2026 Fantasy Basketball Playoff Schedules: Players and Teams to Target or Avoid

February 11, 2026

Adam Koffler gives a preview of the 2026 fantasy basketball playoffs and provides a list of players that might help win you a championship this season.

The Super Bowl is over, which means it's time to lock in on fantasy basketball. It might not seem like it, but the fantasy basketball playoffs are just around the corner.

Depending on your league's settings, playoffs could start as early as Week 19 (March 2) or as late as Week 21 (March 16). Most Yahoo H2H leagues' playoffs start in Week 19 or Week 20 (March 9), so we'll show both of those grids in this article. However, for the write-up, we'll focus on Week 20 as the start of the playoffs so that we're consistent throughout.

Don't wait. Now is the time to prepare your team for the fantasy basketball playoffs. Whether that's adding a guy with a favorable schedule or trading away a player with a not-so-favorable schedule. This article should help you make some key decisions down the stretch.

Fantasy Basketball Playoff Schedule Grids

Weeks 19-21 (click to enlarge)

Weeks 20-22 (click to enlarge)

Yes, you can simply look at games played over the course of the fantasy basketball playoffs and figure out what teams and players to target and avoid.

I took it a step further, though. I've included three categories (times on a large slate, back-to-backs, and games against a top-10 defense) to add more granularity to the scores.

Each category is weighted, with back-to-backs being the biggest ding, and games against a top-10 defense being the smallest.

Hopefully, the granularity helps, and hopefully you can make some decisions for your exact situation. Maybe you're projected to have a first-round bye in Week 20. In that case, the Pelicans have a way better setup (for you) in Weeks 21 and 22 (four games each week). For someone without a first-round bye, however, you might want to see what you can get for guys like Derik Queen and Zion Williamson before it's too late.

To reiterate, for this article, we'll focus on players and teams to target and avoid based on the fantasy basketball playoffs being Weeks 20-22 (March 9 - March 29).

Teams To Target: Favorable Playoff Schedules

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers are in an interesting situation. They're most likely going to be in the play-in, but they're not good enough to make a deep playoff run.

They also just traded away James Harden and Ivica Zubac, which opens up a ton of opportunity for a few guys.

If they don't seem to be going into tank mode, Kawhi Leonard should be a league-winner. His usage skyrockets without Harden, and Darius Garland isn't nearly the threat Harden is to his touches.

One of the centers, Brook Lopez or Yanic Konan Niederhauser, is going to provide value; it's just unclear exactly who that is at this point.

🚫 YANIC SAID NOPE 🚫

WHAT A BLOCK BY ROOK!!! pic.twitter.com/fAB9aK8uuR

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 5, 2026

Then there's John Collins, who has returned top-75 value this season. He's a sneaky guy to go trade for so long as the Clippers remain competitive. Don't forget about Bennedict Mathurin; he can score with the best of them.

If "silly season" hits, however, guys like Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders would stand to benefit during the fantasy basketball playoffs.

Brooklyn Nets

"Silly season" has already begun in Brooklyn. But that's where opportunity lies, especially given the Nets' very favorable late-season schedule.

Michael Porter Jr. would be in the Kawhi category if we knew he'd play every game, but he's already resting a lot, so that's probably not going to happen.

Whoever is starting for the Nets and playing 30+ minutes down the stretch is going to be very valuable. Maybe it's Nicolas Claxton and Egor Demin, but it's no sure thing.

Since that's the case, I'd prefer the efficient guys who stuff the stat sheet; Day'Ron Sharpe, Danny Wolf, and Nolan Traore come to mind, and all are readily available on waiver wires.

Another day, Another Dominant Day'ron Sharpe game
19/14/5/3 on 75% FG in just 26 minutes

Day'ron had as many offensive rebounds (10) as the entire lakers team pic.twitter.com/iDSkZiZQ8o

— Nets Film Room (@NetsFilm) February 5, 2026

New York Knicks

Yes, the only play 10 games over the course of three weeks, but they're a "good" 10 games.

They play just one back-to-back and are on a 9+ game slate just once during that stretch. Being as they're a competitive team, every player should (in theory) play every game.

It might be hard to pry Jalen Brunson away from his manager, but throw offers out there for Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.

All of these guys should see heavy minutes as the Knicks jockey for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando Magic

Orlando is another team with a relatively favorable schedule in the fantasy basketball playoffs. It's especially favorable to those who earn a first-round bye.

In Weeks 21 and 22, you'll get eight games from a team pushing for the playoffs. Don't worry about the three back-to-backs either, Jamahl Mosley isn't one to rest his guys.

Franz Wagner just returned, so you might be looking at this group thinking there are too many mouths to feed. That may be true, but the starters are going to play heavy minutes down the stretch.

Everyone but an inefficient Paolo Banchero should be high on your priority list of trade targets. That includes Wagner, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, and Anthony Black.

Also consider: Sacramento Kings (Nique Clifford, Devin Carter, and Dylan Cardwell), Philadelphia 76ers (if your goal is just to make it out of the first round)

Teams to Avoid: Worst Playoff Schedules

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls moved Nikola Vucevic at the deadline, so there's some opportunity up for grabs in Chicago. The problem is, their schedule is terrible.

In fact, it's the worst in the league according to my weighted scores. They're one of only two teams that have just 10 games and three back-to-backs during the playoffs.

They're also on the outside of the playoffs, looking in. Right now is the time to move off Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey.

Jalen Smith and Guerschon Yabusele are intriguing options, but they could realistically cannibalize one another down the stretch.

Don't be left holding the bag on these guys, just to find out they're missing a game or two of their only 10 playoff games in three weeks.

Phoenix Suns

They have one of the more interesting setups during Weeks 20-22. They play three games in Week 20, five in Week 21, and just two in Week 22.

It's going to be a rollercoaster ride, and I'm not sure I want to spend extra money for lightning lane to ride that rollercoaster.

The Suns likely make the playoffs, but now might be the right time to sell high on Dillon Brooks, given his stretch of dominant performances these last few weeks.

Devin Booker, with his name value, could also fetch you a nice return.

The five-game week is great, but it could hurt a guy like Mark Williams. He's historically been rested or seen fewer minutes in these situations, so dangle him out there to your league mates before your trade deadline.

New Orleans Pelicans

I mentioned it in the article intro, but if you're a Williamson, Queen, or Trey Murphy III manager and you're not going to earn a first-round bye, now's the time to sell.

With just two games in Week 20, these guys are going to hurt you more than they're going to help you.

There's also no guarantee they play in both games as the Pelicans look to lose games down the stretch. Imagine getting just one game from Zion in the first round of the playoffs.

In my home league, I just recently traded away Queen and Payton Pritchard for Jarrett Allen and Kelly Oubre Jr. because I'm not projected to earn a bye.

Now, if you are going to earn a bye, the Pelicans could actually help you. Saddiq Bey flies under the radar a bit with the other big names there, so maybe see if he's available on the cheap.

Oklahoma City Thunder

This one is painful because a couple of Thunder players have been spectacular this season for fantasy basketball.

Don't say I didn't tell you so, but now is the time to see what kind of return you can get for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

He's out through the All-Star Break with an abdominal strain, and OKC has aspirations of winning another championship.

They're one of just four teams that play six games between Weeks 20 and 21. In Week 21, they go back-to-back on the road against the Magic and Nets, and then follow that up with a trip to Washington. It's almost a guarantee that SGA (and others) sit at least one of those games.

You can probably kick the tires on Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams as well, considering their respective fantasy values when healthy.

Also consider avoiding: Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks

More Fantasy Basketball Analysis