Fantasy Basketball Rankings: DraftKings 2024 Best Ball Guard Rankings 16-30

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 16-30 guards for the 2024 DraftKings NBA Best Ball season.

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

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16. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

The life of a number one overall pick is not easy in the NBA. The Pistons have gone 23-59, 17-65, and 14-68 in the three years since Cunningham’s been drafted. It hasn’t been pretty; the Pistons are lost in the dark, stormy seas. Water is crashing onto the ship deck floor and sinking down the vessel; the waves are turbulent and merciless. This ship begs for the clemency of nature, but Cunningham is doing his best to steer and desperately try to find land while crewmate Tom Gores digs up an old, dusty, forgotten bucket named Tobias Harris to shovel water off the boat one scoop at a time. They have strongman Ausar Thompson on hand, but they’ve opted to have him sit back and watch the rest of the crew because he’s yet untrained. He has to earn his minutes, they said.

Cade is a strong player, there’s no doubt. He’s coming off a 62-game bounceback season after playing just 12 games in his sophomore season. His numbers are solid, most recently averaging 22.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 7.5 APG on improved FG%. He’s coming into form and is underpriced this season considering most of his stats are trending upwards. He’s rank 29 in DraftKings BestBall and will be looking to finally finish with a positive record and maybe even take a swing at the In-Season Tournament. Will they get there? It’s unlikely. Regardless, Cunningham is an excellent choice for an early-mid guard option with breathtaking upside. He’s battled efficiency issues during his young career but is only 22 years old and will have the green light in Detroit. Cunningham has first-round upside with a third-round price tag.

21. Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls

On the topic of inept franchises, the Bulls have made some interesting changes in the offseason. They’ve picked up former OKC guard Josh Giddey to facilitate their offense as the primary playmaker. Giddey’s lack of three-point shooting should be no problem on this roster; the Bulls have snipers in LaVine and Coby White to stretch the floor while Giddey gets room to operate inside, diming cutters and shooters alike.

LaVine is coming off a down season averaging 19.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 3.9 APG with 25 games played. He’s only 28 years old and should still be in his prime. LaVine has been overshadowed by Coby White’s strong play in his absence, but he’s still capable of being a 24 PPG scorer with excellent percentages and plenty of threes, which give an additional half point in DraftKings Best Ball formats. I believe the Bulls will be semi-competitive this season, and if LaVine can stay healthy, he should be able to return decent value at his price point, which should be higher than the 77 he’s currently at.

27. Brandin Podziemski, Golden State Warriors

Podziemski’s been generating a lot of off-season hype following Klay Thompson’s departure to Golden State’s Western Conference rival Dallas Mavericks. Klay’s absence leaves an extra 14 shots to go around for the Warriors, and Brandin Podziemski is next in line to soak up those minutes. Podziemski had an impressive rookie season averaging 9.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 3.7 APG; but it’s not the numbers that stand out, it’s the poise and intelligence with which he plays the game. It’s not hard to see why he quickly fell into Steve Kerr’s good graces. Kerr is historically gun-shy with giving rookies big minutes – as I’m sure Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman are well aware. Podziemski is some sort of exception.

His per-36 numbers are not particularly intriguing either, with 12.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 5.0 APG. His player profile boasts strong rebounding numbers for his position, which is an encouraging sign of his Best Ball value if he’s able to occasionally find double-doubles this upcoming season. Podziemski’s appeal lies in his room for improvement at a cheap price. As a second-year player, I’m counting on him to improve over the offseason and fill in Thompson’s big shoes as Steph Curry’s backcourt running mate.

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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.