Sport: NBA
Do you want fantasy basketball sleepers? Well, we got fantasy basketball sleepers. We have 30 of them. One from each team of the NBA.
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1 Fantasy Basketball Sleeper from Every NBA Team
Atlanta Hawks – Zaccharie Risacher (SF)
24-25 Rank: 246
ADP Rank: 146
With an average draft position of 146, the 2024 #1 draft pick is essentially a non-factor in this year’s fantasy drafts. But should he be? I say no. Whether he’ll be coming off the bench or starting – I imagine it’ll be a mixture of the two, considering the injury proneness of some of his teammates – Risacher is poised for at least somewhat of a sophomore bump. In 24-25, Risaacher’s role was quite passive in the Hawks offense, which makes sense for a versatile rookie, but with a year of NBA ball, he can take on a bigger role. Coming off the bench would likely help with that, too. Post All-Star break, Risacher shot over 40% from three and averaged 14.6 points and was ranked in the top 150 in 8-cat for the timespan. So, Risacher is worth considering at the end of the draft, I say.
Boston Celtics – Neemias Queta (C)
24-25 Rank: 330
ADP Rank: 163
With all of Boston’s hopes and dreams going down the drain after Jayson Tatum’s injury, Neemias Queta is exactly the kind of player to bring some excitement to a losing team. Did you see him at EuroBasket?! He was terrific. Queta is unlikely to have the same role for the Celtics that he has for Portugal, but his main competitors for minutes are Chris Boucher and Luka Garza. He’s a reasonable center consideration at the end of drafts.
Brooklyn Nets – Egor Demin (PG)
24-25 Rank: NR
ADP Rank: 164
Demin seems to be the Nets starting point guard to start the season. Will it last – who knows, but, obviously, the Nets aren’t competing for anything, so he’s likely to be given a lot of room to grow. Demin projects as a similar player to Josh Giddey. Repeating rookie Giddey numbers would be unlikely but still possible. More likely, he is an end-of-draft assists guy. If you want a better “sleeper” from the Nets, just go for Michael Porter Jr, who seems criminally underrated with an ADP of 78.
Charlotte Hornets – Brandon Miller (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 64
ADP Rank: 56
Brandon Miller had his coming-out season cut short in January because of a wrist injury. A wrist injury isn’t something that will usually impact a player for the rest of their career, so he should pick up where he left off. If anything, he will be better than ever, as going in for their third season is when NBA players improve the most.
Chicago Bulls – Matas Buzelis (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 259
ADP Rank: 99
With LaVine and DeRozan out of town for good, Buzelis has a clear path for big minutes at the forward positions for the Bulls. Ranking already 129th in 8-cat fantasy since becoming the starter, Buzelis is another player hoping to make a big sophomore jump.
Cleveland Cavaliers – Jaylon Tyson (SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 458
ADP Rank: 352
With the Core Four receiving the bulk of the attention in the Cavs, we need to look deeper for a sleeper. Much, much deeper. Jaylon Tyson is a second-year player who just averaged 19.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game in the summer league. Yeah, yeah, summer league, but second-year players, at a minimum, should have strong averages like that if they expect to make it. With Darius Garland and Max Strus out injured for a while, Tyson has, at least, the opportunity to be a considerable part of the rotation. In fantasy, probably a deeper league flyer or a pick in a dynasty league.
Dallas Mavericks – D’Angelo Russell (PG)
24-25 Rank: 148
ADP Rank: 111
As boring a pick as this is, the Mavericks, with their odd roster construction, have seemingly left all the space for D’Angelo Russell to handle the point guard duties. At least until Kyrie Irving returns from an ACL tear, which won’t be for a while. Russell, when left to his devices, has delivered top 50-60 fantasy seasons, so this could be a quiet, solid pick.
Denver Nuggets – Aaron Gordon (PF)
24-25 Rank: 124
ADP Rank: 121
With everyone seemingly on the Cam Johnson bandwagon in Denver, how about Mr. Nugget himself as the sleeper for 25-26? He had somewhat of a down year last year, playing with a calf injury, but still way outperformed this year’s ADP. Now, with a healthy body and a team with a seemingly more versatile offense, Gordon should have more space to do what he does best. Not for nothing, he also shot 43.6% from three and 81% from the line last year.
Detroit Pistons – Jaden Ivey (SG)
24-25 Rank: 132
ADP Rank: 120
Jaden Ivey is another case of “out of sight, out of mind”, having played his last game of basketball on January 2nd because of a broken leg. The leg is now healed, and Ivey should take his spot next to Cade Cunningham in the Pistons backcourt.
Golden State Warriors – Jonathan Kuminga (PF, C)
24-25 Rank: 330
ADP Rank: 133
However, the contract standoff ends, Jonathan Kuminga is bound to play a bigger role this year than he ever has in his career. Right? Either for the Warriors or elsewhere. He hasn’t played much meaningful basketball in his four years so far, but if you’re looking for a reason to be optimistic, check out his final four games in the playoffs against the Timberwolves. They did lose all these games, but maybe that’s his future – balling out on a losing team.
Rockets – Reed Sheppard (PG, SG)
24-25 Rank: 386
ADP Rank: 177
Things have changed with Fred VanVleet going down for, likely, the season. With the guard depth in Houston being quite poor, they almost have no choice but to play Sheppard rotation minutes. Right?! I don’t know. Maybe they’ll make a trade before the season, but as things stand, Sheppard has at least a chance to get his NBA career going. He is still just a year separated from being the #3 pick in the NBA draft and projecting as a dead-eye shooter.
Pacers – Andrew Nembhard (PG, SG)
24-25 Rank: 151
ADP Rank: 85
The case here is pretty simple – Nembard will step into Tyrese Haliburton’s role in the Pacers offense and be expected to do an approximation of Tyrese Haliburton things. Will he be a top 15 fantasy player like Haliburton? No, but maybe, top 50ish?!
Los Angeles Clippers – John Collins (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 30
ADP Rank: 89
Collins was traded from Utah to the Clippers in the offseason. As far as I can tell, he’s a great fit next to Ivica Zubac and Kawhi Leonard. Clearly, the best power forward they’ve had since Blake Griffin. Aside from being somewhat of an injury risk, Collins is a pretty straightforward choice for the best sleeper on the Clippers. He’ll get points, rebounds, and blocks with good percentages – pretty much all you’d want from a big man.
Los Angeles Lakers – Austin Reaves (PG, SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 29
ADP Rank: 42
Reaves is poised for a big year and, after a slow start, contributed as a top 20 player in 24-25. So it is a little surprising that his ADP is lower than last year’s rank. Reaves’ role is likely to keep increasing, so he is quite a safe pick.
Memphis Grizzlies – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 176
ADP Rank: 224
Caldwell-Pope had a down year, whilst shooting only 34% from the three in 24-25. He will be golden if he can get it back to 40% which is what he averaged in the previous five years. As things stand, Caldwell-Pope seems to have the lock on the starting shooting guard position on the Grizzlies with a green light from the three.
Miami Heat – Norman Powell (SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 76
ADP Rank: 91
Stormin’ Norman was in the All-Star conversation not that long ago, and now finds himself on a Heat team with nearly zero offensive firepower. Tyler Herro, as the other talented scorer, will be out for about a month to start the season, too. So Powell will almost have no choice but to dominate the offense.
Milwaukee Bucks – Kevin Porter Jr. (PG, SG)
24-25 Rank: 218
ADP Rank: 123
Kevin Porter Jr. is another player who finds himself in a situation with very weak competition for playing time. If he plays anywhere close to the potential he showed in Houston, he will be a lock for a starting job with relatively high usage. For what it’s worth, whenever Porter Jr. played over 20 minutes in a game last year, he averaged a 15-5-5 stat line with nearly 2 steals.
Minnesota Timberwolves – Rob Dillingham (PG)
24-25 Rank: 450
ADP Rank: 221
As a rookie, Dillingham was out of the Minnesota rotation. A year later, there may be an opening for him – Mike Conley isn’t getting any younger (in fact, he is getting older), and there isn’t much in terms of point guard depth on the roster. If the team wants him to ever be at least a solid player, this is the time he should be getting regular minutes.
New Orleans Pelicans – Herbert Jones (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 102
ADP Rank: 113
Another injury return, Jones is a year separated from shooting 42% from the three. If he can return to that form, he’s bound to be, at the very least, a top 100 fantasy player. His playing time is more or less guaranteed by his great defense. From a fantasy perspective, the question is how much he can do offensively. This will be Jones’ 5th NBA season, so he should be just entering his prime.
New York Knicks – Mikal Bridges (SG, SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 88
ADP Rank: 71
Bridges has had a couple of quiet years since completely balling out in the first half-season after getting traded to Brooklyn. With a new, less ornery coach in New York, perhaps Bridges can return to something similar to his Brooklyn form. He’s very unlikely to average 26 points per game again, but perhaps, with a more egalitarian offense, the Knicks can get the best out of Bridges.
Oklahoma City Thunder – Cason Wallace (SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 118
ADP Rank: 131
Wallace is already an amazing defensive player. If he can be more consistent from the three and, perhaps, as a playmaker, he’ll be bound to be another OKC development success story. This is his third season in the league, so we should expect another step forward for Wallace. He will be playing behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, so don’t expect miracles, but Wallace can be a solid late-round fantasy contributor.
Orlando Magic – Jalen Suggs (PG)
24-25 Rank: 67
ADP Rank: 101
Suggs was an electric two-way player before he went down with an injury. And some of the two-wayness was out of necessity after Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner went down with their own injuries. Regardless, Suggs does seem to have the ability to run the offense and score in buckets. To start, Banchero will surely be the #1 option; however, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Suggs overtake Wagner in the offensive hierarchy.
Philadelphia 76ers – Jared McCain (SG)
24-25 Rank: 155
ADP Rank: 157
Jared McCain will start the season on the injury list after thumb surgery. He will probably return in the first half of November. And remember that McCain was on track to win the Rookie of the Year award before succumbing to a knee injury after 23 games last season. Yeah, yeah, that’s a lot of injuries for a player’s first year in the league, but he can clearly ball.
Phoenix Suns – Devin Booker (PG, SG, SF)
24-25 Rank: 21
ADP Rank: 12
Being the only great player on a crappy team is a gift and a curse, isn’t it? Devin Booker will have the greenest of green lights to do his thing. Surprisingly for a player of his stature, Booker has been an All-Star only once in the last three seasons. The year before that, he was on the All-NBA first team. I think he’ll have a lot to prove. Scoring title? Who knows.
Portland Trail Blazers – Deni Avdija (SG, SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 83
ADP Rank: 46
Post All-Star break, Avdija was the 25th-best fantasy player in 24-25. And he was sixth in the last month of the season. He’s unlikely to carry that over to this season, but the top 25 is surely in play. He’s clearly figured something out. Though perhaps Shaedon Sharpe might be a bigger fantasy sleeper as a player with quite a similar statistical profile.
Sacramento Kings – Keon Ellis (PG, SG)
24-25 Rank: 113
ADP Rank: 145
Now, here’s a boring team going nowhere. But Keon Ellis is their best young player, so here you go. Can he break out with Dennis Schröder and Zach LaVine in front of him in the depth chart? He is a career 43% shooter from three and has only improved year-over-year in attempts and minutes played, so there is a chance.
San Antonio Spurs – Stephon Castle (PG, SG)
24-25 Rank: 247
ADP Rank: 116
Here’s the Rookie of the Year. He’s almost certainly the starting PG until De’Aaron Fox returns from his injury. After that, Castle may move to SG or come off the bench. Neither is a tragedy. Castle is bound to be a big part of the rotation. How big? Depends on what he’s added to his game in the summer. If he can start making threes, it’ll be great for him.
Toronto Raptors – Brandon Ingram (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 43
ADP Rank: 82
Brandon Ingram has been a top 50 fantasy player on a per-game basis for pretty much his whole career, and he’s coming in healthy for the 25-26 season.
Utah Jazz – Lauri Markkanen (SF, PF)
24-25 Rank: 98
ADP Rank: 59
It’s quite clear that Lauri had a gap year in 24-25 to help the team tank. Some of it was injury-related, I’m sure. But now he’s back, and what more proof do we need than playing well for Finland at the EuroBasket?! All joking aside, if he’s healthy, he’s bound to way outperform that ADP position. Even if he’s traded.
Washington Wizards – Tre Johnson (SG)
24-25 Rank: NR
ADP Rank: 192
Taking a rookie in fantasy is risky business, but the Wizards are totally in a position to give him the playing time he needs to become their next star player.
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