The 2026-27 NBA season commences on October 20th, with a three-game slate between the Celtics and the Pistons, the 76ers and the Knicks, and the Thunder and the Spurs. This means that fantasy basketball drafts are coming up, and if you want to get a leg up against your competition, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to take a look at some of the top sleepers and breakout candidates for this upcoming season.
PG Jalen Suggs (Aggregate ADP: 112.6), Sleeper
At this late ADP, Suggs still provides a lot of juice. It’s not easy to get assists at this point in the draft, and Suggs put up some impressive stats last season despite appearing in only 57 games. His points came down to 13.8 PPG, but he still supplied a career-high 5.5 APG and 1.8 SPG. He won’t be doing any favors for your team’s FG%, but that’s not why you should care about him as a late round sleeper. Suggs also throws in a sneaky 0.7 BPG, which is pretty nice from the guard position.
Suggs won’t demand a larger offensive role to warrant a target in the late rounds. He’s simply doing enough in the peripheral stats to justify him as a fantastic value pick. He did his damage in only 27.6 MPG last season, and if he were to get more playing time this season, his per-36 numbers of 18 PPG, 7.1 APG, and a whopping 2.4 SPG are even more tempting.
PF/C Collin Murray-Boyles (Aggregate ADP: 120.6), Breakout
CMB has an appealing ceiling, category wise. Across 23 appearances in the final three months last season, he put up 10 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2 stocks (steals + blocks) in 23.6 minutes on 63% shooting from the field.
Sandro Mamukelashvili’s departure creates room, while Kawhi Leonard’s arrival probably won’t affect CMB due to their positional differences. There’s still the matter of Jakob Poeltl, but CMB is a rising, talented center whose play thus far in his career warrants more time on the court. The upside here comes from CMB expanding his defensive production and handling a larger workload in the front court.
Per-36 minutes, CMB averaged 19 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 3.2 stocks per game last season on 65.6% shooting. He’ll likely come off the bench for Poeltl to start the season, but Poeltl is now 30 and hasn’t been able to piece together a 60-game season since 2022-23. Again, we’re getting an excellent price on a potential breakout candidate as well as insurance on Jakob Poeltl.
PG Ty Jerome (Aggregate ADP: 99.9), Sleeper
Even if Jerome, at this point, is a known quality (and under appreciated one), his ADP still feels a touch too low. He was stellar in 15 appearances for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 19.7 PPG and 5.7 APG with 47.4% shooting and a beautiful 42% from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies have moved on from Ja Morant after a series of both on and off-court issues, paving the way for Jerome to take over as the starting point guard. The central questions surrounding Jerome are regarding health and Memphis’ late-season antics, of which there may be many, considering the Grizzlies are rebuilding and will definitely be headed nowhere when managers will most need Jerome’s services in March or April.
Regardless, Jerome’s efficiency and assists at this stage of the draft classify him as both a sleeper and a breakout candidate. We’re excited to see what Ty can do in this spot.
SG Cedric Coward (Aggregate ADP: 107.4), Breakout
Coward made quite the impression in his rookie season, finishing 5th in the ROY race while supplying 13.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG for the Grizzlies while shooting 47.1% from the field and 33.8% from three. He appeared in 62 games and came off the bench for 47 of them. His per-36 numbers are eye-popping for a rookie: 19 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 3.9 APG with 0.9 SPG. His scoring punch comes alongside nice periphal stats with decent efficiency, particularly from the stripe (84.3%).
Coward, like Jerome, will have an opportunity to seize usage in Memphis’ back court now that Morant is gone. He’ll likely still compete for a starting spot against Cam Spencer and Scotty Pippen Jr., but for now, he is listed as the starter on ESPN. Given Memphis’ current situation, there’s not much for them to lose by pumping Coward’s minutes and seeing what he can do with an expanded role as a second year player. Again, we’re seeing a nice price for the 22 year old wing with plenty of upside in multiple categories.
