Elite Fantasy Basketball – Free Preview

Signing up for Elite Fantasy Basketball’s award-winning fantasy basketball coverage is the best way to gain a competitive advantage over your opponents. At Elite Fantasy Basketball, you will find content you won’t find anywhere else. The site offers an incredible amount of unique and in-depth analysis for all types of leagues.

Here is a taste of what is available to subscribers.

Punting Guides

2025-2026 Punt Blocks Guide (Yahoo)

2025-2026 Punt Blocks Guide (ESPN)

Projections

Projections are available for nine-category leagues, eight-category leagues, Yahoo and ESPN points leagues, Best Ball leagues, and leagues with non-standard categories (OREB, DREB, DD, 3P%, FGM, FTM, A/TO).
The projections can be adjusted for league size, salary cap budget, and punting build.
The projections will be updated daily during the regular season.

Rankings

Top 150 lists are available for nine-category H2H leagues, eight-category H2H leagues, nine-category Roto leagues, Yahoo points leagues, ESPN points leagues, and Dynasty Leagues.

1) Nikola Jokic (C) – The three-time MVP and one-time Finals MVP remains the king of category leagues. Jokic is coming off yet another season in which he finished atop both the eight- and nine-category league per-game rankings. He finished comfortably ahead of both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama in both setups and hasn’t finished outside of the top three in either setting since his breakout 2020-2021 campaign. The Nuggets finally bringing in a competent backup center should lead to a minutes dip and some slight per-game regression in 2025-2026, but the Serbian remains the clear favorite to finish the year as fantasy basketball’s most valuable asset. Jokic is preferable to SGA and Wembanyama at the top spot for different reasons. What gives the Nugget a slight edge over the Thunder’s lead guard is his position. Centers that produce elite numbers in points, assists, and steals—three of the four categories that dry up the quickest—are going to be more valuable than guards who do the same because it is going to be much easier to final a guard later in the draft who can produce top-end numbers in those categories than it will be to find a big man who can. Jokic and a third- or fourth-round guard is usually going to end up as a stronger combination than SGA and a third- or fourth-round big man in points, assists, and steals. Jokic’s edge over Wembanyama is more significant. For now, Jokic has a clear durability advantage. Wembanyama shouldn’t be considered a major injury risk just yet, as his blood clot issue is not expected to be a long-term problem, but from a durability standpoint, he remains unproven. Jokic, on the other hand, remains one of the league’s sturdiest stars. Since entering the league a decade ago, Jokic has missed an average of just 5.6 games per season. To give you an idea of how great that number is, the average top-50 fantasy asset missed 19 games last season. Jokic not having nearly as much value tied up in a single category also makes the gap between the centers larger than it appears on paper. In 2024-2025, Jokic was about 2.6 standard deviations above the league average in both rebounds and FG%, while Wembanyama’s all-time block rate was almost six standard deviations above the league average. Players with that much value tied up in one category tend to be less valuable than their overall z-score average suggests, since their dominance in their top category often leads to overkill in the category, something we always want to avoid. Blocks being Wembanyama’s best category is also less than ideal from a category scarcity standpoint. Swats come off the board much less quickly than assists do and are much easier to find during the second half of the draft.

Big Honey provides you with plenty of team-building flexibility, as he’ll be a top-three per-game asset in every punting build. However, punt threes should be the build of choice for most Jokic squads. It is an elite strategy that will boost Jokic’s value if he doesn’t shoot a ridiculous 44.0 percent on his non-heave three-point attempts this season. A well-built punt threes team with Jokic as its centerpiece has the potential to finish the draft with no notable flaws. The Nugget’s strengths line up perfectly with the build’s natural weaknesses. Due to the punt threes build being a big-heavy strategy, those ignoring triples often run into problems with points, assists, steals, and FT%. That is unlikely to end up being the case if you start your punt threes team with Jokic. He is elite in the first three categories (29.6 PPG, 10.2 APG, 1.8 SPG) and a well-above-average contributor for his position in the fourth (80.0 FT% on 6.4 FTA). A punt threes team that does not struggle in the guard categories will be extremely hard to top. Punting blocks is another obvious strategy for teams fortunate enough to begin their draft with Jokic. However, that strategy should be viewed as a backup to punt threes. Punt threes tends to be a stronger strategy than punt blocks because the boost that low-3PG players receive in punt threes is usually larger than the boost that low-BPG players receive in punt blocks. When punting threes, it will be easier to find players who can outplay their draft position by multiple rounds.

Best Builds: Punt Threes, Punt Blocks, Punt Points, Punt FT%

2) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (PG) – Nikola Jokic is going to be the first player off the board in most leagues, but he’s not an absolute must at the number one spot. If you feel that you can build a stronger team around SGA than you can around Jokic, there is nothing wrong with selecting the reigning MVP and Finals MVP at one. There is not going to be a significant per-game value difference between the two most recent MVPs, with Jokic’s minutes likely to fall back into the 34 MPG range this year. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Canadian did end up topping the 2025-2026 nine-category rankings. SGA did manage that feat in 2023-2024. The point guard is an outstanding pick both from an overall value and a category scarcity standpoint. He is a lock to finish as a top-three per-game asset and produces big numbers in all the categories that become difficult to find after the first few rounds. Points, assists, steals, and FT% are the four categories that dry up the quickest in fantasy basketball drafts. During the Thunder’s championship run, the Hamilton native led the league in both scoring (32.7 PPG on 51.9 FG%) and FT% impact (89.8 FT% on 8.8 FTA) while being a top-12 source of swipes (1.7 SPG) and a top-20 source of dimes (6.4 APG). With the Thunder not making any notable additions to their rotation this summer, all of those numbers are sustainable. Gilgeous-Alexander’s flawless line makes him a viable starting point for every build. He will be a top-three asset even if you punt one of his stronger categories. However, like Jokic, the best spot for him is punt threes. The Finals MVP has very little value tied up in triples (2.1 3PG) and produces extremely helpful numbers in the categories that the build’s top targets—traditional big men—tend to struggle with. Punt assists is also an outstanding option for SGA-led teams due to his dominance in the percentages categories. That build should be trying to win both percentages consistently. A punt assists squad that does win both FG% and FT% almost every week is going to be nearly impossible to beat since it will almost always enter the week with turnovers wrapped up as well. In 2024-2025, no player came even somewhat close to producing as much value in the percentages as SGA did.

Best Builds: Punt Threes, Punt Assists

3) Victor Wembanyama (C) – The blood clot that cost Wembanyama the second half of his sophomore season isn’t the reason why he’s ranked behind Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s been fully cleared by doctors for months now and the odds of a recurrence are not high. He’s ranked behind them because he’s going to produce a line that isn’t quite as useful as the league’s two most recent MVPs’ lines are. The Spur will likely finish with a similar z-score in eight- and nine-category leagues to Jokic and SGA, but his overall z-score will overstate how valuable he is. The reason for that is Wembanyama having so much value tied up in one category. The center can win blocks almost by himself, but blocks is just one category. We still have to find a way to win five categories consistently and it will be easier to do that with Jokic and SGA since they will be providing top-end production in more categories. Wembanyama will give us significantly less in the remaining eight categories than Jokic and SGA will when their best category is ignored. In 2024-2025, Wembanyama finished as the 11th-ranked player without blocks. Meanwhile, Jokic finished as the second most valuable player when rebounds were ignored and SGA finished as the third most valuable player when points were ignored.

Wembanyama is a dream fit for the punt FG% build. You would have to go all the way back to Hakeem Olajuwon to find a better starting point for the strategy. While punt FG% teams do tend to be guard-heavy, their championship hopes will hinge on whether or not they can win at least one of rebounds and blocks consistently. That usually proves to be difficult since many of the elite sources of FG% impact that the build will be passing on also happen to be some of the league’s top rebounders and shot blockers. It is not uncommon for a punt FG% team to finish the draft in a below-average position in both categories. That’s problematic because a punt FG% team is also unlikely to win turnovers consistently. If you are not picking up a big man category or two on the regular, your path to victory each week in a nine-category league will be very narrow. Wembanyama locks in a strong finish in blocks (3.8 BPG) and makes finishing in at least an average position in rebounds (11.0 RPG) likely. His excellent out-of-position contributions in points (24.3 PPG), threes (3.1 3PG), assists (3.7 APG), steals (1.1 SPG), and FT% (83.6 FT% on 4.1 FTA) will also make it easy for a punt FG% team to win the categories that it needs to win every week. The lone downside to pairing Wembanyama with the punt FG% build is that it all but guarantees you end up punting turnovers in addition to FG%. It’s going to be almost impossible to stay competitive in the category when you have a center on your roster that averages more than three turnovers per game (3.2 TOPG). A build like punt assists—which is another great option for the third-year man—could absorb the hit, but the punt FG% build, which will be targeting plenty of high-turnover guards, will be better off leaning into the double-punt.

Best Builds: Punt FG%, Punt Assists

Pairing Guides

Pairing guides are available for both standard and deep leagues. These guides recommend second-round targets based on your first-round pick and your punting build of choice.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Pick 4-5)

Punt FT%

Giannis Antetokounmpo/Donovan Mitchell (Roto)

Above average in Points, Rebounds, FG%, Turnovers

Average in Assists, Steals

Below average in Threes, Blocks

The ideal second-round partner for Giannis is a guard who puts up an elite number in threes while doing good work in all of the other guard categories that the punt FT% build cares about. That sounds a lot like Mitchell. If you are punting FT%, and this combination is available, you take it. This duo comes with zero per-game weaknesses and is elite in points, rebounds, and FG%. It’s also an above-average start in turnovers. If you take three more guards and one elite punt FT% big with your next four picks, you will have yourself a textbook punt FT% start. This won’t always be there in 12-team leagues, but it could be. Mitchell tends to be available later than he should be in drafts. In auction leagues, this is a pairing to target aggressively.

Victor Wembanyama (Pick 2-3)

Victor Wembanyama/Josh Giddey (Roto)

Above average in Threes, Rebounds, Steals, Blocks,

Average in Assists

Below average in Points, FT%, Turnovers

Giddey is a strong partner for Wembanyama in punt FG% in the second and a no-brainer grab for that build in the third. Combining the Frenchman and the Australian makes it very likely that you’ll finish the draft in a strong position in both rebounds and blocks. If a punt FG% team can manage that, it will be almost impossible to beat. Giddey is also a strong partner for Wembanyama because he is the only player available outside of the top 15 who can get a Wembanyama-led squad back to average in assists. Points and turnovers are the main concern for teams built around this combination. Try to avoid taking another player who isn’t a plus contributor for his draft position for at least the next three rounds. You are not punting turnovers if you start with this duo, but if you do want to compete in the category, you’ll need to avoid taking any more 2.8+ TOPG type of players. You do not have much room for error in the category.

Fast Starts Guides

The Fast Starts guides provide you with six-man combinations that will get you off to a great start. These combinations are an excellent tool for those short on time this draft season. If you did no other draft preparation and simply copied one of the combinations found in the guides, you would likely finish your draft in a very good spot. The six-man combinations are broken down by first-round pick and punting build.

Nikola Jokic (Pick 1)

Punt Threes

Jokic/Johnson/Brunson/Turner/DeRozan/Poeltl – This group is extremely strong in all three of the big man categories, so the slightly below-average start in points and FT% is not a major concern. You don’t need to take another big for at least a couple of more rounds, so if you do follow up this start with two guards or wings, you should go into the ninth round in an average-or-better position everywhere. This is an especially strong start in FG%. This team will go into the seventh round shooting around 53 percent. The big start in the category will allow you to take some significant hits while chasing the guard categories.

Luka Doncic (Pick 4-5)

Punt FG%

Doncic/Ball/Adebayo/Turner/Miles Bridges/Quickley – From a per-game standpoint, there is not much to complain about here. It is an average or better start in all eight of the categories a punt FG% team cares about. This is a start that you could get away with in Roto as well. Ball is the lone issue with this start. If you don’t want to gamble on LaMelo, Giddey works well as a substitute. He won’t make your team quite as strong in points or threes, but will give a punt FG% team more in rebounds and blocks, which are two of the three categories the punt FG% build tends to struggle with.

Team Building Tool

A subscription to Elite Fantasy Basketball also grants you access to the site’s one-of-a-kind Team Building Tool. This tool will make it easier for you to test different player combinations. Mock drafts are extremely time-consuming, and instead of spending over half an hour seeing if a Nikola Jokic/Chet Holmgren/Scottie Barnes start works better than a Nikola Jokic/Jalen Brunson/Jalen Johnson start, you can use this tool to compare the two scenarios in seconds. I would still do a few mocks to get a better idea of which players will be reached for, but in terms of creating and testing your draft strategies, the Team Building Tool is where you want to be spending most of your time.
This tool can be used to track how your team is doing in your real draft or mock draft. You can use it to test different combinations on the fly, and it allows you to keep track of your squad’s strengths and weaknesses. It tracks how your team is doing after each round in comparison to the rest of the league. Note: This tool does not connect to your draft on Yahoo, ESPN, or Fantrax. A Draft Tracker tool that does connect to Yahoo is in the final stages of testing.
The tool currently supports leagues on Yahoo, ESPN, and Fantrax with 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 teams. The numbers used to calculate how your team is doing after each round are Elite Fantasy Basketball’s current projections. The tool is updated whenever projection updates or rankings updates take place.
The tool is very easy to use. Just click on a player’s name, and the tool will populate with that player’s numbers. I’m not exaggerating when I say you can build your team in 30 seconds.

Here are some screenshots of the tool: