Fantasy Basketball Rankings 2024-25: Sleepers, breakouts and busts from advanced NBA projection model
By CBS Sports Staff,
19 hours ago
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For many sports fans, when the calendar flipped to October, that meant it was time to start preparing for 2024 Fantasy basketball drafts. The NBA season tips off on Oct. 22, giving you a few weeks to analyze the 2024 Fantasy basketball rankings and find those diamonds in the rough who could put your team over the top. Everyone knows about stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Victor Wembanyama, but it was guys like Derrick White, Jalen Duren and Coby White who provided under-the-radar value as Fantasy basketball sleepers a year ago.
Who could be those players this year that could end up as steals as late-round Fantasy basketball 2024 picks? Perhaps Buddy Hield can reach his full potential as the nominal replacement for Klay Thompson in Golden State? Or, could Tyus Jones, now that he's surrounded with more talent in Phoenix than in Washington, be a steadying force for both the Suns and Fantasy basketball lineups? Before making any 2024-25 Fantasy basketball picks, be sure to check out the 2024 Fantasy basketball rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine .
SportsLine's proven model simulates each season 10,0000 times. This model is powered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. These cheat sheets and rankings, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day. Any time an injury occurs or there's a change on a roster, the team at SportsLine updates its cheat sheets.
Last year the model called Thunder G/F Josh Giddey a bust, predicting that he would never live up to his sixth-round ADP. The result: Giddey had his minutes reduced significantly with Oklahoma City's roster improving and saw corresponding drops in points (16.6 to 12.3), rebounds (7.9 to 6.4) assists (6.2 to 4.8) and steals (0.8 to 0.6). The Thunder ultimately decided to trade him to the Bulls for Alex Caruso this offseason and Fantasy basketball managers who avoided the headache last season were better off for it.
The model also nailed DeMar DeRozan as a sleeper in 2021-22 before he averaged a career-best 27.9 points per game and called Paolo Banchero's and Victor Wembanyama's breakout seasons before they went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors the last two seasons. Anyone who followed the model's Fantasy basketball advice on them was well on their way to making a deep postseason run.
One of the top 2024 Fantasy basketball sleepers the model is predicting: Suns center Jusuf Nurkic. In his 10th NBA season last year, and first in Phoenix, Nurkic averaged a double-double with 10.9 points and 11 rebounds per game. He also filled up the box score, averaging 4 assists, which ranked fifth amongst centers, to go along with 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per night. Add in that he shot over 50% from the field, and Nurkic provided both the Suns and Fantasy managers everything you'd want out of a big man.
He gets overlooked playing alongside Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, and he isn't a go-to option on offense, but Nurkic provides stability, with no glaring holes to Fantasy basketball lineups. He also showed durability last season in playing 76 games after averaging just 38.3 games over his previous four seasons. The SportsLine model has Nurkic amongst the top 10 centers in the 2024 Fantasy basketball rankings, and even has him on par with the man he replaced in Phoenix, Deandre Ayton, despite Ayton being drafted multiple rounds earlier on average. See more Fantasy basketball sleepers 2024 here .
Top 2024 Fantasy basketball breakouts
One of the 2024 Fantasy basketball breakouts the model has identified: Grizzlies center Zach Edey . A two-time national player of the year at Purdue, Edey was selected No. 9 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by Memphis and the Grizzlies will be hoping that questions about his athleticism are overshadowed by his productiveness. Edey averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.0 assists in his final season with the Boilermakers and redeemed a first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament the year prior by leading Purdue to the national championship game in 2024.
Teams will try to draw him outside of the paint at the next level but he uses his incredible size (7-foot-4 and 285 pounds) to pin defenders down, dominate the boards and protect the rim. Expect Memphis to have a clear plan to use him and he should be aided by playing with a premier point guard (Ja Morant). That's why the model ranks him as a top-15 center despite the fact that he's the 36th player off the board at the position on average. Identify other Fantasy basketball breakouts 2024 here .
Top 2024 Fantasy basketball busts
As for players to avoid, the model lists Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley as one of its top 2024 Fantasy basketball busts. Cleveland signed Mobley to a five-year, $224 million max rookie extension earlier in the offseason after he averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game last year. He has been a key part of Cleveland's success since he was drafted, and he will now remain a pivotal member moving forward.
However, he is coming off an injury-riddled campaign, missing 22 games from Dec. 8 to Jan. 26 due to knee surgery before missing another stretch later in the season after spraining his ankle. Mobley also saw his scoring average dip from 2022 to 2023 while playing fewer minutes. SportsLine's model views all of these factors as reasons to stay away from Mobley, ranking him outside the top 25 among all forwards. Avoid these 2024 Fantasy basketball busts as well .
How to find proven 2024-25 Fantasy basketball rankings
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