https://leaguewinnersports.com/news Fantasy basketball news from our analysts for 2026-27: breakout players, sleepers, injuries and strategy, with every story open to Pro members. en-us Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/three-deep-sleepers https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/three-deep-sleepers Sun, 04 Oct 2026 02:00:00 GMT James Sleepers Max Strus, Cam Spencer and Al Horford all sit outside the consensus top 190, and our projections rank each of them as a player worth rostering in a standard league. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/big-men-who-shoot-threes https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/big-men-who-shoot-threes Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT James Strategy A center who makes threes and blocks shots fills two categories almost no one else fills together, and Naz Reid, Onyeka Okongwu and Kel'el Ware all do it at a discount. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/bounce-backs https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/bounce-backs Mon, 05 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT James Sleepers Jalen Williams, Domantas Sabonis and Coby White all had seasons wrecked by injury or circumstance, and our projections have two of them well ahead of where drafters are taking them. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/same-price-different-player https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/same-price-different-player Mon, 05 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT Matt Strategy Each of these pairs goes off the board at roughly the same pick, and in every case our projections put one player several rounds ahead of the other. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/kel-el-ware-milwaukee https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/kel-el-ware-milwaukee Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT James Breakouts A change of team and five more minutes a night turn a solid center into a double-double threat. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/veterans-to-draft https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/veterans-to-draft Mon, 05 Oct 2026 01:06:00 GMT Matt Strategy CJ McCollum, Paul George, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard are all 34 or older, and our projections have four of them ahead of where drafters take them even after charging for the games they will miss. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/rookies-after-the-top-four https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/rookies-after-the-top-four Mon, 05 Oct 2026 01:03:00 GMT James Sleepers Darius Acuff Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, Hannes Steinbach and Keaton Wagler are all projected for 25 minutes or more as rookies, which makes them deep-league fliers with clear roles. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/punting-free-throws https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/punting-free-throws Mon, 05 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMT Matt Strategy Giving up free throw percentage moves Rudy Gobert from 74th to 33rd and Walker Kessler from 51st to 25th on our board, and it changes which guards you should and should not draft. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/second-and-third-year-leaps https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/second-and-third-year-leaps Sun, 04 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT James Breakouts Cedric Coward, Collin Murray-Boyles, Khaman Maluach, Matas Buzelis and Donovan Clingan all walk into more minutes this season, and our projections price each of them as more than a late flier. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/nine-cat-sleepers https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/nine-cat-sleepers Sun, 04 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT Matt Sleepers Neemias Queta, Jaden McDaniels, Keegan Murray, Cason Wallace, Jalen Suggs and Dyson Daniels all score modestly and all rank well ahead of the consensus in categories leagues. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/khaman-maluach-minutes https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/khaman-maluach-minutes Sun, 04 Oct 2026 11:00:00 GMT Matt Injuries Phoenix's starting center is out until February, and our projections have already moved his backup up the board. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/sixers-five-starters https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/sixers-five-starters Sun, 04 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT Matt Strategy Philadelphia's starting five scored 121 points a game between them last season, and our projections leave room for about 108, so we looked at who gives up the shots. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/media-day-injury-report https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/media-day-injury-report Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:58:00 GMT James Injuries From Tyrese Haliburton's clean bill of health to Brandon Ingram's partially torn Achilles, the injury news that came out of NBA media day and how our projections now price each player. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/fantasy-playoff-schedule https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/fantasy-playoff-schedule Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:56:00 GMT James Strategy Over ESPN's default fantasy playoff weeks, from March 8 to April 4, Phoenix and Dallas play 16 games while five teams play 13, and New Orleans plays only five in the final fortnight. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/first-round-pick-by-pick https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/first-round-pick-by-pick Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:54:00 GMT Matt Strategy Our projections agree with the analysts on the top three, then split on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Johnson and Tyrese Haliburton depending on the format. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/top-four-rookies https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/top-four-rookies Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:52:00 GMT Matt Breakouts AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer are fantasy starters from day one, Caleb Wilson is a categories piece with a free throw problem, and Darryn Peterson is going far earlier than our projections justify. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/early-round-traps https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/early-round-traps Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:50:00 GMT Matt Strategy Kon Knueppel, Devin Booker, Deni Avdija, Stephon Castle and Paolo Banchero in 9-cat are all going rounds earlier than our projections can justify, for five different reasons. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/points-or-nine-cat https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/points-or-nine-cat Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:48:00 GMT Matt Strategy Alperen Sengun is 15th on our points board and 45th in 9-cat, while Cason Wallace is 129th and 78th, and knowing which players split this way is half the job in either format. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/players-drafters-are-too-low-on https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/players-drafters-are-too-low-on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:46:00 GMT James Sleepers Tyrese Haliburton, Austin Reaves, Anthony Davis, Brandon Miller, Ausar Thompson and Chet Holmgren are all going a round or more after where our projections rank them. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/steals-and-blocks https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/steals-and-blocks Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:44:00 GMT Matt Strategy Only a handful of players project for more than two and a half steals and blocks combined, and several of them are going outside the first five rounds. https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/how-to-read-a-breakout https://leaguewinnersports.com/news/how-to-read-a-breakout Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:42:00 GMT Matt Strategy Most fantasy breakouts are a change in minutes, not a change in talent. Here is how our projections tell the two apart, and where to look on the site.