doncic | LAL | G | Ready to see peak Luka? If not now I'm not sure when. The bumps and bruises are bound to catch up to him and he has been playing at a professional level for a very long time. If these early returns hold up, he will have peak quickness and no real concern about losing strength. This is his team and he has a Texas sized chip on his shoulder | 4 | 4.7 | -0.7 |
| 5 | 6.7 | -1.7 | Anthony Edwards | MIN | G | The way I evaluate Anthony Edwards is that I don't put a limit on what he will ascend to. If he gets the handles and rounds out the game he has potential to go where very few scorers have gone to. The cat and mouse of shooting and dunking with everything in between could be his in a few seasons. For now, he sits where I ranked him last year and also where he finished. | 5 | 7.4 | -2.4 |
| 6 | 7.5 | -1.5 | Cade Cunningham | DET | G | Perhaps this is a referendum on this stage of the first round in an 8-cat format. In 9-cat Roto formats, the debate is less weighty. In the middle of the first round, it's a bit of a safety play on a guy with practically no ceiling that simultaneously has one year distance on a bad injury history | 18 | 7.6 | 10.4 |
| 7 | 10.9 | -3.9 | Trae Young | ATL | G | You know what you are getting with Trae Young and with the best complementary group he has ever had around him, he could be looking at a peak season. | 30 | 11.4 | 18.6 |
| 8 | 20.8 | -12.8 | Donovan Mitchell | CLE | G | Mitchell is on a short list of players who can take over a playoff series and after taking a relative step backward last season to get his teammates going, the pendulum is about to swing the other way. He just has to stay healthy. | 6 | 18.7 | -12.7 |
| 9 | 11.3 | -2.3 | Karl-Anthony Towns | NYK | C | Even if the team plays Brunson ball, KAT will be just fine. Regardless of chatter about a procedure on his knee he may or may not have had, he is an injury risk all but certainly for the rest of his career. When he is on the floor he will get his numbers and maybe even more if Mike Brown can flatten out the offense. As he has truly shown toughness playing through injury in New York, if you want to try and punch a ticket with first-round value for KAT this may be the last season you aim to do that. | 7 | 10.5 | -3.5 |
| 10 | 15.9 | -5.9 | Stephen Curry | GSW | G | I wouldn't be surprised to see back to back games off but if that was going to be a regular protocol to start the season I would think we would have heard about that by now. There may be a plan already in place to strategically lower his number of games played, but I imagine GSW will operate with some sort of cruising gear as long as circumstances are good. All of that is to say you get elite punching power at an annually decreasing price | 8 | 15.1 | -7.1 |
| 11 | 13.7 | -2.7 | James Harden | LAC | G | There's some downside if he really starts playing passively on a loaded team, but it'll be so much easier for everybody if he just trots out a reasonable facsimile from last season. Some safety in the back end of the first round in 8-cat formats | 24 | 14.6 | 9.4 |
| 12 | 24.8 | -12.8 | Evan Mobley | CLE | F | Mobley's career has been an exercise in hiding his immense value both in reality and also in fantasy. | 10 | 18.3 | -8.3 |
| 13 | 8.4 | 4.6 | Anthony Davis | DAL | F | The per-game numbers are probably going to be there but it should be mentioned that his new team is going to take at least a third of the season to figure out what they are. That isn't necessarily bad for Davis, but does introduce another layer of risk for a player whose career has been defined by it. | 9 | 9.1 | -0.1 |
| 14 | 22.6 | -8.6 | Josh Giddey | CHI | G | Finally in a place that can extract all of his productive capabilities as an offensive player, Giddey is going to enjoy the most support he likely will ever have in a fantasy basketball context | 21 | 27.3 | -6.3 |
| 15 | 47.0 | -32.0 | Austin Reaves | LAL | G | A huge B150 winner from last season that was remarkably easy to predict and in a major market I'm not really sure how there was even a pretext for confusion. He is one of the best ball handlers in the league and gives you so much both statistically and in reality. Folks caught up so we may have to make a selection knowing it's only even value and that's not really our style | 12 | 44.2 | -32.2 |
| 16 | 22.2 | -6.2 | Jalen Williams | OKC | F | It won't be surprising at all if the team tries to prop up Williams into elite territory as their next team-wide project. I'm not entirely taking his wrist injury off of my radar, but that's literally the only question I have about him this season. His size, speed and skills combo has already demonstrated elite ability. | 13 | 23.7 | -10.7 |
| 17 | 20.7 | -3.7 | Kevin Durant | HOU | F | Now with Fred VanFleet out, Durant gets an even safer per-game floor and Houston now needs their guys to make big contributions this regular season. There are some wonky questions about how he will operate with Alperen Sengun but it's a nice blend of high-end stat set capacity to go with some risk that comes with being 37 years old. | 17 | 17.5 | -0.5 |
| 18 | 31.0 | -13.0 | Scottie Barnes | TOR | F | Folks are uneasy about Scottie Barnes because of past injuries and variations in his stat set. Brandon Ingram could theoretically steal some of his thunder. But trade of RJ Barrett could end up helping him and the best thing working in Barnes' favor is that Toronto can compete to be a top-four team in the East | 20 | 26.8 | -6.8 |
| 19 | 43.7 | -24.7 | Desmond Bane | ORL | G | Being a star player has levels and once you are the headliner of a trade including four first-round draft picks the pressure to produce mounts in one way or another. Injury risk is going to be the story until he racks up consecutive big games played seasons, but pressure to stay on the court after players get their big contracts can sometimes override that risk. Orlando needs him to do what he does and he has a history of doing exactly that playing next to good teammates. | 14 | 44.1 | -30.1 |
| 20 | 13.3 | 6.7 | Devin Booker | PHO | G | Devin Booker in the second round of an 8-cat draft just is. | 25 | 11.7 | 13.3 |
| 21 | 39.9 | -18.9 | Dyson Daniels | ATL | G | Sure, concerns about consolidated value in one stat category are real but if you're asking me where he finishes in cumulative ranking it's here. I don't know if he has found a glitch in the matrix stealing the ball in reaction to the changing way offenses played in the NBA, or if he simply has the physical attributes to just take the ball, but I presume the answer is both. Offensive game is already on the way in getting rid of backup PG Kobe Bufkin was probably yet another vote of confidence that Dyson gives enough along with others on the ball to make that move. | 11 | 35.2 | -24.2 |
| 22 | 19.2 | 2.8 | Tyrese Maxey | PHI | G | Even with concerns about tanking or whatever version of that one would want to ascribe to Philadelphia, it's abundantly clear that it's Tyrese Maxey's show. There is no physical reason to be concerned he can't crank out per-game gems. With flattened lottery odds and a draft situation that doesn't scream Trust the Process, it's probably the case that they start the season with the risk meter somewhere in the middle | 15 | 17.7 | -2.7 |
| 23 | 38.5 | -15.5 | De'Aaron Fox | SAS | G | Hand and finger injuries were low key deterrence for Fox last season but mostly he knew he was gone and his teammates could smell it from a mile away. When you add all of the dumb stuff the Sacramento Kings do on a daily basis, it created a lost season for a guy who was becoming one of the most uncoverable players in the league. The only question is whether he and Wemby can max out their chemistry early in the season | 23 | 39.7 | -16.7 |
| 24 | 17.7 | 6.3 | Amen Thompson | HOU | F | The loss of Fred VanFleet certainly thrusts the spotlight on Amen and it's a bit unfortunate because he was going to get his numbers no matter what. Sure, there is probably a little bit more high-end kick but how many draft spots did he climb after the engagement crowd blew him up. Another B150 gem that we ranked right where he finished 50 to 100 spots ahead of everybody else last season, clearly I'm a fan. | 26 | 20.4 | 5.6 |
| 25 | 35.5 | -10.5 | Jalen Johnson | ATL | F | Injury history is a mess here but after last season's disappointment when the fantasy community went all in the year after we rode his breakout with not a single analyst in the vicinity of us, yeah let's operate on the winning side of the pendulum once again | 28 | 24.8 | 3.2 |
| 26 | 31.9 | -5.9 | Chet Holmgren | OKC | C | Make no mistake, OKC is going to play very conservatively after winning a championship and that will extend to Chet without a doubt. But it's also true that they might prioritize his development over any other player on the team knowing that a leap out of him could resemble the Delta you saw when the Celtics added Kristaps Porzingis. That of course would be nightmarish for the rest of the league. | 16 | 24.8 | -8.8 |
| 27 | 63.8 | -36.8 | Brandon Miller | CHA | F | Last season's wrist injury can't be summarily dismissed in terms of impact this season but as far as bigger injuries go this one isn't as problematic as most. That basically puts him right back where he was as an ascending star with plenty of cachet in the Charlotte Hornets pecking order | 33 | 50.7 | -17.7 |
| 28 | 36.8 | -8.8 | Cooper Flagg | DAL | F | Watching Cooper Flagg film is basically a constant flow of exceeded expectations. Didn't think the athleticism was up to snuff? Well that's him continuing to elevate way longer than you thought he would be. The versatility is such a gold mine for Dallas in their current lopsided construction in the polarities of the backcourt and frontcourt. He's being overdrafted a lot because of the hype and these are always fun to rate. How high on the elevator do you want to go? Maybe it's the same situation – he just keeps climbing higher than you think you're going to see | 31 | 41.9 | -10.9 |
| 29 | 38.9 | -9.9 | Derrick White | BOS | G | Among the levels of keeping up with Derrick White superstar whether that's on the reality level or fantasy level is that he has easy No.3 offensive player bona fides. His off the dribble package from beyond the arc and quickness can create way more buckets than he has been asked to make in the past. With supreme confidence that he will make the right decision, one doesn't need to force him into being a No. 2 offensive player on the ball because he is more valuable raising the level of everybody he plays with. | 19 | 33.5 | -14.5 |
| 30 | 36.0 | -6.0 | Franz Wagner | ORL | F | Wagner may never truly develop the jumpshot that would start to make him a little bit unfair, but he's going to have the speed strength combo to be a high level fantasy and reality player for the next three to four seasons. As long as Paolo Banchero doesn't, for good or bad reasons, turn into a black hole the stage is set for Wagner to max his efficiency | 27 | 36.3 | -9.3 |
| 31 | 12.0 | 19.0 | Domantas Sabonis | SAC | C | Even if he can somehow find his way out of Sacramento where his fantasy value is maximized, Sabonis is about as safe as it gets in the second round | 34 | 13.9 | 20.1 |
| 32 | 54.7 | -22.7 | Trey Murphy | NOR | F | Murphy is one of the best pure shooters in the league and his athleticism and length make him one of the most dangerous players in the league. Now, he doesn't have the overall skills package or defensive acumen to truly cash in on this, but the story is clearly that he is really good and his fantasy stat set has punching power. Some injury risk and franchise doofusness cloud the picture here and hopefully to our benefit | 22 | 43.0 | -21.0 |
| 33 | 69.9 | -36.9 | Jordan Poole | NOR | G | Poole was mostly great last season and the defensive numbers were a welcome sight. New Orleans did a lot of stupid things this off-season and the public perception of Poole as less than serious are creating a pocket of value here | 47 | 72.5 | -25.5 |
| 34 | 30.9 | 3.1 | LaMelo Ball | CHA | G | Ball is entering elite historical territory as a villain in fantasy leagues. One has to rate this stuff on a year-to-year basis and try not to get overly caught up in what all of that means. There is significant question about his seriousness as a basketball player and that is an elusive concept to evaluate when it can only truly exist within his own ears. What flips and how it flips is whatever it will be. All we can say is that in 8-cat league this is where it makes sense to take your chance on a first-round value within all of that context | 50 | 28.8 | 21.2 |
| 35 | 23.2 | 11.8 | Jalen Brunson | NYK | G | It will be interesting to see the true extent of Mike Brown's influence on Jalen Brunson and how the New York Knicks offense is run. The only real downside is that he gets less usage but probably gain some efficiency and improves the durability factor. If you're looking for safety in the risky backend of the early rounds, it's hard to argue with any reasonable selection here. | 35 | 22.6 | 12.5 |
| 36 | 52.4 | -16.4 | Coby White | CHI | G | The Chicago offense is ready to roll and Coby White's role within it is unassailable. All he has to do is stay healthy and he will show off another gear. | 36 | 58.2 | -22.2 |
| 37 | 70.1 | -33.1 | Lauri Markkanen | UTA | F | Markkanen is deep within shit or get off the pot territory and I'm not expecting him to play a ton of games but at some point constantly losing large chunks of season becomes a real detriment to a player's career. That's a long way of saying that maybe this is the right season to hop on the risk reward wagon but that said he does tend to get overdrafted | 29 | 56.8 | -27.8 |
| 38 | 37.0 | 1.0 | Jamal Murray | DEN | G | Murray can do his damage in less games than most and we're getting to the point where his last peak season will be this year or next year. If the vibes are good in Denver and they seem to be, surprisingly, after bad management and ownership screwed up the Michael Malone situation, then folks taking the plunge are going to get themselves one hell of an asset | 32 | 36.7 | -4.7 |
| 39 | 63.0 | -24.0 | Zach LaVine | SAC | G | Zach LaVine is going to get every opportunity to make Vivek Ranadive look like the Hall of Fame general manager that he believes himself to be. Sure, I can list out all of the problems that the Sacramento Kings have, and some of them could easily sour the season for LaVine, but even if he loses a ton of wiggle and efficiencies start to show it there won't be much value loss. Injury risk is another story but overall he is fighting for his career arc at this point. He needs to play well or start moving toward the middle and eventually the bottom of the NBA ecosystem, especially with that contract. | 53 | 62.5 | -9.5 |
| 40 | 22.3 | 17.7 | Alperen Sengun | HOU | C | The hype machine is hyping and still can't recognize the whole defense being 50% of the game part but in fantasy leagues Sengun is finally being faded a little bit after years of disappointing in relation to the hype and premature victory laps. I do respect his offensive game, even if questions about his maturity and ability to handle peak usage in high leverage moments linger – which is part of the package with him needing to be a high usage player due to the defensive deficiencies. This Houston team identity has certainly amplified a toughness within Sengun that can rise to the threshold of being a top-3 player on the short list of contending teams, but that's only true if he takes a leap in athleticism that nobody can predict because it's so unlikely to happen. He will have to play perfect basketball on offense for Houston to live up to the preseason hype regardless of the Fred VanFleet situation, and that's a lot to ask of any player let alone a player at this juncture of Sengun's career. | 49 | 19.9 | 29.1 |
| 41 | 26.1 | 14.9 | LeBron James | LAL | F | Whatever Lebron wants to do this season he gets to call his shot and I doubt it's sitting the sidelines. He obviously knows how to make sure he gets his even if the Lakers start to play Luka ball. | 45 | 31.5 | 13.5 |
| 42 | 59.1 | -17.1 | Deni Avdija | POR | F | His strength and quickness combo is among the best in the league as Avdija can basically just cruise through the paint and let players bounce off of him. Scoot Henderson's injury didn't really change much in the pecking order but as this stuff starts to happen through the year he will have another dear be on some of what we saw toward the end of last season | 76 | 50.7 | 25.3 |
| 43 | 48.3 | -5.3 | Jaren Jackson Jr. | MEM | F | With minute counts going down in the offense trending toward quick hitting egalitarian stuff when you also add in the current injury it's just not a year to select JJJ in the early rounds | 41 | 36.9 | 4.1 |
| 44 | 66.3 | -22.3 | Jalen Green | PHO | G | With unlimited shots available to him and plenty of organizational mandate to produce, even if Devin Booker starts chucking at early career rates it can't really stop Green from having a max usage season. 9-cat formats won't be so nice to him but everything else in 8-cat is a full go | 89 | 74.5 | 14.5 |
| 45 | 62.6 | -17.6 | Miles Bridges | CHA | F | Bridges' fantasy value is starting to settle in since all of the off the court issues unsettled it. People tend to downgrade him because of those issues and for the sake of accuracy this is where the production will land. | 43 | 63.8 | -20.8 |
| 46 | 26.1 | 19.9 | Pascal Siakam | IND | F | In a risky section of the draft give Siakam a tiny bump for being about as safe as it gets with the defined role and offensive system that needs him and also accentuates his strengths | 48 | 32.2 | 15.8 |
| 47 | 78.2 | -31.2 | Payton Pritchard | BOS | G | Watching a ton of film on him last season it's clear he has a lot more wiggle and shotmaking than people are giving him credit for. This will be a big determinant and whether he can handle high-and minutes and usage this season. Can he do all of this without the dips in efficiency and whatever the Celtics' season will spin into? All I know is that the skill is there | 42 | 66.5 | -24.5 |
| 48 | 81.9 | -33.9 | Toumani Camara | POR | F | One of the best defensive players in the league in a game changer in that regard. As he continues to improve on offense he will continue to stand out | 37 | 66.7 | -29.7 |
| 49 | 80.5 | -31.5 | Ausar Thompson | DET | F | Thompson is on my short list of players who jump off the page physically in the NBA. He looks like he could be a foil to a prime Lebron James in terms of lateral quickness, size and strength. The time off has clouded the picture here even if we saw glimpses of what he could be throughout the season and in the playoffs for Detroit. As soon as the skills catch up, he can eclipse his twin brother, but regardless of that race I think he starts winning it against the rest of the league this season | 56 | 78.3 | -22.3 |
| 50 | 39.5 | 10.5 | Ja Morant | MEM | G | It's a prove-it season for Ja Morant this year and he also gets a full off-season to absorb the Tuomas Iisalo system that's basically in its second season. And it's not just for Morant to absorb, if everybody. As long as he is mentally body and it's the same equation as we have always seen, if he can stay on the court he can be an 8-cat difference maker | 101 | 45.4 | 55.6 |
| 51 | 28.2 | 22.8 | Paolo Banchero | ORL | F | I think the Magic need one more real perimeter threat to truly unlock a shooting-challenged duo of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, so another words the Desmond Bane acquisition isn't actually enough. But it should be good to make his life a solid 33% easier and along with his own improvement and development there is potential for more value than can be reasonably projected. The stat set obviously works against him in Roto formats and along with the big name the value is never great | 90 | 27.7 | 62.3 |
| 52 | 41.2 | 10.8 | Nikola Vucevic | CHI | C | Wherever he plays for the last third of the season or more, it's unlikely he falls out of the top 100 on a per-game basis so it's not the sexy play and at his age risk is inherently a part of the equation but that's not something you plan for here. There is always a market for Vucevic and in that regard ROI probably isn't great. | 38 | 51.1 | -13.1 |
| 53 | 53.3 | -0.3 | Jimmy Butler | GSW | F | Golden State was one of the best teams in the league after acquiring Butler and one has to wonder if his games played chart looks different for a different marquee organization at this particular late stage of his career, in particular with the historic group of players he is with. In short, conditions are there for a surprise games played number. A decent price makes the risk reward better than it was last season. | 39 | 50.7 | -11.7 |
| 54 | 69.4 | -15.4 | Tyler Herro | MIA | G | The injury is a bummer and along with past injuries that made last season a bit of a surprise at 77 games, this ankle issue seems to have a long-term component to it. We always have to be careful not to overreact to preseason injuries in relation to in-season injuries, and Herro truly ascended to dangerous offensive engine status last year. | 68 | 69.8 | -1.8 |
| 55 | 109.8 | -54.8 | Reed Sheppard | HOU | G | So much conjecture and legitimate question about not just the player but how high he was selected which has all been covered up by the legitimate depth in Houston. Now, he gets thrust into every piece of the spotlight and Houston needs him to be every bit as good as they thought he was on draft day | 71 | 114.4 | -43.4 |
| 56 | 92.3 | -36.3 | Immanuel Quickley | TOR | G | Quickley is coming off of a disaster season and starts the year in a log jammed situation with the addition of Brandon Ingram. The hope is that he can still play at the level he was at before the crash and something opens up when the team eventually trades RJ Barrett. A lot comes down to what they would bring back, but overall Quickley has a nice fantasy game when he is truly unleashed | 57 | 75.0 | -18.0 |
| 57 | 84.8 | -27.8 | Christian Braun | DEN | G | Some of it is playing with Nikola Jokic who creates the best version of Christian Braun, but a lot of it is just Braun being an athletic, nasty straight line driver and cut guy. His efficiency catapulted him to a big time fantasy season last year and there are too many changes this year, though it's fair to question if he can do it again because the numbers are pretty damn high | 40 | 88.3 | -48.3 |
| 58 | 81.9 | -23.9 | Deandre Ayton | LAL | C | It's hard to bet against a guy virtually locked in a bigger minute role as he is going to get to clean up on easy stuff via Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Lebron James. Opinion regarding DeAndre Ayton has certainly crumbled in recent years, but he just has to show up and he can get within a round or two of this value | 52 | 66.2 | -14.2 |
| 59 | 143.0 | -84.0 | Adem Bona | PHI | C | Bona is spry and much more talented than people believe, viewing him as a silly season guy when in reality he is more than that. We led the way with him last season as a pickup and he is looking at improvement this season | 59 | 121.3 | -62.3 |
| 60 | 94.2 | -34.2 | Kevin Porter Jr. | MIL | G | Milwaukee barely has any players at all who can get into the paint after Giannis and Porter is one of them. | 97 | 111.3 | -14.3 |
| 61 | 88.3 | -27.3 | Herb Jones | NOR | F | Injury risk is at minimum uncomfortable yet still in a manageable range and concern about fantasy value being too consolidated in the steals category is also fair. On the other side, it feels like we still haven't seen the best of Jones and what we have seen already is pretty damn productive | 55 | 68.5 | -13.5 |
| 62 | 55.9 | 6.1 | Kawhi Leonard | LAC | F | Unless the book gets thrown at he or the Clippers, it's extremely doubtful that the off-season drama affects the way he plays. He's a machine. And with the way the Clippers are set up, he has a good chance of maximizing his efficiency. Maybe it's second through fourth round value per-game, so if he can somehow play in 60 games it's a nice little equation. | 46 | 47.2 | -1.2 |
| 63 | 60.8 | 2.2 | Jalen Duren | DET | C | I'm very curious to see how he handles his weight as he is already lumbering at an early stage of his career. Sure, he can snap most NBA players over his leg but if you're not a shot blocking presence and your mobility declines things can get bad real quick | 64 | 54.4 | 9.6 |
| 64 | 64.5 | -0.5 | Michael Porter Jr. | BKN | F | Stop doing podcasts, Broseph. Yes, you can, but it's doubtful the folks in your ecosystem are cheering for you to do it. So we are seeing some of the downsides of MPJ but the biggest one is playing in Brooklyn. | 66 | 71.7 | -5.7 |
| 65 | 29.7 | 35.3 | Bam Adebayo | MIA | C | Bam has already explored his ceiling as both an offensive player as well as a player in general. Trending toward guard skills and losing peak physical intimidation on the defensive side, the name has been way bigger than the game in both fantasy and reality | 72 | 31.8 | 40.2 |
| 66 | 96.2 | -30.2 | John Collins | LAC | F | The crowd makes this situation pretty funny but Collins brings a versatility that the Clippers absolutely need and the idea that this is the season that he might be on the right side of the ledger sets the stage for some serious needle threading | 65 | 92.2 | -27.2 |
| 67 | 47.0 | 20.0 | Myles Turner | MIL | C | I do think there will be a learning curve for Turner playing with Giannis but I'm actually more worried about Milwaukee imploding through the process of Giannis eventually leaving. | 44 | 43.5 | 0.5 |
| 68 | 120.4 | -52.4 | Quentin Grimes | PHI | G | Grimes showed top-tier strength and quickness off the bounce and a lot of people want to characterize that as silly season stuff but we saw signs of it at past stops. His contract situation is messy and we will see that play out throughout the preseason, in Philadelphia is just a messy place in general, but the talent equation is good here | 85 | 138.7 | -53.7 |
| 69 | 120.3 | -51.3 | Kyshawn George | WAS | F | George can do well just by reproducing most of the elements he produced last season. His size and athleticism combo is great and that bodes well for this to happen. He has a lot more he can gain in terms of skills and overall role. | 75 | 102.6 | -27.6 |
| 70 | 118.9 | -48.9 | Neemias Queta | BOS | C | Queta is locked and loaded ready to contribute for the Celtics this season and the only real question is whether or not he can remain healthy. He has added skills but most importantly we just want to see him spry | 60 | 113.6 | -53.6 |
| 71 | 106.8 | -35.8 | Jaden McDaniels | MIN | F | McDaniels will continue to improve for a couple more seasons and at the same time Minnesota is sort of landlocked with what they are doing in both fantasy and reality. Look for small, incremental improvements | 51 | 88.3 | -37.3 |
| 72 | 102.0 | -30.0 | Matas Buzelis | CHI | F | The hype machine is cranking and the situation in Chicago is good for him. Maybe the profit margin isn't there but it's a fun play in the middle rows | 61 | 82.7 | -21.7 |
| 73 | 79.2 | -6.2 | Brandon Ingram | TOR | F | I remember getting high on Brandon Ingram a few seasons back and it melted my face. While it's tempting to summarily dismiss him, the problems in New Orleans are at a franchise level and maybe he just wants to play now. The pressure is certainly there and assuming they don't bring a big piece back that gets in the way, a trade of RJ Barrett could be the final thing to get him kicking at a top 50 level | 96 | 72.5 | 23.5 |
| 74 | 71.9 | 2.1 | Darius Garland | CLE | G | The foot issues dragging him down in the playoffs are not great for a guy who has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Cleveland isn't as deep as last year so the timing for Garland isn't great in that regard, either, but when he gets back after the Cavs played extremely safe with him he should be back to late early around potential production | 87 | 66.5 | 20.5 |
| 75 | 111.3 | -36.3 | Santi Aldama | MEM | F | Aldama has finally put it all together and is versatile enough in the frontcourt to both handle and close on concerns. He can be good in low minutes and he can absorb minutes in a variety of ways. The next stop for him is being more of a reliable, higher-end offensive player in higher-leverage minutes. He has some injury risk but altogether might be looking at a peak season | 69 | 106.4 | -37.4 |
| 76 | 68.2 | 7.8 | O.G. Anunoby | NYK | F | Whether Mike Brown is able to shift the offense to a more egalitarian approach or not, OG Anunoby just needs to stay healthy to hit his marks. Because OG was the squeaky wheel this past off-season, perhaps they try to increase his role a tiny bit but I'm more keyed in on the circumstantial portion of how they run things | 54 | 63.7 | -9.7 |
| 77 | 69.8 | 7.2 | Mikal Bridges | NYK | F | Bridges will be a beneficiary if Mike Brown is successful in installing an up-tempo chair the ball offense that moves things away from Jalen Brunson and spreads them out among the rest of the team. Bridges is getting dangerously close to not having the lateral quickness to offset the deficiencies that have bubbled up in his offensive game | 58 | 78.8 | -20.8 |
| 78 | 87.5 | -9.5 | Onyeka Okongwu | ATL | C | Atlanta finally cut him loose last season and in particular on offense. Now, with Kristaps Porzingis there and the team improving there isn't as much of a need for that, but Atlanta will exactly put the toothpaste back in the tube with that. He will get his offense when he can but has otherwise earned a significant role that generally has a mid-round ceiling | 62 | 90.4 | -28.4 |
| 79 | 112.6 | -33.6 | Jalen Suggs | ORL | G | Suggs has been going through a fairly meticulous but otherwise normal rehab and the optics of it give people the sense that he is not okay to start the season. That will play out in the coming weeks but overall I think you just have to evaluate him as a higher level injury risk with a younger body and that evens out somewhere in the middle | 100 | 103.7 | -3.7 |
| 80 | 91.2 | -11.2 | Mark Williams | PHO | C | There will be all sorts of kid gloves here but it feels like he is wanted in Phoenix and that they are going to support him. There are a few different synergies with old roommate Collin Gillespie, who shares an agent with Williams, and that's minutia but the key thing is that they target the right number of overall minutes for him and hit their marks on the training protocols | 73 | 80.9 | -7.9 |
| 81 | 65.8 | 15.2 | Kristaps Porzingis | ATL | C | The story is always the same with Kristaps Porzingis – how much is he going to play and whether he is going to throw caution to the wind and try to get a big games played number before there aren't any seasons left to do that with. Atlanta is a good situation for him but still, on a season-long cumulative rank, this is the best I can do | 67 | 54.1 | 12.9 |
| 82 | 135.7 | -53.7 | Ty Jerome | MEM | G | There will be defensive concerns for Jerome any time big minutes are discussed, and I suspect some of the reason he didn't get a bigger contract after proving he can be quite an offensive engine is the knee issue. He fits what Memphis wants to do really well and though he has a bit of a climb to get to last year's levels, that never really hit, the situation is right for him to do that | 84 | 121.3 | -37.3 |
| 83 | 118.9 | -35.9 | Tari Eason | HOU | F | Houston needs Tari Eason to play the minutes he is allocated and I'm not sure if they feel like they can ask him for more, but there is more available. He's a young guy but so far in his young career they have had to have the kid gloves on with him even when they needed him to do more. Of course, the fantasy stat set can get him producing real quick | 63 | 112.9 | -49.9 |
| 84 | 57.1 | 26.9 | Josh Hart | NYK | F | Hart is emerging as an early swing piece and possible referendum on what Mike Brown wants the Knicks to be. Whether it's talk about him starting or coming off the bench or simply questioning whether or not he can play 5721 minutes per game. I personally think he fits the mold of what Mike Brown wants in a drive and kick guy, but the lack of shooting would be the counter to that argument in terms of being a heavy minute, top-50 fantasy guy | 81 | 67.7 | 13.3 |
| 85 | 92.0 | -7.0 | Paul George | PHI | F | George doesn't sound great in preseason interviews but is claiming that his body is in a better place than it was last season and that he was playing through injuries. That's all good and fine but it's doubtful anybody wants to press through anything serious for this squad, this season | 93 | 81.8 | 11.2 |
| 86 | 26.2 | 59.8 | Jaylen Brown | BOS | F | Jaylen Brown will have all of the car keys but unfortunately his fantasy game has holes in it and he is an injury risk with potential to get way less efficient this season | 117 | 31.0 | 86.0 |
| 87 | 126.4 | -39.4 | Donte DiVincenzo | MIN | G | There aren't any flashing neon lights describing Minnesota as doing something much more significant with DiVincenzo, so if they can simply keep him close to 30 MPG and not ice him out he should have a fairly good fantasy season above the cut line | 95 | 123.0 | -28.0 |
| 88 | 55.4 | 32.6 | Jarrett Allen | CLE | C | Whether it's his own degradation or the ascension of Evan Mobley, I feel like he has been producing on borrowed time/money already and that the cutting edge of big man mobility is so sharp that it's probable this season is when it tips over for him the wrong direction | 70 | 55.5 | 14.5 |
| 89 | 93.8 | -4.8 | Naz Reid | MIN | C | Minnesota sounds like they want to have Naz Reid on the court as much as possible even floating some pretty laughable discussion about him getting small forward minutes. This may ultimately be a peak season for him but it's a better bet that it's just a run-of-the-mill Naz Reid season | 80 | 93.4 | -13.4 |
| 90 | 99.7 | -9.7 | Donovan Clingan | POR | C | There is a lot of upside here but I am concerned about his health and ability to get bigger minutes. I don't think there is some massive agenda to force him into those minutes, either, so I'm a little bit on the fade here | 86 | 81.0 | 5.0 |
| 91 | 94.9 | -3.9 | Shaedon Sharpe | POR | G | Shaedon Sharpe has all of the tools and has improved his efficiency throughout his three year career. His defensive numbers are bad hurting him in fantasy leagues but other than that he should be all systems go for a big season, especially in points leagues | 114 | 90.4 | 23.6 |
| 92 | 111.8 | -19.8 | Devin Vassell | SAS | G | Maybe the influx of talent will allow him to truly get his body right but that some pretty wishful thinking. The best case for him this season is that the team improving acts as a rising tide to lift all boats | 82 | 99.3 | -17.3 |
| 93 | 156.7 | -63.7 | Justin Champagnie | WAS | F | Justin Champagnie has always been held back and at the same time has shown fantasy potential whenever he has been on the floor. He does enough of the little things to earn playing time and in Washington there will be space for him to do that | 78 | 148.2 | -70.2 |
| 94 | 152.3 | -58.3 | Jake LaRavia | LAL | F | I want to go higher here but it's pretty crowded in Los Angeles. This was one of the best free-agent pickups of the off season and LaRavia has a history of producing in low minutes, though he also has a history of taking on a lot of defense and team responsibilities at the expense of statistical output and that might be the case for him in Los Angeles. Regardless, as long as he stays healthy expect everybody to be talking in January about what a surprise he has been when in reality there is nothing surprising about it at all | 92 | 151.8 | -59.8 |
| 95 | 82.5 | 12.5 | Alexandre Sarr | WAS | C | Injuries are already popping up and I'm not out of my mind concerned but Washington is going to play it safe with him and that might shave off some of the upside here. And while the fantasy game has some fun elements, there are also some efficiency deficiencies dragging him backwards | 98 | 80.4 | 17.6 |
| 96 | 4.6 | 91.4 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | F | Remember, this is a Roto list and while you can theoretically punt with him I feel like it boxes you in on a player with an injury history who gets by on physicality and the minute that goes things go south real quick | 135 | 5.8 | 129.2 |
| 97 | 140.9 | -43.9 | Keon Ellis | SAC | G | Being one of the best defenders in the NBA means that even if the Sacramento Kings have no idea what they have, we will be on track to lead the way with Ellis again this season | 74 | 141.0 | -67.0 |
| 98 | 138.3 | -40.3 | Jay Huff | IND | C | I tried to tell Sacramento that they should make a move for Jay Huff and the team that thrashed them in the Tyrese Haliburton trade stepped in and made the move. There are legitimate questions about Huff's knee and whether he can handle bigger minutes, as well as questions about his overall strength. That said he can block shots and hit threes and that makes him a great fit for Indiana, playing with another player and Isaiah Jackson who has graced these ranks in the past as an upside guy before he got hurt. | 79 | 139.0 | -60.0 |
| 99 | 114.4 | -15.4 | Malik Monk | SAC | G | Monk had the type of summer that made me wonder what it is that I don't know about him in Sacramento. Word on the street is that they just don't think he's that good. Being that he's one of the few players that can break the paint and runs a very dangerous pick and roll with Domantas Sabonis, absent anything I'm missing this is just classic Sacramento being dumb dumbs about what they have. Regardless, as long as he isn't traded he's going to produce and it won't take much to get him going in the top 100 range | 112 | 128.5 | -16.5 |
| 100 | 136.8 | -36.8 | De'Andre Hunter | CLE | F | With 6MOY hype strongly in place and Cleveland needing him to produce he has as nice of an outlook as he has had in recent seasons | 110 | 139.1 | -29.1 |
| 101 | 88.0 | 13.0 | Anfernee Simons | BOS | G | Simons can be moved at any time and that makes things a little bit uneasy but he has a fine spot in Boston and any acquiring team probably wants him to do more or less what he has done the past few seasons | 99 | 88.1 | 10.9 |
| 102 | 73.7 | 28.3 | Jakob Poeltl | TOR | C | Toronto wants to milk the last few seasons of starter level production out of him and he won't be getting in the way of too much of what they want to do when on the floor. Some additional shooting around him is probably the last step to maxing out his value for the Raptors | 103 | 73.5 | 29.6 |
| 103 | 84.6 | 18.4 | Andrew Nembhard | IND | G | Nembhard is a team leader that has handled high leverage minutes on the biggest stages, bringing toughness and playmaking within the context of what Indiana is trying to do. He has some holes in his fantasy game that keep him from truly taking off but this should be a very good season for him | 125 | 76.8 | 48.2 |
| 104 | 116.8 | -12.8 | Keegan Murray | SAC | F | Murray played through an ankle injury that was fairly bad last season but mostly he played through a Sacramento Kings franchise that was truly trying to outdo themselves. He regressed with his shooting and being asked to defend top players all game long set him up to be on the side of a milk carton again. There is a really effective player waiting to be unleashed but maybe Sacramento has tanked his trade value so much that they will get excited about moving him for a has been player in a bad deal and he can be set free to play for a good franchise that isn't equivalent to the fantasy GM in your league that only reads headlines and isn't aware of what reading blurbs and real work product does for the bottom line | 77 | 102.1 | -25.1 |
| 105 | 63.7 | 41.3 | Walker Kessler | UTA | C | Utah doesn't want the guy and some of that may come down to what they know about his injury history and it might also just be that they don't believe he can be versatile enough to build around in the NBA. He's going to be in a prove-it season and though Utah doesn't want to win, they may be more competitive and there is some pretext for upside here | 83 | 55.3 | 27.7 |
| 106 | 91.0 | 15.0 | Norman Powell | MIA | G | It's going to be fun for Norm early while Tyler Herro is on the shelf but as we saw last season with Los Angeles once the high-volume games give way the fantasy value starts to settle in toward the top 100 over the long haul | 111 | 91.1 | 19.9 |
| 107 | 112.0 | -5.0 | Stephon Castle | SAS | G | Castle gets a little boost with Dylan Harper iffy to start the year but mostly he just needs to figure out where he fits in playing behind De'Aaron Fox and stay aggressive letting his physical tools lead the way. As long as he can play efficient, smart basketball he will have a lane to start dealing with the percentages issues | 123 | 118.2 | 4.8 |
| 108 | 107.0 | 1.0 | Draymond Green | GSW | F | There will be more time off and he will continue to morph into a complementary, low level producer. There's also the part about things probably not ending well as his skills decrease unless he deals with the conflict issues more effectively | 145 | 105.1 | 39.9 |
| 109 | 93.0 | 16.0 | Isaiah Hartenstein | OKC | C | The cutting edge of big man defense was a winning factor for him a few seasons ago and now it's a losing factor for him. Such is life in the NBA trying to cover the pick and roll. He will still be a late round producer but needs multiple injuries ahead of him to be better than that | 127 | 79.0 | 48.0 |
| 110 | 162.7 | -52.7 | Tristan Vukcevic | WAS | C | A big man that can move and shoot a bit should be on more than a two way deal. This is how you know NBA decision-makers aren't that good at this | 128 | 152.7 | -24.7 |
| 111 | 74.5 | 36.5 | Rudy Gobert | MIN | C | The decline has been evident for a while and perhaps this makes the fantasy equation make sense here | 104 | 66.0 | 38.0 |
| 112 | 105.2 | 6.8 | Nicolas Claxton | BKN | C | Looking at Claxton's numbers from last season they very much look like a player who was playing hurt. Of course, any injury risk we want to associate to him doesn't feel great in this mess of a tank in Brooklyn. But it all works out there is some potential to tap into the top-100. | 102 | 101.3 | 0.7 |
| 113 | 137.0 | -24.0 | Josh Minott | BOS | F | We have seen some big flash moments out of Minott and then Minnesota just sort of gave him away. The athleticism is there and so is the opportunity | 109 | 67.0 | 42.0 |
| 114 | 137.1 | -23.1 | Aaron Nesmith | IND | F | Nesmith is one of those classic players that analysts can't wrap their heads around being a top player in the league. They are also scratching their head about how Indiana can be so good. He is as good defensively as one could expect for his position, he takes and makes critical three-point shots and with a head of steam can hurt you in the running game. This is easy money | 91 | 135.6 | -44.6 |
| 115 | 136.8 | -21.8 | Nikola Jovic | MIA | F | Apparently you switch out one little letter and get a miniature version of the league's best player. Seriously though, Jovic does a little bit of everything and he does it well and this will be the season he introduces himself to the fantasy and MBA community at large | 121 | 132.6 | -11.6 |
| 116 | 92.3 | 23.7 | Cam Thomas | BKN | G | It will be a turbulent season and at the same time Brooklyn probably lets Cam Thomas go out and chuck for the first third of the season as long as it doesn't hurt chemistry too bad. Once he gets traded the value is going to go significantly down in 80% of scenarios. It might vary from draft to draft but he could actually be underrated in 8-cat formats | 153 | 85.3 | 67.7 |
| 117 | 96.9 | 20.1 | Andrew Wiggins | MIA | F | Andrew Wiggins has spent so much time in this territory of the ranks that he bought a house and got some chickens for his backyard. Pretty soon he will be competing with Aaron Wiggins to be the best Wiggins in the B150 | 126 | 109.6 | 16.4 |
| 118 | 122.9 | -4.9 | Keyonte George | UTA | G | Adding Walter Clayton is going to be a good thing for Keyonte George because I think less is more with him and if he can get the efficiency issues figured out he has all of the athleticism in the world to pivot into being a good NBA player | 160 | 119.7 | 40.3 |
| 119 | 131.6 | -12.6 | Cason Wallace | OKC | G | Wallace might exemplify the ridiculousness of Oklahoma City's depth more than any player right now. He can start on most good playoff teams and be a plus player because of the very high-end defense in serviceable offense | 88 | 123.3 | -35.3 |
| 120 | 44.5 | 75.5 | Ivica Zubac | LAC | C | People got way over their skis evaluating what Zubac did last season. There were minutes available, he's a good offensive player but this is a guy that regularly can get played off the court on defense and he started winning awards for it. Congrats to him for doing the things within his power to clean things up but with Brook Lopez in town, sure, it's his job and Brook may be fine with cruising off the bench. But he's not better than him so the fantasy decline is going to be precipitous | 105 | 40.0 | 65.0 |
| 121 | 136.2 | -15.2 | Dennis Schroder | SAC | G | Dennis Schroder has been a solid lower level starting point guard for a while and then great in high leverage minutes for a while now, too. Sacramento has all sorts of problems and impediments to his value but he will do his job and then whatever results will follow | 132 | 133.2 | -1.2 |
| 122 | 101.2 | 20.8 | Kel'el Ware | MIA | C | There will be a lot of hype for Ware and it's fairly deserving but the way Miami is constructed the season can look a lot like last season did. It will be interesting to see if some of Erik Spoelstra's calling him out produces an improvement right away or if it takes a season to evolve | 94 | 84.3 | 9.7 |
| 123 | 143.6 | -20.6 | Kyle Filipowski | UTA | C | His draft day drop is its own story, but the story now is that he is way better than most people, even the ones that are hyping him up, truly know. The athleticism is good, the versatility is good and even in a messy Utah situation there's no reason he can't continue to ascend | 131 | 144.7 | -13.7 |
| 124 | 141.4 | -17.4 | Taylor Hendricks | UTA | F | Hendricks was flirting with having higher end physical potential but it wasn't a guarantee and last year's injury just accentuates that question a little bit more. And while last year they were committed to seeing what they had in him, this year he has competition so he will have to earn everything he gets in both fantasy and reality | 107 | 143.4 | -36.4 |
| 125 | 140.7 | -15.7 | Chris Boucher | BOS | F | Boucher has quietly emerged into a guy who does what the coaches need from him and in Boston they're going to need him to mop up some minutes and shoot some threes | 108 | 141.3 | -33.3 |
| 126 | 55.4 | 70.6 | DeMar DeRozan | SAC | F | Look for DeRozan to try to establish his value early in the season and though it would be wise for Sacramento to put him on a pitch/shot count they never do the life thing. If things get hectic there because he doesn't really seem to be a part of the future, or probably appreciate the tap dance the team put everybody through last year, it could sap his value especially knowing that very few teams are going to let him do what Sacramento let him do last season – which was to dribble and chuck at peak levels. | 115 | 66.2 | 48.8 |
| 127 | 200.0 | -73.0 | Collin Gillespie | PHO | G | Gillespie has a sneaky fantasy game and is a much better player than folks know. Give him an inch and he will quietly take top 100 fantasy value | 113 | 200.0 | -87.0 |
| 128 | 137.8 | -9.8 | Isaiah Jackson | IND | C | There are legitimate questions about what Jackson lost due to injury and of course the injury risk will be there. Without Myles Turner, Indiana committed a little bit here finally and depending on how much he lost there can still be some upside | 119 | 136.9 | -17.9 |
| 129 | 107.8 | 21.2 | Cam Johnson | DEN | F | Johnson shot amazingly last season in the dumpster fire known as Brooklyn and the idea of him catching passes at the letters in wide open spaces playing with Nikola Jokic is quite fun. It's a little bit crowded so the fantasy value is capped but probably consistent enough to stay off the waiver wire outside of shallow formats | 120 | 89.2 | 30.8 |
| 130 | 112.5 | 17.5 | Tobias Harris | DET | F | There's something to be said for safety but even in intermediate leagues it feels like the name value is taking away what could be some ROI and because of that making this an inadvisable pick. The better way to frame that would be to say you can do better elsewhere | 106 | 116.3 | -10.3 |
| 131 | 70.9 | 60.1 | Julius Randle | MIN | F | His Roto deficiencies are well-known and he's not getting any younger, and those walls will start crashing in as the season goes as well. | 177 | 65.2 | 111.8 |
| 132 | 122.0 | 10.0 | Dereck Lively II | DAL | C | Aside from a pretty decent injury history, Lively is stuck in a logjam and probably needs two injuries to truly get away from the cut zone in standard formats | 140 | 108.1 | 31.9 |
| 133 | 138.3 | -5.3 | Brook Lopez | LAC | C | It would be fun to project some big upside for Lopez but it would literally be a bet on whether Ivica Zubac gets hurt. Outside of unreasonable speculation, this is a good place to throw the dart | 122 | 136.9 | -14.9 |
| 134 | 52.8 | 81.2 | Joel Embiid | PHI | C | Unless you have a lot of flexibility to manage this situation, Embiid will need about 50 games to make the hassle worth it | 156 | 52.0 | 104.0 |
| 135 | 134.1 | 0.9 | Yves Missi | NOR | C | Missi had a mostly boring rookie season and that makes him a slight value heading into this season | 129 | 130.2 | -1.2 |
| 136 | 136.1 | -0.1 | Zaccharie Risacher | ATL | F | He's getting stronger and has improved vastly even dating back to last season getting to the cup and finishing. If his fantasy stat set was better this would be a lot more exciting but he's going to get a lot of positive pub this season | 124 | 132.9 | -8.9 |
| 137 | 110.4 | 26.6 | D'Angelo Russell | DAL | G | Russell is going to get a shot to be productive right out the gate and this ranking doesn't fully capture what that will look like. You probably want to draft him for potential top 100 value and then have the escape plan already planned out. | 201 | 113.3 | 87.7 |
| 138 | 128.6 | 9.4 | Brandin Podziemski | GSW | G | Things will get a little bit easier for Podz now that he's not asked to do so much. He can get his numbers as plays break down and when all of that gets added up he will be a late round value | 130 | 120.3 | 9.7 |
| 139 | 143.3 | -4.3 | Bilal Coulibaly | WAS | F | The injury to start the season is a bit of a buzz kill but it may end up helping his ROI and he figures to be one of the last player standing in Washington, at least until whatever tanking effort may occur. And it might not happen since lottery odds are what they are and they are likely to be at the bottom regardless | 134 | 144.7 | -10.7 |
| 140 | 103.9 | 36.1 | Bennedict Mathurin | IND | F | It's too bad he has fantasy stat set deficiencies because he has a lot of talent and Rick Carlisle looks ready to give him a full-time role | 150 | 94.3 | 55.7 |
| 141 | 89.7 | 51.3 | R.J. Barrett | TOR | F | Another player with fantasy stat set deficiencies, Barrett has a very good chance of getting traded during the season and that might actually help his fantasy value | 183 | 94.8 | 88.2 |
| 142 | 143.5 | -1.5 | Walter Clayton | UTA | G | Clayton is dripping with potential and he will immediately distinguish himself as the best guard in Utah. There are shades of Steph in his game and that's probably my favorite player of all time and I know it's sacrilegious to murmur something like that but that's what I see | 154 | 73.5 | 80.5 |
| 143 | 140.7 | 2.3 | Bub Carrington | WAS | G | Carrington just changed representation and hopefully that can get his role kick started as he has mostly stayed out of the way and been a glorified air traffic controller. He's got game but there are a lot of players in the way for him to convert, particularly in light of some of his stat set deficiencies | 167 | 143.5 | 23.5 |
| 144 | 138.8 | 5.2 | PJ Washington | DAL | F | Washington has pretty good fantasy upside in a vacuum but unfortunately he's not playing in one of those, he's playing in an extremely crowded situation in Dallas. The one thing he has going for him is the possibility for low-end stats in deeper formats with the hope of something more | 155 | 136.7 | 18.3 |
| 145 | 39.1 | 105.9 | Zion Williamson | NOR | F | Even if Zion somehow starts taking conditioning seriously this is the type of thing you don't just flip the switch on with. And I'm not remotely close to signing off on him attempting to flip that switch. On top of that New Orleans is due to break up with him any second now, complicating this season even more. | 207 | 43.8 | 163.2 |
| 146 | 138.3 | 7.8 | Aaron Wiggins | OKC | F | Wiggins will be a lot better in deeper formats where some of the low-end production can be used but there will be a generalized trend of increased production from the OKC bench | 118 | 139.8 | -21.8 |
| 147 | 139.4 | 7.6 | VJ Edgecombe | PHI | G | VJ Edgecombe gets a nice boost early with the injury to Jared McCain and I'm really excited about him as a player. I think the mess in Philadelphia is going to be counterproductive to his fantasy value this season but he has an outside chance to both be good and also be productive if the sea starts to part for him | 151 | 140.8 | 10.2 |
| 148 | 200.0 | -52.0 | Guerschon Yabusele | NYK | F | Yabusele might have some fantasy value at times this season but with the Knicks rotation being pretty tight this isn't the season to burn a late pick in standard leagues | 157 | 200.0 | -43.0 |
| 149 | 96.8 | 52.2 | C.J. McCollum | WAS | G | Washington is going to let him cook for the first part of the season and that's probably how you want to draft him. You can target top-100 production with a little bit of upside beyond that but you just need to know that at least one third of the season will be completely different than that | 203 | 101.5 | 101.5 |
| 150 | 200.0 | -50.0 | Terrence Shannon Jr. | MIN | G | Shannon showed a lot in the playoffs last season and has the type of body to really make an impact against high-end competition. His game is coming along just fine and while it will be tough in Minnesota to truly have fantasy value, it's not entirely out of the question | 158 | 200.0 | -42.0 |
| 151 | 122.1 | 28.9 | Jrue Holiday | POR | G | Holiday's early-season deployment strategy got a boost with the Scoot Henderson hamstring injury but there is a ceiling on his minutes before something goes wrong. If you wanted to try and get some early season late round value with a hint of top 100 upside that case got strengthened with the injury news | 133 | 114.1 | 18.9 |
| 152 | 124.6 | 27.4 | Ace Bailey | UTA | F | There are a lot of complications to his fantasy value but Bailey is all upside because of his physical gifts and skills and the hope would be that he deals with those stat set inefficiencies by simply being really, really good above what can be reasonably predicted | 202 | 130.8 | 71.2 |
| 153 | 128.4 | 24.6 | Jabari Smith Jr. | HOU | F | This season was looking like most of his other seasons but Houston committed to him and with Fred VanFleet out they are one injury away from really needing Smith to be more than a stand in the corner guy. The picture still isn't great for him but at least he will carry that level of intrigue as a late round pick | 116 | 121.0 | -5.0 |
| 154 | 127.1 | 26.9 | T.J. McConnell | IND | G | McConnell doesn't need big minutes to produce and he is going to get all of the minutes that he can handle for Indiana this season | 176 | 134.7 | 41.3 |
| 155 | 138.6 | 16.4 | Obi Toppin | IND | F | There is a little bit of extra space for him this season but the defensive issues aren't getting any better anytime soon | 138 | 142.2 | -4.2 |
| 156 | 138.7 | 17.3 | Jaylen Wells | MEM | G | Stat set issues keep him from being a more exciting fantasy asset but on the reality side he is exactly what Memphis needs in the backcourt | 142 | 136.3 | 5.7 |
| 157 | 121.4 | 35.6 | Bradley Beal | LAC | G | This rank is tough because Beal is definitely better in fantasy than this rank but the injury risk and the crowded rotation just make things a total mess. His agent went on radio and said that he would be starting but I'm not sure it matters or if it's accurate. He needs the ball in his hands to do damage and it's just not going to happen as much as it needs to on this squad | 149 | 105.5 | 43.5 |
| 158 | 142.1 | 15.9 | Davion Mitchell | MIA | G | I wish Mitchell had a better fantasy stat set because he's a great player to root for. He is on the short list of defenders that can corral Stephen Curry and he gets a nice ramp to start with Tyler Herro out. If you want to draft him as a late round value knowing that you are going to piece out relatively quick you might luck into an entire season of it | 181 | 141.5 | 39.5 |
| 159 | 134.9 | 24.1 | Dylan Harper | SAS | G | Harper starting off the season on the injury report hurts more than the games missed because he's not going to get the reps with teammates during the preseason and once the season starts practice is hard to come by. He will be fine but this just shaves a couple of weeks off of his learning curve and when you are a rookie scrapping for minutes and touches those things can start to get punitive quick | 192 | 138.3 | 53.8 |
| 160 | 200.0 | -40.0 | Ryan Rollins | MIL | G | Rollins has great lateral quickness and if he can get it together on the offensive end he has a shot to be fantasy relevant. Stat set issues exist but the biggest thing is establishing himself in the rotation on a team that doesn't exactly have one | 139 | 156.2 | -17.2 |
| 161 | 142.0 | 19.0 | Cole Anthony | MIL | G | Anthony gets another lease on NBA life and Milwaukee needs him to be able to do what he supposed to do at this level, which is get into the paint and score and make plays. His shot has betrayed him lately and after a solid rookie season it has been all downhill from there. Making a pick in a deeper league is essentially a flyer that he can get back on track to some degree | 189 | 142.0 | 47.0 |
| 162 | 114.9 | 47.1 | Aaron Gordon | DEN | F | Gordon is a much better reality player than fantasy player and aside from his injury risk and being preserved for the playoffs, all those tough minutes are going to start adding up | 159 | 115.9 | 43.1 |
| 163 | 122.0 | 41.0 | Bobby Portis | MIL | F | Portis' precipitous decline is coming this season or next. He just doesn't have the physical makeup to handle another step down the ladder | 146 | 118.0 | 28.0 |
| 164 | 139.0 | 25.0 | Collin Sexton | CHA | G | Sexton has a way of accumulating fantasy value and Charlotte certainly makes that a nonzero chance for this season but they have a lot of priorities other than him | 205 | 140.6 | 64.4 |
| 165 | 141.4 | 23.6 | Moussa Diabate | CHA | C | Diabate has all of the ramp in the world for minutes it's completely unclear if he can do anything with them | 137 | 143.5 | -6.4 |
| 166 | 130.5 | 35.5 | Daniel Gafford | DAL | C | Maybe I should be higher on Gafford considering he was running at a first round level for a bit last season. Aside from the massive logjam I'm just really concerned about his durability, as even if he does a good job in that respect it's going to be hard for him to keep his physicality where it needs to be for him to perform | 136 | 135.9 | 0.1 |
| 167 | 200.0 | -33.0 | Nigel Hayes-Davis | PHO | F | Hayes-Davis is really good at basketball and the only thing stopping me from ranking him higher is that he has to discard a few players in the Suns rotation and it will take him a few weeks to do that. He's nowhere near the player you thought he was when he exited the NBA. | 162 | 200.0 | -38.0 |
| 168 | 144.7 | 23.3 | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | MEM | G | Pope goes to a place that's pretty good for him as Memphis wants a lot of movement in the pattern and a lot of quick shots from beyond the arc. Anything that can get the ball into his hands just helps make the case for late round value, though I think folks can do a lot better | 143 | 144.5 | -1.5 |
| 169 | 138.6 | 30.4 | Buddy Hield | GSW | G | For all the trash that Sacramento talked about Buddy Hield, they actually really like him in Golden State where they are known for championships and not being the laughing stock of the league | 152 | 138.4 | 13.6 |
| 170 | 142.4 | 27.7 | Jeremy Sochan | SAS | F | Sochan probably needs a reboot in another location and from a fantasy perspective there's just not enough stat set here to warrant much attention even if he gets minutes | 173 | 142.7 | 30.3 |
| 171 | 139.4 | 31.6 | Scoot Henderson | POR | G | Hamstring injury or not, Henderson was going to have a lot of pressure on him this season one way or another. Let's let that guy have some time with the future Hall of Famer's in his back court this season before we put the nail in the coffin, but it's not looking good | 232 | 139.2 | 92.8 |
| 172 | 144.3 | 27.8 | Kris Dunn | LAC | G | Dunn can create late round value pretty quickly but it's a tall order to see him doing that this season without serious injury help | 147 | 144.2 | 2.8 |
| 173 | 137.1 | 35.9 | Cam Whitmore | WAS | F | Whitmore has shown flashes of productivity but he will have to climb a ladder that's a lot better than the projected win totals for Washington would suggest | 190 | 141.6 | 48.4 |
| 174 | 137.8 | 36.2 | Peyton Watson | DEN | F | There's just not enough meat to the bone here minutes wise or even positionally where he needs very specific matchups to become good enough to warrant more than 20 MPG | 148 | 137.2 | 10.8 |
| 175 | 200.0 | -25.0 | Jose Alvarado | NOR | G | It's too bad that Alvarado is such an injury risk because he's a fun player with a good fantasy stat set and theoretically he should be able to do something in New Orleans but they have other priorities | 172 | 200.0 | -28.0 |
| 176 | 200.0 | -24.0 | Dru Smith | MIA | G | Smith gets a running start to begin the season with Tyler Herro out but his own injury issues overshadow his brief spurt of fantasy action last season. It's pretty amazing that he got the deal he got with Miami and he will start the season on the outside looking in for most standard fantasy leagues | 163 | 200.0 | -37.0 |
| 177 | 146.5 | 30.5 | Day'Ron Sharpe | BKN | C | It feels like Sharpe may have more organizational support this season but it's Brooklyn and he has never been consistent so it's hard to get on board with anything more than this | 164 | 150.4 | 13.6 |
| 178 | 200.0 | -22.0 | Sam Merrill | CLE | G | Merrill is a decent role player but Cleveland may have gotten a bit over their skis with this one. He will be needed this season but it won't be enough for standard league value | 141 | 200.0 | -59.0 |
| 179 | 147.4 | 31.6 | Jaime Jaquez Jr. | MIA | F | Jaquez may or may not still be in the doghouse and he has a stat set that can struggle real quick. It's just bad math that folks can stay away from | 224 | 146.8 | 77.2 |
| 180 | 141.9 | 38.1 | Alex Caruso | OKC | G | OKC doesn't care about his regular season play. Just be good in the playoffs | 144 | 139.8 | 4.2 |
| 181 | 142.8 | 38.2 | Jerami Grant | POR | F | The fantasy stat set has always worked against him but even if he ironically stops missing ends of seasons it's probably too late for him and standard league. He might have a first third of the season kick, though, so watch out for that | 182 | 143.2 | 38.8 |
| 182 | 124.6 | 57.4 | Zach Edey | MEM | C | Starting the season on the injured list isn't great and especially on a team that wants to increase the amount of movement they have on offense | 171 | 114.2 | 56.8 |
| 183 | 134.7 | 48.3 | Dejounte Murray | NOR | G | Whenever Murray gets back he will have a somewhat crowded situation to navigate and it's fair to question whether he will have his trademark explosion, which is a big deal for him because he relies on that more than most players | 218 | 132.4 | 85.6 |
| 184 | 200.0 | -16.0 | Caris LeVert | DET | G | Caris LeVert arrives in Detroit in a truly supplementary role and he really needs to be all the way cut loose to be a standard league asset | 174 | 200.0 | -26.0 |
| 185 | 135.3 | 49.7 | Grayson Allen | PHO | G | Allen might have lost the physicality needed to be anything more than a 25 MPG guy in the league and in terms of fantasy he really needed that and not the proverbial 15 pounds of muscle that resulted in a lot of slow, uninspired play last season amidst a ton of injuries | 175 | 134.2 | 40.8 |
| 186 | 126.0 | 60.0 | Jaden Ivey | DET | G | IV has some stat set deficiencies that start to work against him but the biggest issue is that Detroit is all in ongoing full Cade. The best thing Ivey can do is try to go off early and maybe find his way to another squad | 208 | 114.4 | 93.6 |
| 187 | 147.3 | 39.7 | Goga Bitadze | ORL | C | Bitadze will periodically showoff a gear that can climb as high as top-50 but he also has another gear called completely disappear. Orlando has some bodies to sort through and unless you are in a 250 player format taking a crack at this valuation just isn't worth it | 187 | 143.7 | 43.4 |
| 188 | 141.6 | 46.4 | Lonzo Ball | CLE | G | Ball probably has some multi week bursts of fantasy value but that's about all you can hope for at this stage of his career | 166 | 140.6 | 25.4 |
| 189 | 141.5 | 47.5 | Ayo Dosunmu | CHI | G | I like Dosunmu as a player but he needs to climb a few more steps on the ladder, avoid getting hurt and things are a tiny bit crowded for him in Chicago right now. This isn't profiling to be his season | 184 | 140.7 | 43.3 |
| 190 | 140.0 | 50.0 | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | ATL | G | Alexander-Walker takes a lot of shots he shouldn't take and that probably works in his favor in fantasy leagues considering he doesn't take a ton of shots. Perhaps Atlanta wants more of that rather than less of that but what they definitely want is for him to take some of the pressure off of Trae Young handling the ball while also bringing his trademark upper tier defense to the equation | 178 | 137.7 | 40.3 |
| 191 | 138.7 | 52.3 | Mitchell Robinson | NYK | C | Robinson can't stay on the floor and he can't handle big minutes and he doesn't really truly fit what Mike Brown wants to do even if Brown does have some low key strategies to rush the offensive glass | 191 | 137.3 | 53.7 |
| 192 | 143.1 | 48.9 | Anthony Black | ORL | G | Black will really struggle to gain any significant traction in the Association until he gets his shot figured out, and on a team like Orlando that really needs shooting it's not the greatest fit. | 223 | 142.6 | 80.4 |
| 193 | 143.5 | 49.5 | Tyus Jones | ORL | G | Jones can be useful for the Magic but he really needs some injury assistance ahead of him to have any value in standard fantasy leagues | 194 | 143.1 | 50.9 |
| 194 | 138.3 | 55.7 | Kelly Oubre | PHI | F | Oubre could easily do the last man standing thing and have a top 100 season in Philadelphia but he's not really a priority anywhere it seems so folks can safely watch this action from the wire in standard formats | 185 | 144.2 | 40.8 |
| 195 | 200.0 | -5.0 | Ron Holland | DET | F | One day Holland will have some nice standard league value but for now he needs an injury or two to truly be unleashed. He gave some really good minutes to the Pistons once he figured out how to stop doing so much rookie stuff | 179 | 200.0 | -21.0 |
| 196 | 143.2 | 52.8 | Tre Johnson | WAS | G | Johnson will take a backseat to CJ McCollum and this will actually be pretty useful because he will learn how to hide defensive deficiencies from somebody who knows | 209 | 144.7 | 64.3 |
| 197 | 145.4 | 51.6 | Kevin Huerter | CHI | G | Huerter can rack up some fantasy value pretty quickly with a ceiling in the top-100 range but he has significant injury risk and while he might enjoy catching passes from Josh Giddey and carve out a lane at some point, the downsides make him more of a speculative late round pick up in deeper formats | 188 | 145.3 | 42.7 |
| 198 | 148.2 | 49.8 | Julian Champagnie | SAS | F | Champagnie performed as predicted near the top-100 last season but tapered off as the team got weird for the last third of the season. Given the influx of players I can't predict the same thing this season | 186 | 78.0 | 108.0 |
| 199 | 146.5 | 52.5 | Royce O'Neale | PHO | F | O'Neale will start the season atop many generalist depth charts but the players behind him will eventually catch him and possibly quickly | 169 | 144.8 | 24.3 |
| 200 | 200.0 | 0.0 | Ochai Agbaji | TOR | G | Agbaji has a sneaky fantasy stat set that can start accumulating value somewhat quickly but it's not so good that he can do it in 20 to 25 minutes per game. The hope would be that he can carve out a 25 minute role and be a deep league fantasy asset | 170 | 200.0 | -30.0 |
| 201 | 143.1 | 57.9 | Luguentz Dort | OKC | F | Dort is another player that OKC will probably de-prioritize during the regular season in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs | 161 | 141.8 | 19.2 |
| 202 | 200 | 2.0 | Josh Okogie | HOU | F | Okogie has always been a step or two away from being a solid rotation player. With good strength and decent driving capabilities he can be a bit of a Swiss Army knife for a team that can quickly struggle with depth | 195 | 200.0 | -5.0 |
| 203 | 200.0 | 3.0 | Matisse Thybulle | POR | G | It's hard to say but I don't really get the vibe that Thybulle is pushing for a change of career trajectory | 168 | 200.0 | -32.0 |
| 204 | 140.3 | 63.7 | Duncan Robinson | DET | F | Robinson has a tough act to follow in Detroit where Malik Beasley was quite literally the bees knees taking high leverage shot after high leverage shot with zero fear. Especially given the amount of usage that Cade Cunningham has there doesn't appear to be a Lane for Robinson to have any real fantasy value this season | 204 | 139.7 | 64.4 |
| 205 | 140.8 | 64.2 | Terance Mann | BKN | G | Mann lands in Brooklyn which could theoretically open some things up for him but he has a long history of not producing in fantasy leagues | 193 | 138.5 | 54.5 |
| 206 | 146.8 | 59.2 | Dillon Brooks | PHO | F | Brooks can play the heel card and play dirty basketball in Phoenix but the stat set doesn't support fantasy value | 196 | 147.2 | 48.8 |
| 207 | 200.0 | 7.0 | Mike Conley | MIN | G | Conley is one of those players that basketball purists will remember for a long time | 198 | 200.0 | -2.0 |
| 208 | 130.4 | 77.6 | Klay Thompson | DAL | F | One of the greatest shooters of all time needs to follow Lebron and grab 20 minutes off the bench for whatever Golden State puts together next season | 199 | 130.6 | 68.4 |
| 209 | 200 | 9.0 | AJ Green | MIL | G | 239 | 200.0 | 39.0 | |
| 210 | 140.4 | 69.6 | Sam Hauser | BOS | F | I was really looking forward to seeing Sam Hauser take a step forward last season but back injuries really derailed his year. Players at his lower level truly do need to harness every piece of momentum they have so even in this iteration for Boston it's hard to hop on the wagon with other players catching up to him and surpassing him | 165 | 137.4 | 27.6 |
| 211 | 200.0 | 11.0 | Ziaire Williams | BKN | F | Williams did a decent job of not being completely off the fantasy radar in standard leagues last season but he has a lot of injury risk and he's not breaking down any doors with his stat set, even if it has improved a little bit | 200 | 200.0 | 0.0 |
| 212 | 200.0 | 12.0 | Cedric Coward | MEM | F | I like Coward a lot and if not for the adjustment factor and some of the Memphis depth I would be much more aggressive ranking him | 180 | 200.0 | -20.0 |
| 213 | 142.7 | 70.3 | Gary Trent | MIL | G | Trent has a light stat set and though he played well in the playoffs last season his critical turnover ended Milwaukee's season and though they are very thin this year it's still not enough to get behind Trent in fantasy leagues | 197 | 142.6 | 54.5 |
| 214 | 142.1 | 71.9 | Isaiah Stewart | DET | C | Stewart's knee is really concerning and might be the tipping point for his career, which is sad because he had really morphed into a nice role player that had his fingerprints all over Detroit's season last year | 217 | 139.8 | 77.2 |
| 215 | 140.7 | 74.3 | Wendell Carter Jr. | ORL | C | Carter is mostly cooked and that applies to both ends of the floor. He might have another average defensive season in him but I'm not fully convinced of that. Injuries have sapped his explosion and the cutting edge of athletic requirements for big men is just too tough in this league | 220 | 139.4 | 80.6 |
| 216 | 140.7 | 75.3 | Kon Knueppel | CHA | F | Yes he can shoot but I can't see him hanging in on defense and the stat set isn't going to be good so it's a hard pass for me | 206 | 143.5 | 62.6 |
| 217 | 200.0 | 17.0 | Liam McNeeley | CHA | F | I am more excited about Liam McNealy than I am Kon Kneuppel in Charlotte. | 212 | 200.0 | 12.0 |
| 218 | 144.6 | 73.4 | Ryan Kalkbrenner | CHA | C | Ryan Kalkbrenner is big and slow and might not be playable in the NBA but Charlotte is extremely uninspiring at the center position | 222 | 146.0 | 76.0 |
| 219 | 141.5 | 77.5 | Gradey Dick | TOR | G | Dick's life just got tougher with the arrival of Brandon Ingram but he has the chops to get back on the fantasy radar at some point down the road. The problem is that we can't predict when that will be | 226 | 140.6 | 85.4 |
| 220 | 138.3 | 81.7 | Jonathan Kuminga | GSW | F | Theoretically Golden State could try to showcase him but he's just not good enough to warrant all of the sideshow stuff going on. Restricted free agency is in the crosshairs right now but this dates back to allowing his people to leak all of those ridiculous reports about wanting a bunch of recognition before he had earned it. | 230 | 135.0 | 95.0 |
| 221 | 142.3 | 78.7 | Al Horford | GSW | C | If you can somehow manage games played to squeeze top-150 value on a per game basis at it but it's not advisable | 216 | 142.2 | 73.8 |
| 222 | 134.7 | 87.3 | Isaiah Collier | UTA | G | Collier doesn't have a good fantasy stat set and he will quickly get passed by in the rotation because Walter Clayton is already better than him and Keyonte George has a whole hell of a lot more upside | 234 | 133.5 | 100.5 |
| 223 | 134.7 | 88.3 | Chris Paul | LAC | G | Sure, Paul could have one last hilarious season in which his stat set launches him into something like top-75 value but that would be a major outlier and it's not even clear if he can handle 16 MPG right now | 221 | 139.5 | 81.5 |
| 224 | 200.0 | 24.0 | Noa Essengue | CHI | F | Noa Essengue jumps off the page on film in relation to where he was drafted and he lands in a place in Chicago where he could quickly go up the depth chart. I would rank him higher but it's going to be an extremely heavy lift for him to overcome his climb to fantasy relevance | 210 | 200.0 | 10.0 |
| 225 | 200.0 | 25.0 | Ben Sheppard | IND | G | If mass injuries start to hit in Indy, Sheppard is good enough to get on the fantasy radar and they really like him there. That said it's not worth checking into this outside of 250 player formats | 219 | 200.0 | 19.0 |
| 226 | 143.1 | 82.9 | Jonas Valanciunas | DEN | C | He can get to this value in 16 MPG but nobody cares outside of 30-team formats | 231 | 141.2 | 89.9 |
| 227 | 145.5 | 81.5 | Noah Clowney | BKN | F | Clowney really regressed and struggled with injuries last season and has no real traction in Brooklyn to start the season | 229 | 149.9 | 79.1 |
| 228 | 200.0 | 28.0 | Bruce Brown | DEN | G | The one time sneaky fantasy play had his great moments in the NBA finals and now his knee is mostly shot and he can go back to Denver and try to run it back but it won't be anything like the original | 228 | 200.0 | 28.0 |
| 229 | 143.2 | 85.8 | Brice Sensabaugh | UTA | F | Sensabaugh hasn't been able to convert on a lot of opportunity in Utah and things got a little bit tighter this season so there's no reason to bet into this action right now | 233 | 142.7 | 90.3 |
| 230 | 146.2 | 83.8 | Ryan Dunn | PHO | F | Ryan Dunn is getting a decent amount of hype after a successful rookie season and he's usually the type of player that I get excited about but talent wise I think it's going to be hard for him to break through this season in relation to his teammates. He would have to really show me something during the preseason for me to change my assessment and if that happens I will update this note | 227 | 76.0 | 151.0 |
| 231 | 200.0 | 31.0 | Luke Kornet | SAS | C | Luke Kornet would've been fun in Boston but in San Antonio he might have more value for comic relief than he does in fantasy leagues | 225 | 200.0 | 25.0 |
| 232 | 144.0 | 88.0 | Yang Hansen | POR | C | I would like to get more excited about Hansen but there are other bigs to get in his way and it's not going to be easy as it has looked in summer league and the like. I do think he will get his opportunities and there will be a moment this season where he is a waiver wire pickup | 211 | 143.7 | 67.3 |
| 233 | 137.0 | 96.0 | Egor Demin | BKN | G | On one hand he will get a lot of rope to work with and on the other counting stat guys with efficiency issues that may or may not be able to shoot and defend just don't climb the ranks | 235 | 145.3 | 89.7 |
| 234 | 200.0 | 34.0 | Jeremiah Fears | NOR | G | Fears lands in an unfortunate place because New Orleans has no clue what they are doing and he has players in front of him. Even if he had a clear path there are question marks about his defense and efficiency at the NBA level | 237 | 200.0 | 37.0 |
| 235 | 142.7 | 92.3 | Jared McCain | PHI | G | Just keep your eye on McCain for the right time to scoop them up on the waiver wire in hopes he can have top-100 value over the second half of the season | 236 | 144.1 | 91.9 |
| 236 | 200.0 | 36.0 | Nique Clifford | SAC | F | Sacramento will try to get him on the court and I think he will be productive for where he is at in his career but it won't be a ton of minutes and there are way better players than him getting screwed out of fantasy value in Sacto. | 238 | 200.0 | 38.0 |
| 237 | 200.0 | 37.0 | Rasheer Fleming | PHO | F | I like Fleming a lot but he will be in a dogfight for minutes and starts the season is the fourth best option among players competing for PF minutes | 213 | 200.0 | 13.0 |
| 238 | 200.0 | 38.0 | Kasparas Jakucionis | MIA | G | Jakucionis will probably get a nice little early look with Tyler Herro out but he has a long way to go before he can consistently play at the NBA level. If anything this speeds up his timetable for improvement but his stat set has issues and the best I can say is this is a lightning in a bottle pick for extremely large formats | 214 | 200.0 | 14.0 |
| 239 | 200.0 | 39.0 | Dominick Barlow | PHI | C | I have long thought that Barlow has the size and ability to be something at the NBA level and he lands in a place where we might be able to see that in the second half of the season | 215 | 200.0 | 15.0 |
| 240 | 142.9 | 97.1 | Khris Middleton | WAS | F | I don't care if they announce that he is starting and playing 30 MPG in Washington I won't believe any of it because he is cooked and I would mostly like to just tip my cap to Middleton and congratulate him for exceeding expectations and having a tremendous NBA career | 240 | 143.2 | 96.8 |
| 8C | ADP | +/- | NAME | TEAM | POS | NOTES | 9C | ADP | +/- |
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I’m a father, husband and friend. Also, a high stakes fantasy basketball player and I’ve been working in fantasy sports since the turn of the century. Before founding SportsEthos, I spent nearly a decade at Rotoworld building their NBA operation, where we won the FSGA award for Best News and Analysis Site regularly. I cut my teeth in the reporting world at ProBasketballTalk.com on the Kings relocation story, developing sources in Sacramento and throughout the NBA. I’ve won two FSWA Basketball Writer of the Year awards and been nominated four times. I started SportsEthos to help this industry evolve so content producers can have some long-term security and customers can get a better product.