{"id":931854,"date":"2026-10-13T20:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931854\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T20:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:02:29","slug":"2026-27-fantasy-basketball-7-players-were-fading-in-drafts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931854\/","title":{"rendered":"2026-27 Fantasy Basketball: 7 players we’re fading in drafts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right off the bat, let\u2019s be clear about what this is and what it isn\u2019t. This is not a \u201cdo not draft\u201d list. This is not a \u201cI will never draft these players\u201d list. This certainly is not a \u201cthis player stinks\u201d list.<\/p>\n

This is a fades list, meaning, at their current ADP, we would not draft these players. Some of them may only have to slip a few spots to be worth taking. Others may have to slip much further down the board. Winning your draft isn\u2019t about magically getting a super team by taking the best player in each round. It isn\u2019t about avoiding the \u201cbusts\u201d that are going to be terrible this season. It\u2019s about maximizing value. The following seven players aren\u2019t worth taking where they\u2019re going in drafts, so you likely won\u2019t find these guys on many of our teams.<\/p>\n

With that being said, you can absolutely have a good team with these players rostered. You\u2019ll just maximize your team\u2019s value by taking a different player where these players are going and getting these guys later on.<\/p>\n

Hopefully that clears things up. With that established, here are the players the Rotoworld staff is fading this season, ordered by ADP.<\/p>\n

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Your one-stop-shop for all of Rotoworld\u2019s preseason content leading into fantasy basketball drafts.<\/p>\n

Tyrese Maxey – G, Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n

After finishing 15th in per-game fantasy value in 2024-25, Maxey was even better last season as he finished fifth. Joel Embiid appeared in only 38 games, and Paul George played 37, forcing Maxey to step up in a big way. The All-Star guard led the league in minutes (38) and finished third in FGA (21.4) as the team\u2019s unquestioned leader and best player. This season, Maxey will have Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to contend with for playing time and ball-handling responsibilities, and it\u2019s unrealistic to expect him to see such heavy playing time or shot volume in 2026-27. Maxey is being drafted as a first-rounder, but I don\u2019t think he has that upside, and I\u2019ll avoid him unless he slips into the low-20\u2019s. – Zak Hanshew<\/p>\n

Jaylen Brown – G\/F, Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n

Brown is still going to be a really good piece for Philadelphia this season, but it isn\u2019t going to show up for fantasy managers in the same way that it has in the past. He saw a boost in production and usage last season with Jayson Tatum sidelined for most of the year, but now he\u2019ll be splitting touches with Tyrese Maxey, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe. Brown will still get his fair share of opportunities, but it won\u2019t be in excess. He\u2019s never been known for efficiency, so if his volume is suppressed, Brown doesn\u2019t hold the same appeal to me. – Noah Rubin<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s trade to Philadelphia was one of the most shocking transactions of the o\ufb00season, and he joins a loaded rotation. But that isn\u2019t the only reason why I\u2019m not on board with his third-round ADP. Even at his best in Boston, Brown didn\u2019t perform at that level. He\u2019ll likely retain that third-round ADP, but I\u2019d feel a lot better about getting Brown in the fourth round in 12-team leagues. That isn\u2019t a huge gap, but I\u2019m not buying the ceiling, given the history and Philadelphia\u2019s rotation. – Raphielle Johnson<\/p>\n

Paolo Banchero – F, Orlando Magic<\/p>\n

Banchero finished the 2024-25 season with averages of 22.2 points, 5.2 assists and a career-high 8.4 rebounds. The 23-year-old has been a strong producer of points, rebounds and assists throughout his career, but he\u2019s got some glaring weaknesses in his game, including three-pointers, defensive stats, FG% and FT%. Banchero can certainly improve in these categories, but can he improve enough to be worth a third-round pick? I\u2019m skeptical, and I\u2019m not willing to pony up an early-round pick for a guy who will be strong in only three categories but not elite in any of them. – ZH<\/p>\n

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\"NBA:<\/p>\n

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The Rotoworld Basketball staff unveils their favorite draft picks this season, including Darius Garland and OG Anunoby.<\/p>\n

Jalen Duren – C, Detroit Pistons<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to trust a guy who became virtually unplayable in the postseason and just wrapped up an ugly contract negotiation. Duren finished as a third-rounder in 2025-26 fantasy hoops, and he\u2019s being drafted in that range for the upcoming season. Detroit brought in John Collins to play the four, but Collins can also stretch the floor as a small-ball five, which may mean less playing time for Duren. I don\u2019t see a scenario in which Duren improves on last season\u2019s production, so I won\u2019t be drafting him in the third round at his absolute ceiling. There are far better picks in this range. – ZH<\/p>\n

Stephon Castle – G, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for assists, Castle should be a big help. If you\u2019re looking for much else, Castle probably isn\u2019t your best bet. That\u2019s why I think he\u2019s going too early in drafts. He should have the ball in his hands a lot, just like he did last year. However, the emergence of Dylan Harper could reduce Castle\u2019s touches. Plus, De\u2019Aaron Fox may have struggled in the NBA Finals, but he\u2019s still there! Castle\u2019s a good defender, but he doesn\u2019t get a ton of defensive stats, and he isn\u2019t efficient. There\u2019s too much reliance on volume that might not be there for me to be interested in Castle at his ADP. – NR<\/p>\n

Cameron Boozer – F, Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n

Boozer is well-positioned to be a marquee figure in Memphis as the Grizzlies embark on a rebuild. However, I\u2019m not sure this situation will put him close to a top-50 fantasy player, which many seem to expect based on the ADP data. Also, as a frontcourt player, he\u2019ll be at the mercy of the Grizzlies\u2019 guards at times when it comes to touches. I like Boozer in both the short and long term, but not enough to select him in the first five rounds of 12-team drafts. – RJ<\/p>\n

Derik Queen – F\/C, New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n

The price is starting to even out, but it\u2019s still too high. Queen is a talented player and is going to be a fantasy star one day. However, with the way the roster is currently constructed, it isn\u2019t going to happen this year. It seems like Yves Missi is going to start at center, and lineups that consisted of both Queen and Zion Williamson last season were awful. Again, Queen is going to be a fantasy star one day, but I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s going to happen this season, and with the way the rotations will likely shake out, we may only get a few glimpses of what he can be. – NR<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not on board with selecting Queen within the first 100 picks of any 12-team draft. He has o\ufb00ensive upside, but his defensive issues may limit his minutes under new head coach Jamahl Mosley. Yves Missi has started each of the Pelicans\u2019 preseason games thus far, and his defense and rebounding make him a better fit next to Zion Williamson than Queen. Should Queen be selected in 12-team drafts? Yes. But projecting him to be a top 100 player, as some have? I can\u2019t go that far – RJ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Right off the bat, let\u2019s be clear about what this is and what it isn\u2019t. This is not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-931854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}