Nobody needs to be told to draft Anthony Davis or Stephen Curry at the top of their fantasy basketball drafts but while it’s easy to take the top superstars in the earlier rounds, it can be difficult to identify the best bets for the later rounds that will make the difference.
Here is a look at the top five fantasy basketball sleeper picks for this season.
Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
Power Forward
Gordon had his rookie campaign cut short last season but he was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft for a reason. If his NBA Summer League stats are any indication, he could be in line for a major breakout season.
Gordon averaged 21.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in three summer league games and his shooting ability combined with his freak athleticism make him the perfect candidate for a big year. Playing time could become an issue with Andrew Nicholson and Channing Frye also in the mix in Orlando but he clearly has the potential to be a future star. The Magic will have to find a way to give him the rock in order to maximize his ability this season.
Meyers Leonard, Portland Trail Blazers
Center
The Trail Blazers lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum in a brutal offseason purge but one of the effects of that mass exodus is that it opened up space for young players to step up and prove they can play bigger roles. One player whose fantasy stock is destined to benefit from a greater opportunity is Meyers Leonard, who averaged 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 15.4 minutes per game coming off the bench for Portland last season.
Leonard is a center that can shoot and that could make him an intriguing sleeper play. Leonard hit 51% of his shots from the field, 42% of his shots from three-point range and 93.8% of his shots from the free throw line last season to become just the ninth player in NBA history to hit those marks while averaging at least 15.0 minutes per game. Leonard is still just 23 years old and with a much greater opportunity this season he could thrive as a sleeper pick.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit Pistons
Shooting Guard
Detroit’s third-year shooting guard could be poised for a breakout season after he averaged 12.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 31.5 minutes per game last season. The eighth-overall pick from the 2013 NBA Draft averaged a steal per game last year and his ability to contribute at both ends of the floor makes him an even more intriguing candidate for more minutes with the Pistons this season. Caldwell-Pope struggled as a rookie but he came on strong last season including from beyond the arc where he averaged 1.9 three-point shots per game.
The Pistons would like him to take over the shooting guard role, so expect him to get every opportunity with th support of the coaching staff.
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers
Center
Another big man that will be worth taking a flier on in the later rounds is Turner, who will get every opportunity to play a major role for the Pacers as a rookie this season. Indiana brought in Jordan Hill and Ian Mahinmi, but Turner has legitimate sleeper as a first round pick with all of the tools to put up decent numbers and steal a starting job.
It might take some time for him to carve out a bigger role but look for Turner to be a capable depth forward for your fantasy team with the ability to chip in with points, rebounds and blocks as his role increases throughout his first year in the NBA.
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Gary Harris, Denver Nuggets
Shooting Guard
There has been a lot of talk about rookie first-round pick Emmanuel Mudiay’s potential to win the Rookie of the Year as Denver’s starting point guard but one player that has flown under the radar is their second-year shooting guard Harris. The 2014 first round pick struggled as a rookie but he is poised to take on a bigger role by default this season.
There are plenty of reasons to be high on his potential. Harris is a quality defender that can chip in with steals and blocks in addition to his offensive numbers. He can really turn things around this year based on a bigger role. Harris will have to beat out Randy Foye for the majority of the minutes at the shooting guard position but Foye is a veteran with a low ceiling. He’s not a building block for Denver but Harris is. That makes him a deep sleeper pick for this season.
