Fantasy Basketball HQ
Season-long fantasy, done right. Draft kit, sleepers, busts, the waiver wire and a Chicago lens on all of it.
The season tips off October 20, which means your draft is either this weekend or it already happened and you are second-guessing everything. Good. That is what this page is for. This is season-long fantasy across the whole league, all 30 teams, updated every week. I watch the Bulls every night so Chicago gets extra attention, but nobody is getting ignored here. No rankings copied off a cheat sheet. Here is who is underpriced, who is a trap, and who to watch on the wire once the games start.
2026-27 Draft Kit: Sleepers to Target
Your league mates are drafting off last year's roles. These guys have new roles.
Boston traded Jaylen Brown for Paul George, and George cannot stay on the floor. Pritchard started 50 games last year and put up 16.9 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 boards as a starter, with a 28.2 percent usage rate when Brown sat. He could lead this team in scoring behind Tatum. At pick 80 that is theft.
Giannis is in Miami now and the frontcourt minutes got real. Ware averaged 11.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just 22 minutes last year, and in the 10 games he cracked 30 minutes he went for 18.1, 14 and 3.3 blocks. He is expected to play around 25 a night. Blocks plus threes from a center wins categories.
Dort, Wiggins and Joe are gone, and their minutes landed on Wallace. He is projected for 2.0 steals a game with 37.4 percent shooting from three. Steals are the scarcest category in fantasy. You are welcome.
Our guy. The per-minute production already screams top-50, the minutes are coming, and drafters are still pricing the rookie version of him. More on the Bulls below.
Rising usage in Houston with elite shooting. High floor, real breakout path. Same story for Amen Thompson, whose two-way game and minute bump could return top-70 value at a mid-round cost.
Busts: Do Not Draft These Guys at Cost
When he plays he is dominant. He does not play. Nineteen games two seasons ago, chronic knee issues, load management at 32. His draft cost assumes a version of Embiid that no longer exists on a schedule you can trust.
Elite per-game numbers, zero reliability, on a tanking team that will shut him down the minute the season goes sideways. Do not pay a high ADP for a part-time player.
The top rookie with real scoring punch, and a fine dynasty stash. In a one-year redraft at 88? Let someone else fall in love. Take the third or fourth rookie later instead.
Rookies and Sophomores
Cooper Flagg is the headliner of year two. He put up 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals as a rookie, won Rookie of the Year, and became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1985 to lead his team in all four categories. The projection now is top-20 with a jump toward 23 a night and 2 steals. Draft him like the multi-category anchor he is.
Behind him: Kon Knueppel in Charlotte and VJ Edgecombe in Philadelphia have real roles and real fantasy value right now, and Dylan Harper in San Antonio is the discount if your league sleeps on him. Among the bigs, Derik Queen and Maxime Raynaud are the undervalued names.
Bulls Notebook
My team, so they get their own corner. The rest of the league is covered above and on the wire below.
Josh Giddey is cleared with no restrictions after the May ankle surgery, and the Bulls need him healthy more than anything. He averaged a career-best 9.1 assists last year and with Norman Powell, Caleb Wilson and Nic Claxton added to the roster, double-digit assists is on the table. The experts have him around pick 27. The only red flag is real: he missed 28 games last season. If you draft him, draft his backup plan too. And yes, Billy Donovan stepped down, so there is a new voice on the bench. That should not scare you off Giddey.
Matas Buzelis at 91 on ESPN is the best value on this roster. Norman Powell is fine in the 80s but volatile, so do not reach. Caleb Wilson brings defensive stats as a rookie but ESPN's 56 is irresponsible; take him later. Nic Claxton, brought over from Brooklyn, is a value past pick 100 if you can live with the free throws. Tre Jones is being drafted like last year's starter and he is a 24-minute bench guy now. Fade him.
Waiver Wire Watch: Week 1
The season starts October 20 and the Bulls open October 21 in Toronto. Nobody has played a real game yet, so there is no wire to work. Check back after opening night: this section becomes a weekly watch list of the adds that actually matter, not a 40-name dump.
Fantasy x Betting: The Nus Edge
Here is what nobody else does. When a player's role grows, the prop market is always late. The same research that tells you Payton Pritchard is underpriced at pick 80 tells you his points and assists props are underpriced in November. Fantasy finds the role change first. Betting cashes it. This page and the Nus Board are reading the same tea leaves.
Key Dates
- Season tips: October 20, 2026
- Bulls opener: October 21 at Toronto
- Drafts: happening now, this is the week
- Waiver Wire Watch: weekly once games begin
VIA FantasyPros, NBC Sports, Athlon Sports, Fantasy Alarm, Dunkest and League Winner. ADP and projections via FantasyPros and League Winner consensus, early October 2026.