Free · every word of it
This is the season after the reshuffle. Superstars changed cities in July, half the point guard position is coming off surgery, and three rookies walk into real minutes. The board rewards whoever prices all of that correctly. Here’s how we’re doing it.
There are two right answers at 1.01 and neither needs defending. Wembanyama owns blocks the way nobody has owned a category in years — in roto and 9-cat that single-handedly wins you a column. Jokić is the safest stat line in basketball: health, environment, and a triple-double average that never blinks. Our board says Wemby, because a category you can’t buy anywhere else beats a category you can approximate. In points leagues, flip them and don’t look back.
Haliburton, Lillard and Dejounte Murray are back from Achilles tears. Kyrie and VanVleet are back from ACLs. Tatum played his way back in late last spring. That’s six household names whose draft cost is a bet on medicine. Our rule: pay for the ones whose team needs them at full speed — Haliburton (12) and Tatum (8) qualify — and make the rest come to you at a discount. Lillard at 86 in a crowded Portland backcourt is a fine price. Lillard at 45 because you remember 2024 is how seasons die.
LeBron and Jaylen Brown joined Maxey and Embiid in Philadelphia — four mouths, one ball; somebody eats less, and we think it’s everyone a little. Giannis in Miami changes Bam’s rebounding math. LaMelo next to Ant is fantasy fireworks with games-played risk. Portland stacked Morant, Lillard, Avdija and Holiday into one backcourt — draft exactly one of them. And the quiet winners are the guys who stayed: Luka and Reaves inherit LeBron’s touches in L.A., Brunson runs back a title roster, Sabonis gets his usage back in Sacramento. When in doubt, draft the guy whose situation got simpler, not louder. Check any of them against the live depth charts on FantasyDailies before you click.
Dybantsa (WAS) walks into a team that wants him shooting, Peterson (UTA) starts from day one, and Boozer (MEM) may lead his own offense before New Year’s. Rookies drain percentages, so in 9-cat they’re late-round shots; in points leagues, move each of them up a full round. Sophomores are the better bargain: Flagg is a top-six pick on our board, and Harper, Edgecombe, Buzelis and Knueppel all get more runway this season.
Giannis is a top-five pick in points and a headache in 9-cat (free throws, no threes). Banchero, Zion, Ja: same story. Gobert, Claxton and the block-and-board bigs are the reverse — category gold, points-league filler. Know your format before round one, and if you punt, punt on purpose: our full punt builds are in the Book.
Drafting last year’s breakout at this year’s ceiling. Ignoring games played until March. Taking two injury-flagged stars back to back and calling it upside. Drafting a player on the club he had last season — check the news, half the league moved. And drafting in September for an October season this volatile: run the room again the week of your draft, because this board will keep moving with the news wire.