2026-27 fantasy basketball · Draft season
NBA fantasy draft tools.
Rankings for 9-category, 8-category and points leagues, punt builds, and a live assistant that tracks your draft and tells you who fits your team. Built from a model trained on every NBA season since 2012-13. Free, no sign-up.
The 2026-27 season tips off October 20. Most drafts happen before then.
Top 15: 9-category
All →| # | Player | ADP | G | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikola Jokic C · DEN | 2 | 68 | 9.80 |
| 2 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander G · OKC | 3 | 62 | 8.19 |
| 3 | Victor Wembanyama F · SA finished strong | 3 | 57 | 8.01 |
| 4 | Tyrese Maxey G · PHI | 13 | 65 | 6.76 |
| 5 | Luka Doncic G · LAL | 4 | 60 | 4.91 |
| 6 | Kawhi Leonard F · TOR new team | 30 | 61 | 4.78 |
| 7 | Anthony Edwards G · MIN | 7 | 57 | 3.62 |
| 8 | Jamal Murray G · DEN | 33 | 63 | 3.52 |
| 9 | Anthony Davis F · WSH new team | 32 | 59 | 3.51 |
| 10 | Chet Holmgren C · OKC | 65 | 63 | 3.51 |
| 11 | Jalen Johnson F · ATL | 9 | 61 | 3.50 |
| 12 | Donovan Mitchell G · CLE | 11 | 55 | 3.29 |
| 13 | Cade Cunningham G · DET | 8 | 56 | 3.13 |
| 14 | Jayson Tatum F · BOS injury year | 9 | 63 | 3.11 |
| 15 | Scottie Barnes F · TOR | 16 | 64 | 2.97 |
Top 15: points leagues
All →| # | Player | G | Pts/g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikola Jokic C · DEN | 68 | 59.0 |
| 2 | Luka Doncic G · LAL | 60 | 55.8 |
| 3 | Victor Wembanyama F · SA | 57 | 55.2 |
| 4 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander G · OKC | 62 | 52.1 |
| 5 | Cade Cunningham G · DET | 56 | 48.2 |
| 6 | Jalen Johnson F · ATL | 61 | 47.9 |
| 7 | Tyrese Maxey G · PHI | 65 | 47.6 |
| 8 | Giannis Antetokounmpo F · MIA | 51 | 46.7 |
| 9 | Anthony Edwards G · MIN | 57 | 45.7 |
| 10 | Jayson Tatum F · BOS | 63 | 45.5 |
| 11 | Cooper Flagg F · DAL | 61 | 44.6 |
| 12 | Paolo Banchero F · ORL | 52 | 43.7 |
| 13 | Anthony Davis F · WSH | 59 | 43.2 |
| 14 | Alperen Sengun C · HOU | 64 | 43.2 |
| 15 | Scottie Barnes F · TOR | 64 | 43.1 |
Yahoo / FanDuel scoring, ranked per game. ESPN scoring is on the rankings page.
Values: going later than they should
Our rank is well ahead of where they're being drafted. You can likely wait on them.
| Player | Our rank | ADP | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajay Mitchell G · OKC | 49 | 130+ | +91+ |
| Cason Wallace G · OKC | 67 | 130+ | +73+ |
| Toumani Camara F · POR | 71 | 130+ | +69+ |
| Immanuel Quickley G · TOR | 45 | 107 | +62 |
| Kyle Filipowski F · UTAH finished strong | 79 | 130+ | +61+ |
| Payton Pritchard G · BOS | 42 | 101 | +59 |
| Christian Braun G · DEN | 81 | 130+ | +59+ |
| Devin Vassell G · SA | 82 | 130+ | +58+ |
| Jalen Suggs G · ORL | 84 | 130+ | +56+ |
| Anthony Black G · ORL | 87 | 130+ | +53+ |
| Tre Jones G · CHI finished strong | 90 | 130+ | +50+ |
| Jabari Smith Jr. F · HOU | 72 | 122 | +50 |
Going too early
Drafted well ahead of what our model projects, even after it accounts for normal growth. The market is betting on a bigger jump; you'd be paying for it.
| Player | Our rank | ADP | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaMelo Ball G · MIN new team | 65 | 26 | -39 |
| Norman Powell G · CHI new team | 121 | 83 | -38 |
| Tobias Harris F · SA new team | 157 | 122 | -36 |
| Ausar Thompson G · DET | 137 | 104 | -33 |
| Stephen Curry G · GS | 60 | 28 | -32 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns C · NY | 52 | 21 | -31 |
| John Collins F · DET new team | 144 | 116 | -28 |
| Jalen Brunson G · NY | 40 | 13 | -27 |
| Julius Randle F · BKN new team | 83 | 60 | -23 |
| Jaylen Brown G · PHI new team | 55 | 33 | -22 |
| Nic Claxton C · CHI new team | 146 | 124 | -22 |
ADP updated 2026-10-07, from ESPN's default 10-team points leagues, so "our rank" here is our full-season ESPN points rank (like for like). Only production disagreements are listed: rookies, injury-year players and anyone we project for fewer than 55 games are left out, since those gaps are health or upside calls. Gap = ADP minus our rank: plus means a value, minus means he's going early. 130+ means last round or undrafted in most leagues.
Sleepers: finished strong
Outside the first few rounds, but produced much more over the last 20 games of 2025-26 than over the whole season. Late-season role growth often carries over.
| Player | Rank | Min before → last 20 | FP/g gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Filipowski F · UTAH | 176 | 22.3 → 26.6 | +8.6 |
| Maxime Raynaud C · SAC | 133 | 24.4 → 32.5 | +7.8 |
| Ace Bailey G · UTAH | 162 | 26.5 → 30.4 | +7.3 |
| Peyton Watson G · CLE | 124 | 28.4 → 31.6 | +5.9 |
| Brook Lopez C · LAC | 183 | 20.0 → 26.8 | +5.5 |
| Collin Sexton G · LAL | 178 | 22.4 → 27.0 | +5.3 |
| Matas Buzelis F · CHI | 83 | 28.4 → 31.6 | +4.9 |
| Keon Ellis G · BKN | 187 | 18.3 → 26.3 | +4.5 |
| Moses Moody G · GS | 156 | 24.4 → 28.2 | +4.3 |
| Jamir Watkins G · WSH | 70 | 19.9 → 23.6 | +4.1 |
| Tre Jones G · CHI | 90 | 26.5 → 28.1 | +4.0 |
A jump that comes with a big minutes increase is a role change; check whether it came on a team resting starters late in the season.
Bounce-back candidates
Missed much of 2025-26 but played most of 2024-25. Their rank leans on the healthy season, with fewer projected games. Check their health news before you draft.
| # | Player | Rank | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jayson Tatum F · BOS | 14 | 63 |
| 2 | Tyrese Haliburton G · IND | 24 | 53 |
| 3 | Jalen Williams G · OKC | 40 | 61 |
| 4 | Jimmy Butler III F · GS | 47 | 32 |
| 5 | Franz Wagner F · ORL | 41 | 56 |
| 6 | Domantas Sabonis F · SAC | 46 | 58 |
| 7 | Tyler Herro G · MIL | 51 | 51 |
| 8 | Keegan Murray F · SAC | 76 | 57 |
| 9 | Kevin Porter Jr. G · MIL | 80 | 58 |
| 10 | Trae Young G · WSH | 87 | 61 |
| 11 | Giannis Antetokounmpo F · MIA | 82 | 51 |
| 12 | Walker Kessler C · LAL | 86 | 48 |
Top rookies
All rookies →Projected from draft slot: what players picked near the same spot did as rookies.
| Pick | Rookie | 9-cat rank | FP/g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Aday Mara C · OKC | 212 | 21.3 |
| 52 | Henri Veesaar C · ATL | 244 | 16.3 |
| 53 | Ugonna Onyenso C · DET | 245 | 16.2 |
| 58 | Jaron Pierre Jr. G · NO | 251 | 12.6 |
| 1 | AJ Dybantsa F · WSH | 257 | 26.7 |
| 7 | Darius Acuff Jr. G · SAC | 276 | 22.3 |
| 55 | Nick Martinelli F · LAC | 282 | 9.1 |
| 6 | Mikel Brown Jr. G · BKN | 287 | 23.3 |
| 3 | Cameron Boozer F · MEM | 293 | 23.8 |
| 50 | Jaden Bradley G · TOR | 296 | 12.7 |
Players on new teams
Changed teams since last season. Their projections are based on their old role, so their minutes could change either way.
Kawhi Leonard TOR · Anthony Davis WSH · LaMelo Ball MIN · LeBron James PHI · Tyler Herro MIL · Paul George BOS · Ariel Hukporti PHI · Brandon Ingram LAC · Jaylen Brown PHI · Giannis Antetokounmpo MIA · Kel'el Ware MIL · Walker Kessler LAL · Naz Reid CHA · Damian Lillard POR · Miles Bridges PHX · Santi Aldama DAL · Julius Randle BKN · Bez Mbeng MIA · Peyton Watson CLE · Grayson Allen CHA
How accurate is it?
We re-ran the rankings for 8 past seasons (2018-19 through 2025-26), using only what was known before each season started, and checked them against how players actually finished. ESPN ADP is where those players were really drafted. Rookies are left out (none of the three had NBA stats for them).
| Draft by | Top 100 that finished top 100 | Value of the top 50 (9-cat) | Points from the top 50 (ESPN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our model | 73 | 3.96 | 2,579 |
| ESPN ADP | 64 | 3.46 | 2,481 |
| Our old formula | 70 | 3.81 | 2,496 |
Averages per season. Value of the top 50 = the average season-long 9-cat value (above a replacement-level player) of the 50 players each method ranked highest; points = their average ESPN fantasy points for the season. Projection error per game, all seasons tested: minutes 3.60 (old formula 3.91), points 2.28 (2.52), rebounds 0.82 (0.87), assists 0.62 (0.65).
How the rankings work
- Projections
- A machine-learning model trained on every NBA season since 2012-13 (about 6,000 player-seasons) projects three things for each player: minutes per game, production per minute in every stat, and games played. It looks at the last three seasons, how each player finished last season, age and years in the league, draft slot, starts, injury history (long absences and games missed at the end of last season), whether he changed teams, and how many minutes opened up or got crowded on his current team. It learns how players typically change from where they've been, so young players get credit for normal growth and veterans for normal decline.
- Injuries
- Players ESPN lists as out lose the games before their expected return date; the chip shows how many.
- Category value
- For each category, how far a player is above or below a typical player drafted in a 12-team league (a z-score), added up. FG% and FT% count more for players who take more shots.
- Full season vs per game
- Full season multiplies per-game value by projected games, so injury-prone players drop. Per game ignores games missed.
- ADP
- Average draft position: where each player is actually being taken in ESPN drafts. The live draft assistant uses it to predict who'll be gone before your pick.
- Rookies
- Projected from draft slot: what players picked near the same spot did as rookies. See the rookie rankings.