There are certain players who have a calm and cool way of outperforming most expectations, while also not making huge waves and alerting the whole world of their immense value. These are the players that keen-eyed managers can snag at just the right time in fantasy drafts by having the patience to wait but the confidence to make the call when the time is right. In this article, we will review 10 of this season's most productive and consistent players that do not steal the headlines. These would be ideal players for fantasy managers to keep front of mind for next season's drafts.
Josh Hart has undoubtedly established himself as one of the league's best rebounders outside of the power forward and center positions. He ranks 15th in the league with 9.6 rebounds per game, which is a massive win for his fantasy value. However, Hart's ability to also score with efficiency must not be overlooked, as he is averaging 14.4 points per game on 54.9 percent shooting and 80.6 percent shooting from the foul line. He rounds out his elite overall production by chipping in 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, making him an absolute gem in category leagues.
Ivica Zubac is by no means a flashy or overly imposing big man, but he has shown steady improvement in his career and is working on a career-best season with 15.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. He does not force his offense and is shooting a highly respectable
There are certain players who have a calm and cool way of outperforming most expectations, while also not making huge waves and alerting the whole world of their immense value. These are the players that keen-eyed managers can snag at just the right time in fantasy drafts by having the patience to wait but the confidence to make the call when the time is right. In this article, we will review 10 of this season's most productive and consistent players that do not steal the headlines. These would be ideal players for fantasy managers to keep front of mind for next season's drafts.
Josh Hart has undoubtedly established himself as one of the league's best rebounders outside of the power forward and center positions. He ranks 15th in the league with 9.6 rebounds per game, which is a massive win for his fantasy value. However, Hart's ability to also score with efficiency must not be overlooked, as he is averaging 14.4 points per game on 54.9 percent shooting and 80.6 percent shooting from the foul line. He rounds out his elite overall production by chipping in 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, making him an absolute gem in category leagues.
Ivica Zubac is by no means a flashy or overly imposing big man, but he has shown steady improvement in his career and is working on a career-best season with 15.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. He does not force his offense and is shooting a highly respectable 62.3 percent from the field, although struggling slightly from the foul line, where he is shooting 64.3 percent. Zubac is a coach's player in that he does not demand the ball to make an impact, and he is willing to stick to the nitty-gritty of his role with solid screens, running his lane and battling in the paint.
Dyson Daniels took the league by storm this season, quickly emerging as one of the best backcourt defenders by racking up steals at an elite pace. He is averaging a whopping 3.0 steals per game, which blows away the next-highest average of 1.8 steals per game. Equally impressive has been his jump in scoring, as he is averaging 14.0 points per game on 47.9 percent shooting, which is up from 5.8 points on 44.7 percent shooting in his sophomore season. With this being only this third season in the NBA, Daniels is a player who has plenty of room to rise and will go from being largely undrafted in fantasy this season, to being highly sought after next season.
Amen Thompson has taken very little time to establish himself as one of the league's players most capable of impacting every column on the stat sheet. Although he showed signs of this ability in his rookie season, it would not have been uncommon for him to go undrafted in fantasy this season. However, with three triple-doubles in the bag this season, he will not slip under the radar come draft time next year. In addition to his two-way brilliance, he is an unselfish player and only looks for his opportunities within the flow of the game, which contributes to his average of 54.6 percent shooting from the field. He could improve on his 70.3 percent shooting from the foul line and is not a three-point threat, but the rest of his game has made him an unsung fantasy hero for mangers in points and category leagues this season.
Derrick White is the epitome of humble consistency. Averaging 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocks per game and with just two double-doubles this season, he does not stand out in any particular way. However, in the long run, consistency is key in fantasy, and White does it just as well as anybody. Another totally unselfish player that manages to make his mark by driving the nail in between moments where his two All-Star teammates, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, are dominating the game, White is a player that will likely continue to slip in drafts next season. However, he will produce numbers comparable with many players that would seem to be easy choices as top-30 players.
Michael Porter is not often a player that jumps out at fantasy managers, as he is largely perceived as a spot-up shooter and not much else. However, his consistent effort on the glass, combined with his highly efficient shooting, make him a very valuable contributor. He has averaged (including this season) at least 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in four of the last five seasons, failing to do so only in 2021-22, where he was limited to nine games played due to injury. He also shot better than 48.0 percent from the field in those four seasons, with at least 2.5 three-pointers per game. Porter is another great example of a player that does not need to break the boxscore but rather, through consistency and focusing on the nuances of his role is able to deliver the season-long impact that fantasy managers can rely upon.
Malik Monk is another player largely thought of as a scorer and a volume shooter, perhaps relying on a bit of selfishness to get his numbers. However, he has done an increasingly impressive job stepping up as a distributor, a trend that began since joining the Kings in 2022-23 and has led to him becoming the team's starting point guard this season, post De'Aaron Fox trade. Monk may have been undrafted in a number of leagues, as he was seen as a player that would pop for a big night and then go quiet for a while. However, he has put most of those sentiments to rest this season by showing that there is more to his game, and that he can put up competitive numbers over the long haul by chipping in across the stat sheet, including on the glass, as he is averaging a career-best 3.8 rebounds per game this season.
Deni Avdija is by no means a household name, but the fifth-year forward is surely establishing himself as a do-it-all wing that can rack up the fantasy value with opportunistic play. Avdija is averaging a minimum of 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists for a second consecutive season, which is especially impressive considering he was able to carry his success over to the Trail Blazers this season and thrive as a fantasy contributor even despite a horrid and injury-riddled season for the squad. In the event that he finds himself in a more conducive situation next season, he should continue to emerge as a player that can tip the scales while still sneaking in as a mid-to-later round pick in fantasy.
Trey Murphy is another player who has managed to build upon an increasingly impressive trajectory despite working through a tumultuous roster situation, as the Pelicans have been decimated by injuries this season. Murphy is averaging a career-best 21.7 points per game, while shooting a respectable 45.3 percent from the field. However, he is making himself out to be a real gem for those managers who drafted him this season by also averaging career highs in rebounds (5.2), assists (3.8) and steals (1.2) per game. Murphy is in his fourth NBA season and looks to be on track to be considered a legitimate all-around contributor from the wing position. Given his rise this season, it is about time to consider him as a bonafide top offensive option that will be expected to produce competitive fantasy value.
Jaden McDaniels showed some impressive flashes last season, which meant he was likely drafted in a good number of cases this season. He got out to a quiet start this year but those managers who stuck with him are certainly being rewarded now, as he is averaging 18.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks over the last 15 games. McDaniels is a player who has all the tools to be a major contributor, but his profile as a third option (at best) on his squad may continue to keep him out of the sights of surface-level viewers. Nonetheless, when considering his ability to work across the statsheet, he is likely to continue to stand out as a score for fantasy managers in category and points leagues alike.
