Well, here we go. Another season of the NBA approaches, and with it another exciting opportunity for those of you to dip into the fantasy basketball streets to duke it out with your friends, family, strangers on the internet, whatever.
Let’s take a look at the new blood. Duke standout Cooper Flagg has been the talk of the town, joining a Mavs organization that caught a lot of flak for dealing away Luka Doncic last season in a shocking turn of events. But there’s more than just Flagg here, guys. Here are my top five picks for rookies this season, ranked in order of their future outlook in dynasty formats.
2025-26 NBA Rookie Dynasty Rankings:
Cooper Flagg – Dallas Mavericks
The aforementioned Flagg headlines this list as the cream of the crop for this year’s draft. The much-coveted standout practiced with the US Olympic team that took home the 2024 gold medal in Paris and figures to be a focal point of the Mavericks for this upcoming season. It’s interesting that Flagg will not get the opportunity to develop on a bad team like many other lottery picks do; he’s jumping right into the fray alongside Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis to jockey for a playoff position in the bloody West.
Flagg has gotten the most attention, and rightfully so. He averaged an impressive 19.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 2.8 stocks per game during his single season at Duke, earning numerous accolades. He’ll presumably become the Mavs’ featured player quickly, and this is a player you don’t want to miss out on due to his sheer upside, opportunity, and on-court versatility as an all-around monster.
Egor Demin – Brooklyn Nets
Amongst the sea of hyped prospects this year lies a hidden gem. Egor Demin was drafted 8th overall, below other standout names which we’ll get to later, but holds immense upside. Perhaps I’m biased; Demin is a 6’8 (likely taller by now) point guard and has drawn comparisons to Luka Doncic. To say that he’ll end up the same caliber of player as Doncic is a massive stretch, but the comparison illustrates his considerable ceiling. Demin didn’t average particularly eye-popping numbers at BYU, with only 10.6 PPG and 5.5 APG. He also had poor shooting percentages which certainly dampens some of our expectations, but his experience with professional basketball coupled with his size as a point guard forecasts a very, very tall ceiling.
Dylan Harper – San Antonio Spurs
As one half of Rutgers’ two-headed monster last season, Harper showed out with 19.4 PPG and an impressive 48.4% from the floor in 29 games. Harper was born for basketball and will settle in nicely in the Spurs’ back court with presumably a sub 20-minute rotation role. The Spurs are also developing Stephon Castle behind star guard De’Aaron Fox, and the young talent on this team is looking very scary.
As far as dynasty goes, it’s tough to envision Harper carving out a huge role behind this log jam at guard on this team, but his upside is palpable. He will look to improve his shooting to supplement his playmaking talent.
VJ Edgecombe
The Baylor product was selected third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, who already appear to have a clear plan in place post-Process. They will continue contending while praying for Joel Embiid’s health, but we can see the outlines of a contingency plan forming around young players such as Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and Adem Bona.
Edgecombe is a hyper athletic wing addition to this Sixers squad who will look to improve his game in the three-point shooting department. At Baylor, he averaged 15 PPG while shooting 34% from beyond the arc. He will look to supplement this Sixers’ bench while developing as a defensive-minded wing with playmaking upside.
Ace Bailey – Utah Jazz
Most of the dialogue swirling around Bailey isn’t even related to his basketball pedigree. Bailey infamously denied workouts for teams that he didn’t wish to get drafted by, a move that sparked controversy in NBA circles while igniting conversations about player empowerment, rookie agency, and lottery entitlement. Danny Ainge didn’t care; the Jazz selected Bailey fifth overall.
Bailey played 30 games for Rutgers University, averaging 17.6 PPG and 7.2 RPG while shooting 46% from the floor. Bailey is a 6’8 scoring machine and figures to be putting up plenty of shots on this humble Jazz team. His game has been compared to Michael Porter Jr. and Paul George. Bailey’s improvement will come in the form of his ball-handling and play making, but there aren’t many better situations than Utah for a rookie of his caliber to play through his mistakes. Managers should be curious to see what Bailey looks like a few years down the line. I’m predicting him to be a low efficiency scorer for his first few seasons as he gets his feet wet. However, his ceiling is a bit more limited; I don’t trust tough shot-making to be a long term formula for success in the NBA.
