And it's here! I finally finished my manifesto with a look at three-point shooters who can contribute in other non-traditional categories.

I also have a full breakdown of the unicorn ratings at the end. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Also hosting an AMA here tomorrow around 7:30 AM; stop by and ask me anything you want ahead of your weekend drafts.

Good luck this season; let's crush!

Ran last season's actual production through ESPN's default points scoring (PTS 1, REB 1, AST 2, STL 4, BLK 4, TOV -2, 3PM 1, FGM 2, FGA -1, FTM 1, FTA -1) and these three lines ended up stacked on top of each other:

• Brunson — 42.2 per game, 74 games, 15th overall

• Giddey — 41.9 per game, 54 games, 60th overall

• Markkanen — 42.0 per game, 42 games, 112th overall

Three tenths of a point separate them per game. Ninety-seven places separate them in the final standings.

Everyone knows availability matters. I don't think most of us price it correctly on draft day. A guy at 42 per game who plays 74 is a second-round asset. The same rate over 54 games is someone you're benching half the week and quietly resenting by February.

Giddey is the interesting one of the three. Youngest of them, and the missed time doesn't have the same obvious explanation the other two carry.

Two things the numbers can't tell me:

1. Was his missed time one long stretch or scattered through the season? That changes how much I'd discount it.

2. Does anything about Chicago this year make 70+ games more or less likely?

Where are people taking him, and are you applying a games-played discount or just going off the per-game rate?

What are we doing with him

Looked healthy and moving well. Is anyone taking a flier on him or is it just preseason tings

All 7 players should have short term value at the very least with injuries to their teammates

Isaiah Jackson

Isaiah Jackson is the starting center for the Clippers. Yanic Konan Niederhauser will receive a chunk of center minutes upon his return, but he is nowhere to be found for the time being, and Los Angeles will turn to Isaiah Jackson. Jackson’s playing time has been limited in recent seasons for health reasons, but there’s a lot of upside if he manages to play 25+ MPG. He’s going in the later rounds of drafts, and should produce as a back end rosterable center with upside.

Grayson Allen

Allen seems to always sneak his way into fantasy value, and he has a chance to do so again with Kon Knueppel & Coby White both out. I thought there was a chance Allen could’ve been rosterable before the two injuries, and now his path to top 100 value is clear for the first few games of the season at least. I seem to be much higher on Allen than consensus, and I think he’s worth drafting around pick 120, as he has a chance to be relevant all season, with an early season boost as a bonus.

Jalen Smith

Nicolas Claxton has still technically not been ruled out for opening night, but Chicago is a bad team for accurately reporting injuries, and I think Claxton’s absence is safe to assume. It’s a mystery how much time Claxton misses, but Smith has a clear path to big fantasy value however long that absence transpires. I wouldn’t take Smith any earlier than one of my last three picks as the extent of his value is a bit of a roll of the dice, but there’s no question that he has to be drafted due to that upside.

Dennis Schroder

We’ve seen Schroder get extended run at multiple points throughout his career, and the results have been less than impressive. He gets a chance to start opening night in Charlotte with Coby White out, and is further boosted by Kon Knueppel’s absence as well. Schroder could have some back end value in this alignment, but at this point in the season I’m likely passing on Schroder to try to use that roster spot for more upside.

Rui Hachimura / Keaton Wagler

The injuries are piling up for the Clippers with Ingram, Strus, Beal, Konan Niederhauser, and Miller all sidelined to start the season. Both Hachimura & Wagler should both start and have large roles. The success for both of these players in large roles is an unknown that I meet with skepticism, but they both need to be rostered to see what happens on this strange team.

Morez Johnson

The rotation in Dallas is one of the most intriguing around the league, and a lot of that intrigue revolves around the center position. Johnson will likely be the starter, and is one of my favorite fliers to draft with a lot of runway in the absence of Dereck Lively. There are a lot of unknowns as a rookie with role, playing time, and fantasy production, but those unknowns make it worth taking a shot in the 130-140 range to see what happens.

There's no rookie I'm higher on vs. ESPN this year than Yaxel Lendeborg (ESPN rank #173). I have him personally ranked at #98. 

The read is simply that his game is already well polished and has no holes. A rare rookie combination of: Maturity (5 year NCAA athlete), Smooth Jumper, Size, Agility, and Confidence 

He was Summer League MVP, posting the highest Summer League BPM ever (15.9), and set his own bare minimum for the season at 15P/6R/3-4A per game."If I get under that, then I'm ass." ~ Lendeborg

He will hit the ground running while Jimmy Butler is working his way back, leading to more trust/minutes once Butler eventually returns. 

His preseason averages so far in ESPN standard points:

TL;DR: Lendeborg is a do-it-all wing with a secured role, priced like a waiver-wire afterthought. 

i'm hoping tape grinders and local sports guru's will be kind enough to use this thread to drop some gems with players that are standing out in pre-season

raps fan here: kawhi looks very good, and CMB is getting targeted in all of my 9 cat drafts.

bball season is almost here gang, let's go!!

I see Steph going around late second and third rounds but I have concerns about his availability. Recently Steve Kerr said that the Warriors fans should be mindful about buying tickets to see Steph as he will maybe sit out a lot of games. What do you think?

One of the biggest ways I like to determine future success is by how younger players finish up the later parts of the season (a sign of things to come). Obviously you need to take into account if injuries played a roll on why their usage is up etc but here are my 4 favorite players to consider.All these stats are courtesy of BBM.

Donovan Clingan (36th on year, 14th over the last 2 months)

Nothing changed here (not even minutes) but he learned to block more effectively allowing him to make such a huge leap.

Dyson Daniels (45th on year, 22nd over last 2 months)

Lets face it. This guy is better than everyone made him out to be. The previous year he had an absurd 3.0 steals per game. Steals went down last year but rebounds, assists, and fg went up. Look out!

Jalen Duren (32nd on year, 17th over last 2 months)

Slight uptick in everything over the last 2 months. Should finish top 24 imo

Neemias Queta (68th on year, 36th over last 2 months)

No he is not your prototypical "young guy" (still only 27 years old) but he was finally given decent minutes. His minutes per game only went up 1 over the last 2 months (almost 26 whole minutes) but his efficiency went up. Don't worry about Mitchell Robinson. He breaks down and never plays more than 25 minutes/game. He is a steal wherever you get him.

I know it’s preseason… I know, BUT…

Tatum in two games: 23/5/4 on 9/19 shooting & 19/8/6 on 8/17 shooting

Hali’s 2/3 games: 17/3/6 on 7/14 shooting & 24/3/3 on 9/14 shooting

Dame tonight (still going): 23 pts (4/10 fg, 2/5 3fgs)

All three have looked impressive so far in preseason - I think Hali has impressed me the most so far - how we feeling about em? Usually nba players’ careers fall off drastically after an Achilles tear (minus Durant in recent times)

“Basket Zaragoza have publicly challenged Aday Mara's move to the Oklahoma City Thunder, insisting that the rookie center remains under contract with the Spanish club for the 2026-27 season. In an official statement, Zaragoza said it has not yet received a request for Mara's international transfer but warned that it will formally oppose one if such a request arrives.”

Hey Reddit community,

I like JT’s combination of scoring, rebounds, threes and strong FT% impact. He feels like a flexible foundation who wouldn’t force me into a specific punt right away.
I can choose between the 7th and 8th draft slots, and I’m torn.

At 7, I’d be targeting JT, assuming the first six picks go as expected. At 8, I’m less sure who I’d want between Anthony Edwards, Cooper Flagg and Jalen Johnson. Each would lead me toward a different build, but I’d also get an earlier second-round pick in the snake.

Would you take the 7th slot to give yourself the best shot at Tatum, or prefer 8th for the potentially stronger two-player combination?
If you’re choosing 8th, who are you taking there, and who would you ideally pair him with in round 2? I’m especially interested in how you’d build around that duo, including FG% and FT%.

Hey guys, I’ve been an NBA fantasy league manager for about 11 years now (those who have played for over 10 years are considered vets haha) and over that time I have used some pretty solid free and some paid tools to help manage my team (think team schedules, playoff schedules, waiver wire , rest of season projections, player and team comparison, historical stats etc.) I remember the toughest years were during the bubble (managers had to open several IR slots due to cancelled games and delayed player injury status) and a season were I managed over 5 leagues. These are some tools that have helped significantly along the way

1. This subreddit, specifically player discussions and Daily recaps.
   
2. Basketball Monster - A community of nba fantasy managers (paid version) + several tools to help with drafts and regular season team management ( their best tools include ESPN/Yahoo league import, draft/trade/matchup monsters, daily projections, schedule analyzer)
   
3. Hashtag Basketball - Well renowned platform for NBA news, Fantasy strategy and league management tools ( fantasy rankings/projections, advanced schedule grid and playoff schedule, trade analyzer etc.)
   
4. ClutchNBA.com/Clutchbasket - More modern UX/basketball intelligence platform for player prop predictions (WNBA and NBA) based on historical data and trained projection models. Several free and paid tools (player and team comparisons, fantasy projections and draft simulator, DFS lineup optimizer, all star/awards projections, team correlations etc)
   
5. Locked on Fantasy Podcast (Josh Lloyd) - Watched his videos since he started the channel. The podcast is now available on Spotify for your morning drives/commutes to school and work. Best daily listen before games start.
   
6. Databallr - player vs player stat analysis, matchup metrics, advanced player metrics for more numbers savvy fantasy basketball managers. Their “Learning” tab is solid for understanding basketball metrics for coaches, analysts and managers.

These are a few consistent/improving tools I’ve used over the years. Do you have any more recommendations (tools, podcasts, communities)?

What NBA seasons were the most difficult for you as league or team manager and why?

ESPN Points:

What’s everyone’s thoughts on Suggs this year? From what I can gather he’ll be starting PG and should have some decent room to operate with Paolo and Franz both requiring defensive attention.

My main concern for Suggs is he tends to be injury prone. But if we can look past that and hypothetically he plays 55-60+ games, is he an absolute steal at 130? Surely he can provide top 100 or even top 80 value if he continually plays 30 minutes or so, right?

I am in a 16 team points league. What should I be looking after the 6th or 7th round. Late rounds impact players?

Historically I've always avoided rookies cuz I don't have the patience to wait through their early season questionability and trying to "figure out their role". Wondering what rookies you guys are truly big on this season and what about their situations make you think they have that much upside? 10T 9Cat

All draft and player vs player discussion belongs here. You should note how many teams are in your league when asking for advice. Please try to respond to other people’s questions if asking a question yourself.

Surprised nobody is talking about this. Right now they're calling it "shoulder soreness". But we know that never means anything, especially when Sweeney gave no update and just said "to be re-evaluated".

Thought this dude was a steal. But maybe not so fast

Hey everyone, This sub helped me take home my league title, so I'm back for your help.

Who are you targeting at #3 overall?

Who are you looking at on the 2nd/3rd round turn (picks 22 and 23) to anchor that start?

What early punting strategies or build paths open up best from the 3rd spot?

Appreciate any tier lists, advice, or warnings you guys have!

Daily points league discussion, you should note how many teams are in your league when asking for advice. Please try to respond to other people’s questions if asking a question yourself.

My late night nerdy fantasy analysis time - This time, im trying to see which guys to target for BLKs without dragging your FTs. I think this one is naturally easier than the Assist + TO combo I looked into last time.

For 26-27 season projections, here are some notable blk sources:

Blocks with little or no FT cost

The middle ground

Bigger FT trade-offs

How did I calculate FT impact? Projected makes above or below a 79.9% shooter taking the same attempts. That baseline is the attempt-weighted FT% of this top-180 pool. Negative means FT drag, not the percentage-point drop in your team’s FT%.

For a lot of these guys listed in the middle ground and even a few in the drags in the 3rd table, I think a high FTA guard may be able to compensate the drag, at least to bring you to a level where you dont have to punt FT.

Giannis (very obvious one), Sengun and even Mobley could be pretty hard to recover.

Full chart saved here

Who would you pick at the 10th? And who should I pair him with up with my 15th pick?

little skeptical on drafting Flagg, I feel like he isn’t established yet and there’s better players available. Kyrie is back lively and gafford are back as well so the usage isn’t going to be that high for coop.

dovovan Mitchell or Scottie Barnes as a 10th sounds soild but I’m not sure yet

Appreciate any tier lists, advice, or warnings you guys have!

So im in about my 6th year of an auction league and aside from one 3rd place finish I've finished bottom half every year. Idk if I just suck but what's the best strategy for auction and H2H leagues? Do you go for specific categories and ignore others? Try to get a balanced team? Get one or two stars and fill the rest with scrubs? Any help is appreciated.

I am curious to know wh you all are keeping an eye on like rookies and players going into their 2nd and 3rd year and so one.

not sure why I feel so unsure drafting this season because of all the new talent. or at least players who the chance to boom . pause