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2024-25 Fantasy Basketball: Roundtable debate — our favorite sleepers at each position

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2024-25 Fantasy Basketball: Roundtable debate — our favorite sleepers at each position

You can’t leave a fantasy basketball draft without taking a chance on at least a few sleepers. That won’t change for the 2024-25 draft season. Here, Dan Titus is joined by RotoWire analysts Alex Barutha and Kirien Sprecher to reveal their favorite targets with sleeper potential.

Sexton enjoyed a mini breakout in the 2020-2021 season, but injuries and a trade to Utah halted his momentum. That was until last year when the now 25-year-old vet enjoyed the second-best fantasy season of his six-year career. Sexton’s efficiency (48/39/86 shooting splits) and combination of scoring and facilitating put him on the cusp of being a top-100 player. Once he moved to the starting unit in December, his numbers improved dramatically, from 14.1 points, 2.7 boards and 3.6 assists in 22.5 minutes to 21.1 points, 2.6 boards and 5.6 assists in 28.8 minutes per night. The Young Bull is penciled in as the starting SG and, with a disrespectful ADP of 119 on Yahoo, y’all are snoozing on one of the best values in fantasy hoops. — Dan Titus

Jones had a career year in his lone season with Washington and cracked the top 100 players in eight category leagues for the first time. He’ll have less usage with the star-studded Suns, but Jones is expected to be the primary point guard and should reap the benefits of increased floor spacing. If Jones can flirt with 50/40/90 shooting splits, dish out eight-plus assists and record a steal per game, he should easily clear his current ADP (110.4) even if he isn’t scoring at a high clip. Jones also has a strong track record of staying healthy, playing at least 65 games in seven straight seasons, including 70-plus appearances four times. — Kirien Sprecher

Ivey’s first two years in the NBA have been a mixed bag. He had a solid rookie season but lost all momentum last year when Monty Williams took over as head coach and basically decided not to play Ivey for two months. Now that Williams is gone and J.B. Bickerstaff is in, my hope is that the organization re-focuses on Ivey being the team’s secondary playmaker to Cade Cunningham. I still have my questions about Ivey as a shooter and defender, but it’s not often a player with draft pedigree and upside like Ivey is available in the 140 range in fantasy drafts. — Alex Barutha

The Rockets have a depth issue, but the second-year playmaking wing will be in the rotation and has shown he can stuff the stat sheet even with limited minutes. The quickest path to playing time is eating into Dillon Brooks’ role. Per Cleaning the Glass, Thompson logged 42% of his minutes at SF last year and his lineups were a +11.6 in plus-minus.

From an advanced stats perspective, what stands out most is how he’s an exceptional rebounder (80th percentile), steals specialist (97th percentile) and playmaker (79th percentile). His jumper is a work in progress, but Thompson offsets his inefficiency with elite finishing near the rim (71% on his attempts). Thompson carries an 11th-round ADP, so he’s well worth a late-round pick with his upside as a fantasy jack-of-all-trades. — Titus

McDaniels was a breakout candidate last year, but he took a step back in basically every category. The arrival of Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle could be viewed as a threat to McDaniels’ standing in Minnesota following a disappointing campaign. However, all reports ahead of camp suggest the Washington product will remain a key piece of the Timberwolves organization.

In 2022-23, McDaniels averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 stocks on 52/40/74 shooting splits, good for a 76th-place finish in eight-category leagues. His ADP is 141 this season. It takes some wishful thinking to expect McDaniels to return to that type of production, but it’s certainly plausible, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns no longer in the picture. I’m willing to take a flier on an uber-talented youngster playing 30-plus minutes for a contending team. — Sprecher

Kuminga was finally given a bigger role in the middle of last season after vocalizing his displeasure with the organization. After getting his point across, Kuminga had a great end to 2023-24 that I anticipate being a jumping-off point for this season. With the departure of Klay Thompson and the disappearance of Andrew Wiggins, someone has to be this team’s No. 2 option — all signs point to Kuminga. Plus, Steph Curry and Draymond Green aren’t getting any younger. If you anticipate them missing meaningful time, there will be plenty of nights this season when Kuminga will be the go-to guy. — Barutha

You probably have yet to hear of Karlo, but I watched him play a few times in the 2024 Vegas Summer League and he blew me away with his athleticism, shot-blocking and comfortability from beyond the arc. Daniel Theis was brought in to replace Jonas Valančiūnas, and knowing how clogged the paint gets with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram operating from the post to mid-range areas and Dejounte Murray getting downhill, New Orleans needs floor spacers and players who can run in transition — both places where Matković thrives.

Matković’s rebounding needs work, but the rookie has the skill set to beat out Theis and offer more versatility to the center spot than in previous seasons. I’m pretty sure Matković will go undrafted in most leagues, but he’s the deepest sleeper of the season. — Titus

In signing Valančiūnas to a three-year, $30 million deal this offseason, the Wizards seem committed to starting rookie Alex Sarr at power forward. Valančiūnas’ role had been declining in New Orleans, but this represents an opportunity for him to get back to seeing minutes in the upper 20s with consistency. His usage could be higher as well, given the lack of offensive talent on this squad. Those two factors point to a potential bounceback season for Valančiūnas, who flashed top-50 upside not so long ago. — Barutha

At 34 years old, how many minutes do you think Draymond Green can play at center? Green has made more than 55 regular-season appearances only twice over the last five seasons and has averaged fewer than 30 minutes per game three times. Kevon Looney is now a full-time backup, leaving Jackson-Davis in a prime position to break out.

As a rookie, Jackson-Davis played at least 22 minutes 24 times, averaging 12.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 blocks and 0.7 steals on 72% shooting. Free-throw percentage is certainly a concern, but with an ADP of 127, you can overlook his lone fault. It may take some time for Jackson-Davis to fully cement himself as a 20-plus-minute guy, but I expect that to happen at some point this season. — Sprecher

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