Five rookies after the top four worth knowing for deep leagues

The top four picks of the 2026 draft get most of the attention, and we covered them in a separate piece. In a standard twelve-team league they are the only rookies worth drafting. In deeper leagues, sixteen teams or more, or in leagues with large benches, the next tier matters, because a rookie with a guaranteed role is often a better final-round pick than a veteran whose minutes are uncertain.

The five below are the rookies outside the top four whom our projections give at least 25 minutes a night. None of them ranks inside our top 140 on points, so this is a list for deep leagues and for the waiver wire in the first weeks of the season, not for a standard 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.