How to punt field-goal percentage, and the guards it makes cheaper
Ignoring field-goal percentage lifts Fred VanVleet 37 places on our 9-cat board and Immanuel Quickley and Damian Lillard about twenty, while Giannis falls from 9th to 51st.
By Matt · 3 min read
Fred VanVleetImmanuel QuickleyDamian LillardPhotos: NBAProField-goal percentage is the category the high-volume guards lose. A guard who takes fifteen shots and makes 43% of them costs a roster more in field-goal percentage than a center who takes seven and makes 65%, and on a standard 9-cat board that cost pulls down nearly every perimeter scorer outside the elite. Punting the category means giving up those weekly matchups on purpose, and in exchange the guards who shoot often and miss often become as valuable as their threes, assists and steals say they are. It is the mirror of punting free throws, which pushes a roster toward big men; this build pushes it toward the perimeter.
- Fred VanVleet HOU114thvs 112th
- Immanuel Quickley TOR59thvs 75th
- Damian Lillard POR63rdvs 69th
- Keyonte George UTA66thvs 63rd
- Reed Sheppard HOU89thvs 110th
- Giannis Antetokounmpo MIA9thvs 9th
To measure it, we reran our 9-cat board with field-goal percentage removed and the other eight categories weighted as they are on the standard board. The table shows the players who move most. Ranks come from our projections; the consensus column is the analysts' standard 9-cat board, shown for reference.
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.
