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Andrew Ball lists his favorite draft sleepers and values at the forward position for the 2025-26 Fantasy Basketball season. These players can be a bargain considering their draft price.
Look past the MLB postseason and the meat of the NFL schedule, and you'll see the start of the NBA season. October is the best sports month of the year. Change my mind.
For those studying for fantasy basketball season, you likely know the studs and early-round picks. Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic? Those are easy selections. The under-the-radar players, who can break out and support those All-Stars, can make your season.
Here are five of my favorite sleepers, with forward eligibility, heading into the 2025-26 fantasy basketball season.
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Matas Buzelis (SF/PF), Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls' insistence on mediocrity is infuriating for fans, but opportunistic for fantasy basketball. The front office made no notable additions to the roster, essentially running it back for another play-in tournament appearance.
Buzelis is one of just two players drafted by the Bulls in a decade who show promise, and he's one of the most popular sleeper candidates this season. His end-of-season numbers don't jump off the page: 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, one assist, 0.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks on 45% shooting. Those numbers were deflated by early-season spot usage as he developed in his first year.
As a starter, the role he's expected to have when the season tips, Buzelis averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds, nearly two assists, and 1.1 blocks. That's an outstanding block rate for a wing playing 26.7 minutes per game.
The sophomore was shut down early in Summer League and enters the year as the fourth scoring option for the Bulls, at least for now. Josh Giddey and Coby White will stick, but how long will the Chicago front office hang on to the aging Nikola Vucevic? A midseason transaction would move Buzelis up the pecking order, if his talent doesn't supersede Vucevic beforehand.
Michael Porter Jr. (SF/PF), Brooklyn Nets
What happens when the third option on a championship roster joins a team that selected five rookies in the first round of this year's NBA Draft and lacks multiple scoring options?
Porter and Cam Thomas are the new chuckers in Brooklyn (well, Thomas already was one). They are the only two players on the Nets' roster who have averaged at least 13 points per game in an NBA season.
MPJ shot the ball 13 times per game since he became a part of Denver's starting lineup. That number should expand in his first season donning a black jersey. The efficiency, however, may falter. Porter was a 50-40 shooter in his final season as a Nugget because Nikola Jokic drew all of the defensive attention and set Porter up with wide-open threes and dunks.
THE ASSIST SEEN ‘ROUND THE WORLD 👀
Nikola Jokić secured the FIRST 30/20/20 game in NBA history with this dish to Michael Porter Jr. 🔥🔥
Relive last night’s iconic moment! pic.twitter.com/hZEcfOs4jZ
— NBA (@NBA) March 8, 2025
Porter's assist numbers should also see a bump as a secondary ball-handler. Playmaking has never been a strong suit of his game. He averaged 2.1 assists last year, and that was a career high. Still, he'll have the rock in his hands far more often early in possessions, at least until their first first-round pick, Egor Demin, gets more comfortable running the offense.
Santi Aldama (PF/C), Memphis Grizzlies
When will Jaren Jackson Jr. return to the lineup? Offseason toe surgery puts his status in doubt when the Grizzlies begin the regular season. Center Zach Edey (ankle) is recovering from offseason surgery and is expected to miss the start of the new campaign. Forward Brandon Clarke just underwent surgery to address a knee issue.
Aldama is expected to receive heavy minutes in October and November. Aldama's ADP is rising, and may continue to do so, because he's all but confirmed to be an opening night starter, regardless of Jackson's health.
And, with Desmond Bane now in Orlando, there are a lot of vacated shot attempts up for grabs. The Grizzlies didn't add anyone with his scoring pedigree to replace his production. Maybe all Aldama needed was a bigger opportunity. He's steadily improved in nearly every department since his rookie year, but still only averaged 10 shot attempts per game last year. What if that number bumps up to 12 or 13?
| 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 | |
| Points | 4.1 | 9.0 | 10.7 | 12.5 |
| Field Goal Attempts | 4.1 | 6.8 | 9.3 | 10.0 |
| Field Goal % | 40.2% | 47% | 43.5% | 48.3% |
| Three Point Attempts | 1.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Three Point % | 12.5% | 35.3% | 34.9% | 36.8 |
| Free Throw % | 62.5% | 75% | 62.1% | 69.1% |
| Rebounds | 2.7 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 6.4 |
| Assists | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 2.9 |
| Stocks | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
Memphis recently rewarded the Spaniard with a three-year, $52-million contract, signaling the front office believes he will play an integral part of their rotation. Aldama could average 30 minutes per game, which, in turn, will lead to other career-high marks in the stats that matter for fantasy hoops.
Aaron Nesmith (SF), Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are the embodiment of the Thanos meme. What did it cost to make it to the NBA Finals? Everything.
Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) is almost certainly missing the entire season. Myles Turner joined the Milwaukee Bucks for more money than Indiana offered, possibly due to a reluctance to enter the luxury tax in what is anticipated to be a lost season. Pascal Siakam remains, but whose usage increases? Who becomes the second and third options?
The candidates are Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, and Nesmith. Head coach Rick Carlisle has already stated that Mathurin will replace Haliburton in the starting lineup this season. He's the high-volume scorer of the bunch, averaging 16+ points in two of his three NBA seasons. Nembhard will be the primary facilitator. The 25-year-old has leveled up throughout his three seasons and dishes out almost seven dimes a game without Haliburton in the lineup.
If you are looking for the efficient scorer, that's where Nesmith comes in. The former lottery pick has posted two straight seasons of 12+ points and 1.9 3-pointers in approximately 26 minutes of game time. He improved on all of his shooting metrics from the 2023-2024 season, joining the 50-40-90 club.
Aaron Nesmith just put together the most accurate 3P shooting playoff run of all time (minimum 100 3PA)
3&D in its purest form. Physical, quick trigger, can heat up in an instant, and clutch. $11m/yr the next two seasons. https://t.co/jLS3NBgOh1 pic.twitter.com/bXawKnbSft
— NBA University (@NBA_University) June 24, 2025
Although he's listed as a forward, Nesmith is part of the "backcourt rotation." With one less man to eat up playing time, Nesmith could see a career-high mark in minutes (30+?) and be relied upon more to create and score.
Cam Whitmore (SF/PF), Washington Wizards
Player development can also mean empty stats on a tanking team.
Whitmore is a dart throw toward the end of drafts, as the deepest sleeper on the list. CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton (when healthy) will eat up early-season usage as the veterans of the team. Guards Tre Johnson (rookie), Bub Carrington (second year), forwards Bilal Coulibaly (third year, injured to start season), Kyshawn George (second year), Whitmore (third year), and center Alexandre Sarr (second year) are all in the development stage.
Whitmore joins the team as a transfer from Houston, where the frontcourt became overclogged after the acquisitions of Kevin Durant and Dorian Finney-Smith. Whitmore already struggled to get consistent minutes before the veterans arrived, but when he was on the court, he put up gaudy per-36 minutes.
The Houston Rockets are trading Cam Whitmore to the Washington Wizards for two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. The deal gives Whitmore a tremendous opportunity for an increased role as he turns 21 on Tuesday and returns to the DMV area. pic.twitter.com/8BaBsVxjN2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 5, 2025
The former Villanova Wildcat averaged 22.3 points, seven rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and three 3-pointers made when projected out over 3/4 of a basketball game. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the most efficient shooting numbers (44-35-70), and the Rockets only used him sparingly (17.4 minutes) as a competitive basketball team.
The Wizards aren't a competitive basketball team, and there should be plenty of stat-stuffing opportunities for the young squad. For Whitmore, the concern is that there are too many inexperienced players, and he, again, gets lost in the shuffle. But, outside of Sarr, he's shown the most potential, at least through a fantasy basketball lens.
With Coulilbaly likely missing the start of the season, Whitmore is an easy selection in the final rounds of drafts. Hopefully, he can carve out a consistent role and put up start-worthy numbers for a bottom-dweller.
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