It sucks to see your main player leave your team, no matter the sport. This offseason has seen Milwaukee, Memphis and Charlotte suffer that fate, as they lost the trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball, respectively.
What they bring to the table now has to be distributed to other players, and the set of players that fill that void are those being drafted at prices lower than where they should be — that is, last season’s price.
This valuation gap is what earns certain players the sleeper tag. Many draft boards across the league are yet to be updated. That’s your cue to make a move now on certain players, and that’s where this article comes in.
Fantasy Basketball Sleepers
Kel’el Ware (C – MIL)
There are only a few true bargains in the league, and Kel’el Ware is one of the cleanest amongst that lot, especially when you consider per-minute returns.
Ware averaged 11.1 points, nine rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 0.8 steals in 22.1 minutes per game last season while shooting 53% from the field and 39.5% from three. In 77 games, he was involved in 34 of them from the very beginning. For someone who was benched more than he started, he did well to deliver double-double numbers.
Going into this season, Ware is a free man. Gone are the days when he was second fiddle to Bam Adebayo in Miami. Now in Milwaukee, he is poised to get minutes and isn’t second fiddle to Myles Turner, as he can play alongside the former Pacer thanks to his solid shooting.
Going back to the end of last season, we got a glimpse of how good Ware can be when he had a 24-point, 19-rebound seven-block game against Washington and a 19-rebound, five-block performance in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
In all of this, you need to acknowledge one thing. Ware’s free-throw stats make him a good addition in points leagues, rather than in categories leagues. That further strengthens his case to be a top-100 pick.
To some, that might sound like a feather in Ware’s cap, but it is rather ironic that a near-20-and-10 center with blocks and threes still costs a top-100 price.
Ryan Rollins’ improvement has been a delight, but there still appears to be a hazy cloud of doubt about his potential. He clocked in an average of 17.3 points and5.6 assists per game.
And while those stats read nicely on paper, there is a Giannis Antetokounmpo factor in his stat line. In 25 games without Antetokounmpo, Rollins averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.8 threes per game.
Antetokounmpo has since moved to the Heat, clearing space for Rollins to be the point guard in Milwaukee’s starting five this season, even as the Taylor Jenkins era begins. Jenkins isn’t the only one bullish on Rollins. ESPN’s Bobby Marks has also flagged him as one of the best value contracts in the league.
The threat to his place in the starting five is Tyler Herro, who has consistently averaged 20+ points per game over the last four seasons and could push Rollins out of a starting spot. As important a detail as that is, that shouldn’t discourage you from drafting him. If he is outside the top 80 before the first tip-off of the season, draft him as a safe bet heading into the season.
As a newbie to the league, Cedric Coward played 62 games, including 47 starts. He averaged 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. His stats caught a lot of eyes, with ESPN tipping him to have a breakout campaign this upcoming season. Now you wonder why?
Well, Ja Morant has shifted camp to Portland. Santi Aldama has also left Memphis. The Grizzlies are reeling from those two heavyweight departures and are set for a rebuild centered around the trio of Coward, Cameron Boozer and Zach Edey.
The shot attempts that were regularly laid on a plate for Morant are now made available for the aforementioned trio, with Coward set for the largest share, and for good reason.
A classic example of his quality was Coward’s showing against the Pacers last season. He scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, as the Memphis Grizzlies pulled away for a 128-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Coward, the No. 11 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft out of Washington State, made all six of his three-point attempts and finished 9-of-13 overall. That made him the only player in league history to average at least 15 points on 80% true shooting through his first three career games.
As proof that those numbers were no fluke, Coward equally delivered in the NBA Summer League. Across six games in Las Vegas, Coward hit 41.7% of his three-point attempts. His overall performance was enough to earn him NBA All-Summer League Second Team honors, following the All-Rookie First Team recognition he earned in May.
Coward is no doubt a multi-category asset, and should be treated as such.
Brandon Miller is the injury discount worth buying. In 65 games last season, he averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and three-pointers. He shot 38.3% from three and 89.2% from the free-throw line. The momentum of his season was halted by shoulder surgery in May. The departure of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges is noteworthy. Miller is set to be the poster boy of the Hornets’ attacking setup.
Miller is crucial to how the Hornets play. When he was injured, they lost 14 out of 17 games without him. The defenses around the league will be looking to load up on him when they come up against the Hornets, which is your cue to treat the discount on him as compensation for drafting him.
Trades across the league led to a decent number of role upgrades. Keldon Johnson won the Sixth Man of the Year Award last season, but he only narrowly beat Jaime Jaquez Jr., who finished the season with a career-high 15.4 points per game.
Heading into this season, Jaquez is tipped to have a starting role in Milwaukee as they look to start their post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era in the best way possible. Getting a forward who provides a steady stream of assists is a rarity, and Jaquez is one of those rare gems around the league.
For those in deep leagues, Grayson Allen is a player to keep an eye on. His arrival in Charlotte eases him into a roster with strong shooting prowess. This eases his burden on the defensive side of things, allowing him to deliver threes as well as a steady return of field goals.
