Six players ESPN drafters reach for, and the four to let go
ESPN drafters were taking all six earlier than our consensus ranks them, and our projections agree on four: Mikal Bridges, DeMar DeRozan, Kon Knueppel and Caleb Wilson.
By Matt · 4 min read
Kon KnueppelMikal BridgesDeMar DeRozanPhotos: NBAProA sleeper is a player your league has priced too low, and the mirror image is a player it has priced too high, which costs you just as much and is much easier to miss on draft night because the pick feels safe. When we compared ESPN's average draft position with our consensus points rankings in early October, six players stood out as going well ahead of where our analysts rank them, and each of them has a reputation that explains why: a title, an award, a top-five pick, a famous name or a record season.
- Kon Knueppel CHA67thvs 63rd
- Mikal Bridges NYK107thvs 103rd
- DeMar DeRozan DEN143rdvs 133rd
- Caleb Wilson CHI97thvs 98th
- Derrick White BOS42ndvs 55th
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker ATL55thvs 73rd
A gap between the market and the analysts is only half the case, though, so we put every one of the six through our own projections under ESPN's default scoring as a second opinion. For four of them the projections agree that the price is too high. For the other two they do not, and those two are worth drafting at the price ESPN's rooms are paying.
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.
