Welcome to the post-Labor Day hype period where we try to escape from the basketball doldrums of Summer (yes, I just used the word “doldrums”). True, this Summer was unique in that we had a fun Summer League, lots of trades and of course a very entertaining Gold Medal foray in France, but still, like all the other NBA summers, they are arduous and never-ending, much like my love for all of you!
Regardless, before we get to the way-too-late rankings (totally a thing), we should do a way-too-early rankings for balance, life force, and I dunno, because it just feels right. So let’s get to it, a very early snapshot of what I see right now in fantasy, and as we move forward, we’ll knock these tiers out along with our offseason reviews and rundowns and ultimately update these into our Official 2024-25 Fantasy Basketball Rankings. That’s right baby, you know it’s the real deal when I add caps. Real Deal.
So without further delay, let’s start out with the top-10!
1 – Nikola Jokic (DEN/C): Could it be anyone else? I mean sure, the Nuggets look a tad bit weaker, and of course Jamaal Murray looks a bit broken, but even with those caveats, Jokic is the best fantasy producer and best basketball player in the world, and I’m comfortable saying that. Yes, I’m still in my pajamas, but that’s only like 25% part of it.
2 – Luka Doncic (DAL/PG,SG): I find Doncic’s play to be like watching molasses attack a small village on a steep incline. The dude looks like a 10-pound ham in a 5-pound bag, plays the worst transition defense I’ve ever seen because of his constant need to dialogue (crying with wild hand motions) with the refs, and he also is one of the most talented basketball players I’ve ever seen. I am a true hater, but he is a true legend. Imagine how amazing he’d be when he grows up!
3 – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC/PG,SG): I know it’s tempting to put Wemby here (or anywhere in the top-5), but I just want my traditional commodities up top and while SGA probably wouldn’t be described as “traditional”, I just love everything he brings to the table in terms of stats, and he’ll be on a young but Finals-calibur team. Scary to think that SGA (and everyone on that team) still has a bit of room to grow.
4 – Joel Embiid (PHI/C): Look, I get it, he’s injury-prone and still looking for that elusive Conference Championship. He’s also not getting any younger, but that’s part of the reason why he gets this placement. You’ll probably find out later, but I’ll just tease it now… I’m not that high on Paul George (it’s only 45% hate!), and his rankings will reflect that, but all he has to do is be marginally better than Tobias Harris (can’t we all?) and I think the lineups 76ers could put out there will be really hard to deal with for less-talented teams. While they aren’t quite at the Celtics level, I could make the argument that maybe Philly and perhaps the Knicks are the next teams up. While this may be the last few seasons Embiid will be regarded as top-5 talent in the league, it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with it. Count me in for at least one more year, even with the risks.
5 – Jayson Tatum (BOS/SF,PF): Look, I think it’s weird that he still texts Kobe, and yes, I kinda do agree with the consensus that Tatum maybe isn’t elite in any one thing, but just really good at everything, but when did that become so undervalued? Just like SGA, I love what Jayson brings to the table, even if overall it underwhelms at times when compared to his contemporaries. True, I can’t quantify what I’m about to say, but I think the offseason discourse, the lack of playing-time in the Olympics, even his Finals MVP being shaded on by the aggregators… all of this I think will add a bit of a chip on his shoulder. This Celtics team isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so I expect another solid year, and perhaps something more for Tatum…
6 – Victor Wembanyama (SAS/C,PF): Whew, I managed to actually figure out how to keep Wemby outside the top-5. Y’all remember when I had Chet over him last season? I don’t think I was crazy, and it’s not like Chet was chopped liver (I think value-wise, their seasons were close enough to where my crow-eating should be at a minimum, especially in terms of cost for value), but I think the flashes we saw from him last season were just jaw-dropping and really confirmed that Wemby is indeed a generational talent. That being said, he did shoot under 30% outside the arc for much of the year, and continued to have issues with his shot during the Olympics. Still, with one of the best veteran point guards you could have (Chris Paul), and the growth he showed in the last month of the 2024 season, I think it’s quite fair to expect another leap. The question will be, how much do you want to pay for it?
7 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL/PF,C): This will be a short blurb on purpose only to reinforce the point that I think a lot of us are sleeping on this team and also because typing out Giannis Antetokounmpo terrorizes my spell-checker and carpal tunnel(s). I’ll poke fun at Doc Rivers as much as anyone, but the way the season ended in injury, and of course Dame’s first season being a bit of a let down, there’s reason why they faded hard. But this is still a very quality team, and no one is still as physical and menacing as Giannis. I’m going in acting like last season didn’t happen and I’m curious to see if that pays off. I could also just be a masochist though. Oh, right, I am a Clippers fan. So yeah, definitely a masochist.
8 – Trae Young (ATL/PG): Simply put, Young is kinda on the same wave-length as Giannis; I think we’ve all kinda forgotten what he can do and how talented he can really be. And of course Murray’s exit to the Pelicans will help that effort (you can read the analysis here!), but let’s not forget that Young used to regularily put up 25/3/8 with ease the last few years and with a return to their roots, there’s no reason Trae can’t return to his 30/4/10 line, and to me, that screams top-10. No one else may put him as high as here or, you know, scream it, so perhaps a value play as well.
9 – Tyrese Haliburton (IND/PG,SG): I like Haliburton, but I also sometimes worry about the second-half malaise he experienced. In fact, you could probably date his stat loss all the way back to the IST. But make no mistake though, this young Pacers team will now start the year with Siakam, will have another year of development for not just Hali, but Myles Turner and I’ve always been a fan of Mathurin. And with 20/4/11 as his starting point from last year and using Young as sort of a litmus, you really have to ask yourself if Hali can get to be a 25+ point players on average. I certainly think he can, which is why he’s right next to litmus-Young. Which is kind of a cool nickname if you ask me, like something from Mad Max. Definitely better than litmus-Jay.
10 – Stephen Curry (GSW/PG,SG): I had the hardest time with the 10, and as I update my rankings throughout the preseason, this one might interchange the most with the likes of Anthony Davis, Domantas Sabonis and perhaps the likes of Jalen Brunson, but there’s just something about this Warriors team. That’s totally non-descriptive, but I think all the things everyone was saying about Golden State last season might apply better this time as we are entering probably the last few effective seasons of the Curry era. Sad to say, but it’s not like he’s slowing down that much either. I don’t trust Draymond to keep his head on straight, but I like the Anderson and Hield moves (which I’ll have separate analysis on soon) and think there’s one more run in them. Even if it’s through the play-ins, no doubt Steph will play a huge part of that, and I think any fantasy player would be happy with it happening on their roster.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
