89 Players That Will DEFINITELY Be Drafted In 9CAT Standard League Drafts This Upcoming Season
The NBA season is over and we can officially start to put together our draft boards for the upcoming fantasy season. There is still so much to unfold this offseason through free agency and training camp, so let’s take a moment to establish all the fantasy players that will “definitely” be draftable in 9cat standard fantasy leagues.
This list is meant to be conservative, and only covers the players that will definitely be drafted regardless of player movement and circumstance. Injuries and blockbuster trades should be the only factors that would take one of these players off the list between now and the start of the season.
At the end of the list, I will explain some of the snubs and my thought process for some of these names and why they were included or left off the list. I also wrote each player's 9cat per game minus 1 ranking (via: Basketball Monster) for reference in visualizing the gaps between names.
Nikola Jokic (1)
Victor Wembanyama (2)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (3)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (4)
Anthony Davis (5)
Luka Doncic (6)
James Harden (8)
Karl Anthony-Towns (9)
Tyrese Maxey (11)
Stephen Curry (12)
Kevin Durant (13)
Cade Cunningham (14)
LeBron James (15)
Dyson Daniels (17)
Trae Young (18)
Anthony Edwards (19)
Kyrie Irving (20)
Jalen Johnson (21)
Domantas Sabonis (22)
Ivica Zubac (23)
Jamal Murray (24)
Walker Kessler (25)
Evan Mobley (26)
Nikola Vucevic (27)
Mark Williams (28)
Kristaps Porzingis (29)
Jakob Poeltl (30)
Devin Booker (31)
LaMelo Ball (32)
Joel Embiid (33)
Tyler Herro (35)
Jimmy Butler (36)
Donovan Mitchell (37)
Trey Murphy (38)
Jaren Jackson (39)
Kawhi Leonard (40)
Jarrett Allen (41)
Zion Williamson (42)
Jalen Williams (43)
De’Aaron Fox (44)
Desmond Bane (45)
Derrick White (47)
Darius Garland (48)
OG Anunoby (49)
Jalen Brunson (50)
Franz Wagner (51)
Austin Reaves (52)
Amen Thompson (53)
Myles Turner (55)
Chet Holmgren (57)
Brandon Miller (58)
Bam Adebayo (59)
Isaiah Hartenstein (60)
Josh Giddey (63)
Onyeka Okongwu (65)
Brandon Ingram (66)
Scottie Barnes (67)
Tari Eason (68)
Paul George (69)
Miles Bridges (70)
Jalen Duren (71)
Pascal Siakam (72)
Ja Morant (73)
Jordan Poole (74)
Zach LaVine (75)
Christian Braun (76)
Alperen Sengun (77)
Deandre Ayton (79)
Coby White (80)
Demar DeRozan (81)
Jalen Suggs (86)
Mikal Bridges (89)
Lauri Markkanen (92)
Devin Vassell (95)
Bradley Beal (96)
Tobias Harris (97)
Draymond Green (103)
Naz Reid (104)
Immanuel Quickley (106)
Nicolas Claxton (107)
Paolo Banchero (108)
Jaylen Brown (109)
Demi Avdija (115)
Ausar Thompson (123)
Jalen Green (125)
Julius Randle (129)
Brandin Podziemski (143)
Alex Sarr (156)
Cooper Flagg (N/A)
INJURIES
The upcoming 2025-26 season features more stars out for several months than any previous fantasy season in recent memory. Multiple names at the top of the board in the previous season were left off, as they will likely spend the entirety of the season in recovery. Achilles tears like Haliburton, Lillard & Tatum leave noticeable gaps in the top 20 of players that will *definitely* be drafted.
THE ROOKIES
Cooper Flagg will definitely be drafted inside the top 100 in all formats, and has a chance to finish inside the top 50-75.
Outside of Flagg, I cannot confidently say that any other rookies will definitely be drafted. Kon Knueppel & Ryan Kalkbrenner are my current front runners for a late round selection, but these guys are much closer to fliers than must roster players.
OLD PEOPLE
Regression comes fast in the NBA, and there were a few names left off the list that are showing major signs of separation from their prime years.
I’m 99% sure that some of the top snubs like Gobert, VanVleet, Lopez & McCollum will be drafted, but it’s likely outside of the top 100, and what is the real upside from there? This group of guys will very likely be must roster players to begin the season, but it’s possible that’s not the case by the end of the season. I’d rather fish for upside like some of the names at the back end of the list.
BREAK OUT OR FAKE OUT?
There’s a group of players I’m filtering into this category. Some top names include Jaden McDaniels, Norman Powell & Payton Pritchard. None of these guys were expected to be rosterable at the beginning of last season, and they all put together top 100 fantasy seasons.
Each player has specific reasons why they are not a lock to be drafted. Powell was great until Kawhi returned last season, which inflated his ranking as he had a much larger role for most of the season, which is unlikely to happen again. Pritchard could likely bridge the gap with the absence of Tatum, but it’s also possible his absence could have an adverse impact. McDaniels was a big surprise last season as he had a great middle of the year, but was back to being the old Jaden McDaniels at the beginning and the end. I would not be surprised if either of these guys were sitting on waiver wires just a few weeks into the season.
ROLE UNCERTAINTY
Nearly everyone left off the list can be filtered into the blanket statement of “role uncertainty”. A more prominent example of this would be the never-ending battle for playing time between Daniel Gafford & Dereck Lively in Dallas. Writing this so far away from the start of the season leaves a lot of time for some more of these fringe players to have their role more or less clarified.
Ben - Fantasy Ball 365
Follow on 👉X
and 👉Substack
👉LEAVE US A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS
👉SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Robbin Marx
NBA Fantasy Analyst
Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network
 | A guest post by
|