Five ESPN categories sleepers, and why turnovers change the list
ESPN's standard categories leagues count eight categories with no turnovers, which lifts Jalen Suggs, costs Kel'el Ware, and leaves Trey Murphy III and Jaren Jackson Jr. as the best values.
By Matt · 3 min read
Trey Murphy IIIJaren Jackson Jr.Kel'el WarePhotos: NBAProMost of what is written about categories leagues assumes nine categories, but ESPN's standard categories league counts eight. It leaves turnovers out, and that one difference reorders a draft. A guard who handles the ball a lot and turns it over three times a night is penalised in a nine-category league and not at all on ESPN, while a big man whose great strength is that he almost never turns it over loses that strength entirely.
- Trey Murphy III NOP18thvs 24th
- Jaren Jackson Jr. UTA40thvs 33rd
- Kel'el Ware MIL31stvs 55th
- Jalen Suggs ORL94thvs 83rd
- Isaiah Hartenstein OKC84thvs 85th
We ranked every player on our projections both ways, with nine categories and with ESPN's eight, and compared those ranks with ESPN's average draft position in early October. Five players stood out as going well after both their 9-cat consensus rank and their ESPN 8-cat value, and the table shows how much the missing category moves each of them.
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.
