How to punt turnovers, and the stars it makes cheaper
Ignoring turnovers moves Trae Young from 27th to 10th on our 9-cat board and Dejounte Murray from 49th to 28th, and it turns several high-usage players the market dislikes into bargains.
By Matt · 2 min read
Paolo BancheroProTurnovers are the most natural category to punt in 9-cat, because the players who turn the ball over most are the players who have it most, and the players who have the ball most usually lead the league in points and assists. A roster built around high-usage guards and forwards will lose turnovers almost every week anyway, so the punt is less a sacrifice than an admission, and it frees you to draft the volume players whose turnovers drag down their value for everyone else.
- Paolo Banchero ORL84thvs 81st
- Trae Young WAS27thvs 35th
- Dejounte Murray NOP49thvs 45th
- Keyonte George UTA66thvs 63rd
- Julius Randle BKN98thvs 86th
- Deni Avdija POR87thvs 62nd
We reran our 9-cat projections board with turnovers removed and compared every player's rank with his rank on the full nine. The board values players over the whole season, including the games they are projected to miss, and it is the same board Draft Hacker uses when you choose to punt during a draft.
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.
