February 7, 2018

Wei Sallas checks in on three preseason fantasy basketball sleepers who have wildly exceeded expectations in the 2017-18 NBA season.

Every year fantasy basketball players scour the year-by-year stats, analytics, personal relationships, all for the hopes of finding some sort of tidbit that will help pinpoint a possible sleeper.

There's a commons saying in fantasy circles, you can't win your league in the draft, but you can lose it. One could go much further and say making the right choice towards the end of the draft can give you a considerable leg up against your competition.

Here are three players who have exceeded all expectations this season. All have different reasons for their success, but each player's rise can be linked back to one specific moment.

The Sleepers

Gary Harris

Many expected the Nuggets to break their four year slump and make it back to the playoffs this season. Very few expected Gary Harris to become the team's leading scorer. There were signs Harris was severely undervalued. Last year, Harris improved in every statistical category while playing less minutes than his 2015-16 campaign. Last season, the Nuggets employed one of the fasted offenses in basketball, owning a top-10 possessions per 48 metric. Finally, with Danilo Gallinari's departure, there were more shots to be had.

Last year Gary Harris shot 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from three, averaged 14.9 points and 1.9 threes per game. It's actually shocking that Harris was projected as a late-round flyer. This season, through 50 games, Harris is averaging 17.6 points, 1.9 steals per game and 2.4 threes per game. Even more impressive, is the efficient way in which he is getting it done.

Numbers like that is why he is currently ranked inside the top 30. Even with Paul Millsap's return imminent, Harris should be able to still get his points and remain a top player.

Nikola Mirotic

After Mirotic's "incident" with Bobby Portis, hours before Chicago opened the season, it's easy to understand why people were a little shy on pulling the trigger. There were talks about him refusing to play for the Bulls. Who knew how long he would be out. Plus the Bulls were in a full rebuild with rookie Lauri Markkanen a younger, better version of Mirotic . Much like Denver, however, personnel decisions equaled opportunity. The Bulls lost three of its top five minutes earners, and once Mirotic returned from injury, his veteran presence and shot was big for the "Bad Bulls."

Last year, Mirotic scored career-highs in points, rebounds and threes. This season, before his trade to New Orleans, Mirotic's numbers were almost identical to his previous season. Things shouldn't change in NOLA. Mirotic should fill into DeMarcus Cousins' role in the starting lineup. With Alvin Gentry looking to save his job, he'll look to Mirotic to play a ton of minutes and score much like he did in Chicago.

Josh Richardson

The signs of Richardson's rise were all there. In the second to last game last season, Richardson played a game-high 46 minutes, scored 19 points, with six rebounds, five assists and five steals. The last month of the 2016-17 season, Richardson was playing more than 30 minutes consistently while producing invaluable defensive stats, putting up multiple games of one or more blocks and steals. It was a coming-out party for Richardson, yet he was still available in the later rounds, going undrafted in many leagues.

After starting the year ranked 151, Richardson is now 41. He averages 13.1 points, 3,4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 34 minutes. Somehow, he is still available in 27% of Yahoo's leagues. He leads the Heat in minutes played and ranks first in Value Over Replacement Player for the Heat. In Miami's positionless basketball system, Richardson's flexibility to play three positions make him one of the most unique players in fantasy basketball. Regardless of whether or not the Heat deal Hassan Whiteside, Richardson's value is trending up. The signs were all there.