Where to draft Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving and the stars back from long injuries
Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Fred VanVleet and Walker Kessler all lost most or all of 2025-26 to injury, all five played this preseason, and our projections price each return differently.
By Matt · 4 min read
Jayson TatumKyrie IrvingDamian LillardPhotos: NBAProFive players who lost most or all of last season to injury played this preseason, and the question is how much of each player is still there. We answer it by setting each player's projected line and games beside the last season he played healthy and by comparing our boards with the analysts' consensus. Tatum comes out at full price on both boards, and the other four are worth less to us than to the consensus in at least one format.
- Jayson Tatum BOS7thvs 7th
- Kyrie Irving DAL46thvs 41st
- Damian Lillard POR82ndvs 71st
- Walker Kessler LAL57thvs 49th
- Fred VanVleet HOU121stvs 106th
Every preseason detail below is dated and confirmed in two outlets, and every rank comes from our points board under ESPN's default scoring and our 9-cat board as they stood on October 16. Our projections do not read preseason games, so a strong October night moves nothing on our boards, while a minutes limit, a rest plan or a setback would.
Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.
