Nikola Jokić, Kawhi Leonard among the fantasy basketball MVPs

Regarding fantasy basketball, the most valuable players aren’t always the ones who go off the board early. An elite player making good on their expected value is great, but the ability to land players in the later rounds who do much more than expected is what can truly make the difference in fantasy leagues. Below are some of the most valuable players in fantasy basketball this season.

NBA: Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks

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Some of the players on this list may have sabotaged your fantasy teams this season.

C Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

This was a season in which the three players with the highest ADPs all lived up to the hype. Unsurprisingly, Jokić (Yahoo! ADP: 2.4), San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (3.4) and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (4.5) are all in the mix for the actual Most Valuable Player award.

Regarding the Nuggets’ star center, he ended the regular season leading the league in rebounds and assists, the first time in league history that this has happened. Add in averages of 27.7 points, 1.4 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.7 three-pointers with excellent percentages, and those who drafted Jokić were likely well-positioned to win their leagues, even with the knee injury that sidelined him for most of January.

F Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers

Having appeared in just 37 games in 2024-25, Leonard’s ADP took a hit, as many would expect. The ADP of 47.7 meant that he was coming off the board in the fourth round of 12-team leagues, and those who selected the Clippers star would receive elite fantasy value.

Leonard appeared in 65 games, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.6 three-pointers while shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 89.2 percent from the foul line. The scoring and three-point averages were career-highs, and Leonard finished the regular season as a top-5 player in fantasy.

G Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets finished the season with two top-10 fantasy players, with Murray enjoying the most productive season of his NBA career to date. Appearing in 75 games, the Nuggets’ guard averaged 25.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 3.3 three-pointers while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 88.7 percent from the foul line. With a Yahoo! ADP of 37.3, Murray posted career-bests in points, rebounds, assists, three-pointers, field-goal percentage and three-point percentage (43.5).

G/F Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks

While the players above him on this list were expected to be marquee options for their respective teams, few expected the same of Alexander-Walker. A starter in three of Atlanta’s first six games, the versatile guard would move into the starting five for good just after Christmas. Appearing in 78 games, 71 of them starts, Alexander-Walker averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 90.2 percent from the foul line. Those averages were all career-bests for a player who had a Yahoo! ADP of 137, and Alexander-Walker’s emergence likely factored into the Hawks’ decision to move on from Trae Young.

C Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers

After a solid rookie campaign, Clingan took a significant step forward in 2025-26. In 77 appearances, the 7-foot-2 center averaged 12.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 three-pointers while shooting 52 percent from the field and 68 percent from the foul line. Each of those numbers was an improvement on Clingan’s production as a rookie, and he outperformed his Yahoo! ADP of 84.8 by a comfortable margin. Fantasy managers who invested an eighth (or ninth) round pick on Clingan received an excellent return.

G Ryan Rollins, Milwaukee Bucks

While this season was a disaster for the Bucks, Rollins’ play was one of the few bright spots for the franchise. In 74 games, the former second-round pick averaged 17.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 three-pointers while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 79.6 percent from the foul line.

Rollins finished with career-best averages across the board, and a player whose Yahoo! ADP was well outside the top-100 hovered around the top-50 for most of the season. There’s a lot of uncertainty in Milwaukee going into the team’s offseason, but Rollins is well-positioned to build on his 2025-26 production.

F/C Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks

The jump in fantasy value that many expected to see from Okongwu came a year later than many hoped. After starting 40 games in 2024-25, the 6-foot-10 Hawks center made 63 starts in 2025-26. Over the course of 74 games, Okongwu averaged 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.9 three-pointers while shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 75.7 percent from the foul line.

The rebounding production did take a hit, but Okongwu recorded career-best averages in points, assists, steals and three-pointers to compensate for that. Okongwu exceeded his ADP (94.1) by a good margin, finishing the season as a top-50 player.

F/C Neemias Queta, Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles injury was the biggest reason why many viewed this season as a “gap year” for the Celtics, but the exits of Kristaps Porziņǵis and Al Horford left the team with serious questions to answer at the center position. After performing well for Portugal and EuroBasket last summer, Queta earned the starting center job in training camp and never looked back.

Appearing in 76 games, with 75 being starts, the 7-footer averaged career-highs in points (10.2), rebounds (8.4), assists (1.7), steals (0.8) and blocks (1.3) while shooting 65.3 percent from the field and 70.3 percent from the foul line. For a player whose ADP (139.6) put him in late-round flier territory, Queta was excellent throughout the year, and his rostership (43 percent) suggests that he remained undervalued by fantasy managers.

F Saddiq Bey, New Orleans Pelicans

The combination of joining a new team and returning from a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2024-25 season made Bey a challenging player for most fantasy managers to commit to in drafts last fall. He would become one of the waiver wire adds of the season, averaging 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 2.1 three-pointers per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 84.1 percent from the foul line. Averaging career-highs in points and assists, Bey finished the regular season as a top-100 player. Not bad for someone who was barely on the radar of fantasy managers at draft time.

G Collin Gillespie, Phoenix Suns

Gillespie was another player who went from fantasy afterthought to top-100 player. Even with a late-season shooting slump, the Suns guard finished with season-high averages in points (12.7), rebounds (4.1), assists (4.6), steals (1.2 and three-pointers (2.9). Gillespie started 56 of the 80 games he appeared in, providing fantasy managers with solid value while helping the Suns navigate injuries to multiple rotation players on the perimeter, most notably Jalen Green.

ADP data credit: Hashtag Basketball

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