Fantasy Basketball: 5 Sleepers and 5 Busts for 2025-26

RotoWire's Mike Barner identifies undervalued and overvalued fantasy basketball players. Avoid costly mistakes and snag the best sleepers with his expert tips!

September 25, 2025

Fantasy Basketball: 5 Sleepers and 5 Busts for 2025-26

By:

Mike Barner

September 25, 2025

Finding undervalued players late in drafts can help you bring home a fantasy basketball title. It can also be just as important to avoid overvalued players who could hurt your squad. Let's dig into each category and highlight some players to keep in mind as your drafts move along. All ADP data is from Yahoo.

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Undervalued Sleepers

Matas Buzelis, Chicago Bulls (ADP 102.1)

Ignore the fact that Buzelis logged just 19 minutes per game during his rookie season. At the beginning of the campaign, he had a difficult time finding his way onto the floor. That changed in the second half when the Bulls moved him into the starting lineup. As a starter, he averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.7 three-pointers. He also shot 47.3% from the field. As a key part of the Bulls future, Buzelis should be locked into a starting role for the entire season.

Stay up to date on who is in and who is out with RotoWire's NBA Injury Report!

Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic (ADP 104.7)

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Undervalued Sleepers

Matas Buzelis, Chicago Bulls (ADP 102.1)

Stay up to date on who is in and who is out with RotoWire's NBA Injury Report!

Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic (ADP 104.7)

Suggs is being drafted outside the top 100 because he is coming back from a knee injury that limited him to 35 games last year. Injuries have been a problem, as he has appeared in 53 games or fewer in three of his four seasons. However, when he was healthy last year, he averaged 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.9 blocks and 2.2 three-pointers. This late in drafts, a player who can contribute in multiple categories like that is not easy to find.

Check out where all the players on your fantasy basketball team fit into RotoWire's Fantasy Basketball Cheat Sheet!

Santi Aldama, Memphis Grizzlies (ADP 120.9)

The Grizzlies traded away Desmond Bane during the offseason and did not bring in a noteworthy scorer to replace him. To complicate matters, Jaren Jackson Jr. is recovering from a toe surgery that could sideline him to begin the season. That's in addition to Zach Edey (ankle) being on a path to miss the start of the season. Aldama, who averaged 12.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 three-pointers over 26 minutes per game last season, could find himself playing around 30 minutes on a nightly basis.

Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's NBA Projections!

T.J. McConnell, Indiana Pacers (ADP 132.1)

With Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) out for the season, we'll have an opportunity to see more of McConnell on the floor. Andrew Nembhard is still in the fold, so McConnell isn't likely to play 30 minutes a game. However, he averaged 9.1 points, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals over just 18 minutes per game last year. There is a path for him to play around 22 to 25 minutes per game this season. Another stat that makes McConnell so appealing is that he has shot 51.6% from the field for his career.

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Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz (ADP 135)

Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson are no longer on the Jazz. Part of the reason why the team moved on from them was the emergence of Collier, who they took with the 29th pick in the 2024 Draft. Once he moved into the starting five, he became a valuable fantasy option. Across 46 starts, he averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.0 steals. While he only shot 32.7% from the field off the bench, he shot 44.3% as a starter. Keyonte George is still in the picture, but if Collier can hold onto the starting job, he could provide significant value this late in drafts.

Overvalued Busts

De'Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs (ADP 26.9)

Fox averaged 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.0 three-pointers and 1.5 steals over 45 games with the Kings last season before being dealt to the Spurs. Over 17 games with his new team, he averaged 19.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.5 three-pointers and 1.5 steals. His usage rate dropped from 29.1% with the Kings to 26.0% with the Spurs. Playing alongside Victor Wembanyama, Fox could continue to see a lower usage rate than during his tenure with the Kings.

Josh Hart, New York Knicks (ADP 50.8)

Last season was the perfect storm for Hart. The Knicks didn't have much depth, and he was playing for a head coach in Tom Thibodeau who already liked to give his starters heavy minutes. Hart averaged 38 minutes while appearing in 77 games. That led to fantasy gold, with him averaging 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 three-pointers per game. He also shot 52.5% from the field. Thibodeau is no longer in the picture, and the Knicks improved their bench with the additions of Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele and Malcolm Brogdon. Mitchell Robinson, who played just 17 games last year, could even supplant Hart in the Knicks' starting lineup. Don't pay for last season's production by selecting Hart this early in drafts.

Kristaps Porzingis, Atlanta Hawks (ADP 54.5)

Porzingis can be a dominant fantasy force. Last season, he contributed 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.5 three-pointers per game, while shooting 48.3% from the field and 80.9% from the free-throw line. However, he only played 42 games. That's the problem with Porzingis as he has played in fewer than 60 games in six of the last seven seasons. It's difficult to feel good about spending a fourth-round pick on a player who has such a poor injury history.

Brandon Ingram, Toronto Raptors (ADP 83.2)

The Raptors have a lot of length on their roster with Ingram, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Collin Murray-Boyles in the fold. Ingram can score in bunches, but much like Porzingis, staying healthy has been an issue. He played just 18 games last season and has appeared in fewer than 65 games in eight of his nine seasons in the NBA. While he comes with somewhat lower risk than Porzingis based on his later ADP, that doesn't mean he's someone to target.

Bradley Beal, Los Angeles Clippers (ADP 103.4)

The Clippers are an old team, but they have a lot of depth to help make up for that. In addition to James Harden, they have Beal, Chris Paul, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kris Dunn to split minutes at guard. They also added John Collins up front to go with a healthy Kawhi Leonard. Beal could start at shooting guard, but his usage rate could take a hit with so much talent around him. He also averaged just 3.7 assists per game last season and could struggle to improve in that department with how often Harden has the ball in his hands.