Fantasy Basketball Rankings: DraftKings 2024 Best Ball Forward Rankings 1-15

Best ball, best sportsbook, best time of the year. Welcome to NBA Best Ball on DraftKings.

This format gives players a chance to draft a fantasy basketball team for a season-long competition that requires no active in-season management. Each week your highest scoring players are automatically slotted into your starting lineup and their scores will count towards your fantasy point total.

You can find all the details, scoring, and rules for this format in Stan Son’s overview post along with links to the rest of our season preview content.

I have ranked my top 15 forwards for the 2024 DraftKings NBA Best Ball season.

We’ll be providing additional Best Ball content as the season progresses. Good luck!

DraftKings NBA Best Ball is live! Click here to start drafting your team.

4. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings

There’s probably a bit of regression coming for Sabonis this season. The Kings’ roster is getting a bit more crowded with the Demar DeRozan trade. Adding one more 20 PPG scorer to this roster will make the team better, but will result in Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox losing some touches. On top of that, Sacramento’s also interested in giving third year sharpshooter Keegan Murray plenty of floor time; something’s got to give.

Last season Sabonis averaged 19.4 PPG, 13.7 RPG, and 8.2 APG. He’s a nightly double-double and led the league in rebounds for two straight seasons. This makes him an extremely appealing option in Best Ball, a format which gives additional bonuses for double-doubles and triple-doubles. Despite the crowded Sacramento roster, Sabonis is likely to maintain extremely high rebounding and assist numbers. His out-of-position assists are valuable and his ability to triple-double makes him an elite option at this price point. If you wanted to grab him ahead of Anthony Davis, I think that’s completely reasonable. He’s certainly healthier than Davis!

6. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

Frankly I’m tired of the “this is the year LeBron finally falls off” conversation. Let’s just assume he’s never going to fall off. LeBron James is turning 40 this year and has spent more than half of his life playing in the NBA. His career is likely older than some of you reading this article. Yes, he runs a bit slower and jumps a bit lower now, but he’s still every bit as effective. And as if his game needed validation, he recently won the MVP award for Olympic basketball on a team stacked to the ceiling with world-class talent, to nobody’s surprise.

Last season was his 20th straight All-Star appearance, a league record. He put up 25.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 8.3 APG and made his case for another All-NBA team, of which he also holds the record for most appearances (20). The gap between him and second place Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15) is larger than the gap between Kareem and 21st place John Stockton (11). If you split James’ career into four chapters, all of them would make it into the Hall of Fame.

I’m done fading LeBron. He’s a nightly triple-double threat and should be in for another great Best Ball season. He played 71 games last season, his highest total since the 2017-18 season, and will be looking to continue his ceaseless dominance with his son and new Lakers rookie Bronny James at his side.

15. Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

As good as he is, I think Holmgren’s ceiling is capped on this Thunder roster. His usage was 21.6% last season and I don’t see it going up a ton; the roster is too good and there’s not enough room for Holmgren to take enough shots to improve his fantasy value significantly. The off-season acquisition of Isaiah Hartenstein swallows up Holmgren’s opportunities even further. If head coach Mike Daigneault opts to have Holmgren play the main role of rim protector with Hartenstein helping off his man, then we could see some interesting block numbers for Holmgren (2.3 BPG last season). But with one as defensively good as Holmgren is, I’d expect big block numbers either way.

The most important variable with Holmgren is his rebounding. Are we noticing a trend yet? Best Ball bonuses for double-doubles and triple-doubles are high impact for all players; it’s why we see players like Sabonis ranked way ahead of players who are better than him in real life. It’s also why Sabonis averages so many FPTS in this format compared to other players with more modest peripheral numbers. If Holmgren can become a more consistent double-double threat and increase his rebounding numbers, which seems unlikely given Hartenstein’s addition to this team, then he could leap into the top 10 in this group. Until Holmgren is granted an increased offensive presence or opportunity to rebound at a higher rate, I’m having trouble envisioning Holmgren to outperform his ADP.

DraftKings NBA Best Ball is live! Click here to start drafting your team.

The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.