Category Studs: Points, Rebounds, And Assists Targets For Fantasy Basketball (2025-2026)

October 7, 2025

Zach Reifschneider discusses how to build a team centered around points, rebounds, and assists for NBA fantasy basketball in the 2025-2026 season. Players discussed include Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis, and more players that can help stuff the boxscore.

Regardless of whether you play points or categories leagues in fantasy basketball, one thing is true: players who can stuff the boxscore are immensely valuable. Building a team with strengths around harder-to-get areas, like steals and blocks, is important, but without a strong foundation around the most important areas of the game, winning a minimum of five categories a week will be a challenge.

Today, we’re going to talk about building a team centered around three of the most common counting statistics: points, rebounds, and assists. In many ways, these builds operate similarly to a points league, where attrition in these three key areas is the goal.

From there, tinkering with the remaining categories of strength is what brings in the wins. This, like anything else, comes down to cost and finding the right value to match your desired structure and categories to bolster. 

Top Targets For a Points/Rebounds/Assists Build

What makes this kind of build relatively easy to draft for is that you don’t necessarily need to be picky about things up top. You’ll have a bevy of options that can stuff these 3 categories on any given night. 

In a build like this, you’re likely best starting things off with someone like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Domantas Sabonis, where their ability to stuff the box score while dropping over 20+ points per game and near 10+ rebounds and/or assists on most nights is all but a lock. Luckily, the first round is full of options for guys like this. Here is how each of the top 12 players performs on a per-game basis on points, rebounds, assists, and combined PRAs, according to Yahoo’s 2025-2026 fantasy basketball ADP.

As you can see, it’s hard to go too wrong with any of the above options, depending on who you’re picking in the first round. Once you establish your first pick and identify primary strengths after PRAs as you go, it’s fairly easy to look down the line and make smart choices. If you’re rolling with Jokic, you basically have a cheat code that can work wonders for every single statistical category.

However, with someone like Antetokounmpo, Doncic, or Sabonis instead, you will need to be mindful about other areas, such as FT%, FG%, or defensive stats. However, with all four choices, you remain robust in the key areas with contributors that are a nightly double-double or triple-double threat as a starting point.

Early-to-Mid Round Targets

After making your top few choices, continuing to build out a structure with players of similar profiles will help further solidify your best areas. Without any strategic or direct focus in mind, here are a few good targets in descending ADP order that might be worth focusing on with your upcoming picks. Do note that these Yahoo ADPs are current as of early October 2025, so keep that in mind as things fluctuate and more drafts happen over the next 2 weeks before Opening Night.

Pascal Siakam, PF/C - IND

• Yahoo ADP: 30.4
• 2024-2025 Stats: 20.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists

Despite posting his lowest points per game since his Most Improved Player-winning season in 2018-2019, Siakam has been a massive contributor to the Indiana Pacers in these first 2 seasons with the team. This year, all eyes will be on him with a lot of change coming. Tyrese Haliburton will be out for the entire 2025-2026 season after tearing his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the Finals, and Myles Turner has signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. With a lot of question marks beyond him and Andrew Nembhard as the new starting point guard, I’m anticipating a big year for Siakam with jumps in all three areas. 

Josh Giddey, PG/SG - CHI

• Yahoo ADP: 31.7
• 2024-2025 Stats: 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists

Giddey comes off a big stretch of post-All-Star break play, where he averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists, and into a season with a locked-in 4-year extension. Now that he’s firmly established as the long-term best player in Chicago, Giddey is going to be in for a monster year.

Now, I’m not anticipating close to a 20/10/9 run all season, but could he get close and end up around a 17/8/8 or even higher anywhere? I don’t see why not, honestly. Giddey is kind of a perfect choice for a PRA-centric build, and at his current ADP of 31.7, you could get some fantastic value out of him. In a build like this, I don’t think it would be a massive mistake if one were to reach into the second round for him if you were looking to live on the edge. 

Franz Wagner, SF/PF - ORL

• Yahoo ADP: 35.7
• 2024-2025 Stats: 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists

More than likely, Paolo Banchero will be gone by the second round with an ADP of 18.0. However, I’m buying heavily into each of their three leading men this year, and if you miss on Banchero, both Wagner and Desmond Bane will be next up. For Wagner, he’s stepped into his own this year as a 20+ point per game scorer. Things may change a bit with Bane in the picture, but I expect Wagner to continue developing healthy rebounds and assists at his position while remaining in a position as the 1B or 2 to Banchero to drop 20 points per game. 

Derrick White, PG/SG - BOS

• Yahoo ADP: 38.9
• 2024-2025 Stats: 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists

In principle, White’s ADP feels a bit higher than the price I want to pay. His counting stats last season were not quite as impressive with only a tiny increase as a scorer while seeing marginal decreases elsewhere. However, with Jayson Tatum out for the season and Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday out of the picture, this leaves a ridiculous amount of usage and open shots that just the addition of Anfernee Simons won’t fix. I expect to see some nice growth from White this year, with the potential to improve as a scorer and possibly get close to 20 points per game, along with growth to his assists as a primary point guard for the Celtics as they aim to find the silver lining in a lost season.

Lauri Markkanen, SF/PF - UTA

• Yahoo ADP: 47.3
• 2024-2025 Stats: 19 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists

Markkanen opens the preseason as one of the biggest bounce-back candidates of the 2025-2026 season. After 2 seasons of 23-25 points per game and 8 rebounds per game, Markkanen’s numbers saw a pretty sizable dip in his 47 games played in 2024-2025. Coming off a fiery summer with some elite EuroBasket play under his belt, Markkanen looks ready to return to form and in good health. At 47.3, Markkanen could be a potential steal this late if all goes well.  

Deni Avdija, SF/PF - POR

• Yahoo ADP: 55.1
• 2024-2025 Stats: 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists

The Deni Avdija breakout has been years in the making, and after a rocky start to his Portland tenure, Avdija has fully broken out as Portland’s de facto best player on the team. With Scoot Henderson out for the foreseeable future, I expect Avdija to go bananas to open the season if he’s given more lead ballhandling duties. Some may be skeptical about Avdija’s sustainability at his current cost and ADP in redraft or dynasty leagues, but considering Avdija went on a tear since the New Year (19.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists) while Portland went 25-25 in their final 50 games, there is strong reason to believe Avdija isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Tyler Herro, PG/SG - MIA

• Yahoo ADP: 59.9
• 2024-2025 Stats: 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists

In late September, the Miami Heat announced that Tyler Herro will be undergoing foot surgery and will likely be out until November. This is not the news you like to hear, especially with the possibility of Herro’s foot injury lingering into the season.

That being said, with his ADP sitting at Round 6 and having seen him fall into the 6th or 7th rounds in a few drafts I’ve done, I’m OK taking the swing in those few rounds with the hopes of him staying healthy. Herro was awesome this past season, and a healthy 23/5/5 helped him cruise along to his first All-Star nod of his career. With him in the driver’s seat for Miami moving forward, I expect this to largely remain the norm.

Julius Randle, PF/C - MIN

• Yahoo ADP: 62.8
• 2024-2025 Stats: 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists

Randle is your run-of-the-mill PRA guy, and my points and categories league folks can agree that he’s not without his frustrations. Still, at this point in his career, you know what to expect out of him on a full-year basis, and it’s hard to make a fuss out of what he can deliver with these focal points. It does make you wonder if he could potentially tick up as a scorer this year if Minnesota tweaks some things, and with more time of Anthony Edwards and Randle playing together. I will say that I’m not a big fan of his current ADP that puts him in the very early 60s, but if you can get him in the 7th round or after, I think that value makes plenty of sense. 

Brandon Ingram, SF/PF - TOR

• Yahoo ADP: 80
• 2024-2025 Stats: 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists

Brandon Ingram is a really fascinating player this year. Normally, he would be someone I place under the risk-reward category below, but this year, his ADP puts him right around the 7th round. I have some concerns about how Toronto functions this year with him and Scottie Barnes as their leading men. Ingram has also missed an average of 24.6 games per year in 5 years with NOP, minus this past season, where he played 18 games. However, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic has spoken about his plans to play Scottie Barnes off the ball more this year and will split ball-handling duties with him, Ingram, and Immanuel Quickley. At cost, I’m more than willing to take the shot on Ingram and think he could pay off in a big way if he manages to stay healthy and returns to that guy who routinely drops 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

Shaedon Sharpe, SG/SF - POR

• Yahoo ADP: 97.1
• 2024-2025 Stats: 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists

Portland is coming with a lot of questions this year, past the expectation that Deni Avdija is their best player, once again. Scoot Henderson was slated to take a big step up with Anfernee Simons gone, but he is currently slated to miss a total of 4-8 weeks with a hamstring tear. Someone will need to pick up the slack, and Shaedon Sharpe feels like one of the biggest benefactors of this.

With more opportunities to play with the ball in his hands, I think we could see an early uptick in assists from Sharpe, but there is sure to be some growth in all areas as he looks to firmly establish himself as a key piece in Rip City moving forward. At 97.1, I think Sharpe is a great value to snag in your 8th round that can deliver on some very high-scoring barrages at worst. 

High-Risk, High-Reward Targets

When prioritizing this build, there are a lot of options available that, if all goes well, could help you dominate in your areas of strength. However, as we’ll discuss with each, there’s a fair amount of risk involved with their health or other factors. Let’s touch on each and assess the risk-reward balance of more early targets.

LaMelo Ball, PG/SG - CHA

• Yahoo ADP: 30.3
• 2024-2025 Stats: 25.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists

If there were an award for the highest risk-reward fantasy player, LaMelo Ball would comfortably be a landslide winner for at least 2 of the last 5 years so far. Elite when healthy, but just like a handful of others we’ll talk about, staying healthy is a serious problem. Ball has dominated in PRAs since the moment he stepped into the league and, for his career, has already hit on averages of 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists.

At cost, if you can get him in the third round of your drafts, you’re coming away with a serious league winner that could help blow competition out of the water if/when healthy. It’s just a matter of balancing that risk. Personally, I think Charlotte will be better than expected, and Ball will play over 50 games for the first time since 2021-2022 when he was named the youngest All-Star in NBA history.

Cooper Flagg, SF/PF - DAL

• Yahoo ADP: 43.2
• 2024-2025 Stats: N/A

Drafting rookies in redraft leagues always carries a fair amount of risk. In the case of Cooper Flagg, I think the hype and high ADP are certainly grounded in reality. Flagg dominated with Duke as a freshman, and coming into the NBA, he’s certainly one of the most well-rounded freshmen we’ve seen in quite a while. 

Blake Griffin says Cooper Flagg is the “most complete player we’ve seen come into the NBA in recent memory.” 👀🔥

(via Post Moves) pic.twitter.com/Vu5OBDscnd

— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) August 22, 2025

There’s plenty to like in his fantasy profile as well. On a team loaded with opportunity after Anthony Davis, Flagg has every means of delivering even close to his Duke numbers (19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists) that could give you a slightly cheaper version of Jalen Johnson (26.8 Yahoo ADP) if you missed on him at the Round 2-3 turn. However, he is still a rookie, and even the best of them can need time to gel and get up to NBA superstar levels of play, as I believe Flagg can reach. 

Kawhi Leonard, SF/PF - LAC

• Yahoo ADP: 44.9
• 2024-2025 Stats: 21.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists

Look, everyone has done the Kawhi Leonard injury stuff to death at this point, so I don’t need to drone on and tell you what you already know. Leonard missing time is par for the course; on average, he’s missed about 30 games per year over the 5 healthy seasons he’s played for the Clippers, and only played 37 in 2024-2025. He’s always going to be a risk for the missed time, and considering the Clippers’ current roster is the best they’ve constructed while Leonard has been here, I would not be surprised if the Clippers keep him on load management to be fresh for the playoffs.

There’s also something to be said about potential hits to his scoring with the addition of Bradley Beal and John Collins, along with the fact that his points per game are at their lowest since his age-24 season in 2015-2016 (his last healthy year with the Spurs). Might this be the new normal in that regard? Finally, there’s the alleged no-show sponsorship scandal that could result in punishment for the Clippers and Leonard. For someone who already carries plenty of risk, there’s a lot to think about here.

Zion Williamson, SF/PF - NOP

• Yahoo ADP: 46.7
• 2024-2025 Stats: 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists

Much like a handful of the players we’ve talked about, injuries remain a concern for Zion Williamson, among other things. Williamson has struggled to remain healthy and available across his career. He has played 24 games as a rookie, 61 the next year, missed the entire 2021-2022 season, played 29 games the next year (and still made the All-Star game), 70 games in 2023-2024, and 30 games last year. What are we supposed to do with that? This year, there is hope with Zion Williamson losing weight this year and discussing how he feels the best he’s felt since high school and college.

When he plays, he’s one of the most obvious young superstars in the NBA. I have some reservations this year, but if he can be had in the fourth round of your drafts, I think the value could be worth swinging on. Plus, without Brandon Ingram, there are no more excuses not to absolutely crush.

Joel Embiid, C - PHI

• Yahoo ADP: 48.7
• 2024-2025 Stats: 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists

The excitement for Joel Embiid to return to form is palpable. We all know the story by now: one of the most often-injured stars we’ve seen in the last decade-plus that has frequently been one of the best players in the world for the last few years. This offseason, much like Zion Williamson, Embiid has been getting plenty of positive buzz about his health after some real scares last season that he isn’t far from having to medically retire from the NBA. This is a big, big risk and a frustrating player to own if he continues to suffer from knee issues, but if he hits with your fourth pick in the draft and can play 60 games this year, this could be a big-time league winner for managers. 

Late-Round Targets and Sleepers

Finally, to close things out, let’s touch on a few late-round targets I’m watching out for this year that could be a crucial addition in a build centered around PRA domination. As a dynasty guy first and foremost, I have many thoughts on late-round players, so strap in.

Draymond Green, PF/C - GSW

• Yahoo ADP: 106.5
• 2024-2025 Stats: 9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists

Now, Draymond Green is not much of a scorer, but what’s important here as a late-round target is the out-of-position assists and key defensive stats he can provide. Even if he is only scoring 8-9 points per game moving forward, it’s what else he does that’s so important to building a cohesive team. If you’ve gone hard in most of your draft by selecting a lot of strong scorers, spending a late pick on Green to round you out elsewhere can work wonders.

Aaron Gordon, SF/PF - DEN

• Yahoo ADP: 107
• 2024-2025 Stats: 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists

This season, Aaron Gordon took another slight step back. 2 years ago, he played a key role for the Nuggets in their championship win. Although Gordon still delivered on positive value for the year, he had a fair amount of struggles, including missing 31 games due to injury and personal tragedy in his family this year. Gordon has spoken about the weight that was on him and his family this year, and this absolutely does affect on-court performance.

This year, with a reinvigorated Nuggets roster and a strong supporting cast member next to Gordon in Cameron Johnson, I think Gordon has a chance of seeing some slight returns to form with a slight increase to his points and potentially climbing back to 6+ rebounds per game. Gordon is one of my favorite role players, and I will be drafting him in a number of leagues and rooting for him. 

Malik Monk, SG - SAC

• Yahoo ADP: 113.8
• 2024-2025 Stats: 17.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists

This late in your drafts, the main thing you’re going to hope for is players that can score a lot and contribute towards rebounds or assists in a meaningful way. There are still some concerns here with Malik Monk, as the Kings seemed very eager to move on from him, but Monk quietly had the best year of his career in both points and assists. We will need to see how things play out with Dennis Schroder as the starting point guard and how 2nd year guard Devin Carter fares, but Monk is a very underrated player with a much better passing touch than some think. I expect another quality year of around 15-16 points and 5 assists. 

Santi Aldama, PF/C - MEM

• Yahoo ADP: 114.6
• 2024-2025 Stats: 12.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists

Readers of my dynasty work know I am a big Santi Aldama fan, and as of right now, he’s going to be in store for a sizable role entering this season with Memphis already suffering a bevy of injuries. If Jaren Jackson Jr. is available on Opening Night, I’m expecting Aldama to open as the starting power forward next to Jackson. Even if Aldama is not starting many games, I expect him to be a healthy provider of PRAs, especially with the importance of those 3 assists out of his normal position. 

Kevin Porter Jr., PG/SG - MIL

• Yahoo ADP: 121.8
• 2024-2025 Stats: 11.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists

There are a lot of people out there who dislike Kevin Porter Jr., and I don’t blame you one bit if you don’t want to stomach having him on a team for the deficiencies in his profile or the off-court problems. However, one thing is for sure: the Milwaukee Bucks need players past Giannis to stand up this year. With Damian Lillard shipped out, I expect Porter Jr. to be the starting point guard for the Bucks on Opening Night and if you and your team can sustain with the pros and cons here, he could make a big difference with one of your last picks. 

Dejounte Murray, NOP

• Yahoo ADP: 130.5
• 2024-2025 Stats: 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists

I want to be clear about this one: Murray is still recovering from an Achilles tear that occurred in January of this year, and he still has a lot of ground to cover to return this year. However, if he remains on pace to make his debut mid-season in January 2026, Murray could be a great long-term injury reserve stash.

As you can see from last season and looking beyond, Murray has always been a big-time stat stuffer that can generate a lot of points, rebounds, and assists. It’s fairly common for players returning from Achilles injuries to not return to form for a bit, so when Murray returns, there will be questions about his points and rebounds, especially with Jordan Poole in town. Still, Murray could be worth a look.

Bilal Coulibaly, SG/SF - WAS

• Yahoo ADP: 139.7
• 2024-2025 Stats: 12.3 points, 5 rebounds, 3.4 assists

Coulibaly is always a bit of a risk due to how inconsistent this offense can be, but what remains true is that he has a lot of talent when he’s at his best. He can generate a lot of rebounds at his size when playing aggressively and has a good passing touch. He’s someone who can get you good out-of-position assists that aren’t as easy to come by for non-point guards, and those guys can make a big difference. If he improves as a scorer and develops more overall consistency this year, he could be a good value to retain.

Scotty Pippen Jr., PG/SG - MEM

• Yahoo ADP: 142.2
• 2024-2025 Stats: 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists

Pippen Jr. is an unsung hero in Memphis who, with the departure of Desmond Bane, could take up a good role. There is a lot of uncertainty past Morant and Jackson, and Pippen has had some brilliant stretches throughout this past season and during the playoffs when he dropped 28 and 30 points in Games 3 and 4 in the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is a Ja Morant injury away from being their lead guard, and with Morant’s injury history, a late flier on Pippen could be a league-winning move down the stretch of this season.

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