NBA Fantasy: Early risers in category leagues

Fantasy The top risers in fantasy basketball category leagues through the first month of the NBA season. Dan Titus, Yahoo Sports November 11, 2026 10:39 PM Zion Williamson has been an excellent draft pick to date in all formats. Play Yahoo Fantasy High Score Today!

We’re into Week 4, and below is my 9-cat riser and faller list through Week 3, featuring five risers and five fallers. Ranks are my rest-of-season 9-cat projections, not a summary of who’s performed best so far. Stats are through Nov.

9 (about 8–11 games played per player), so sample sizes are still small. 📈 Risers Davion Mitchell – PG, Miami Heat Mitchell has become one of the NBA’s top playmakers. Not bad for a guy who went around pick 120 during draft season. His 8.5 assists a night rank fifth in the league.

That’s just the passing. His shot volume has almost doubled, boosting his scoring to over 16 points per game, along with 2.3 3s. And he’s still getting steals, averaging 1.3 per outing.

The only knock to his game is his free-throw shooting. Playing high minutes on a team with little creation outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo and sometimes Pelle Larsson, Mitchell has real staying power as a PG anchor. He ranks near the top-50 in both points and 9-cat through three weeks.

Ayo Dosunmu – PG/SG, Minnesota Timberwolves It’s a luxury for the Timberwolves to have a player of Ayo’s caliber to step in for Anthony Edwards. He’s been a model of efficiency for years and has been impactful whenever he saw an increase in minutes and opportunity. That tracks with what we’ve seen from Dosunmu this season.

Dosunmu is shooting 52% from the field and 89% at the line, scoring 18.1 points, grabbing 4.9 rebounds, and adding 4 assists, while still tacking on 1.9 3s and 1.3 steals in 31 minutes. As long as Edwards is out, Ayo is a top-40 player in 9-cat and top-60 in High Score, averaging over 36 fantasy points per night.

Zion Williamson – PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans Health is wealth. So far, Zion is pacing to last season’s numbers — similar shot volume, but excelling in the paint. Zion is fourth in the league in points in the paint, averaging 14.1 per game.

Zion is shooting 63% while getting to the line 7.2 times a game. Bully ball. Also, his steal rate is pacing to a career high, with 2.2 per game.

That number is bound to regress, but the combination of his high FG and steal rates, improving free-throw percentage (76.4) and scoring over 20 PPG with 5 boards is what’s elevated him to 22nd in 9-cat, 34th in points and 43rd in High Score. Jabari Smith Jr. – PF/C, Houston Rockets Smith is in the midst of a breakout campaign.

Through 11 games, everything is clicking for the third pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s averaging 17 points, 6.5 boards, 2.7 3s, 50.4% shooting, 44.8% on 3s and 86.2% at the line. There’s even been a boost in assists to almost 3 per game.

I think it’s more of a testament to Fred VanVleet’s leadership and opening up the floor for the supporting cast to operate more freely. Smith’s success has been one of the biggest surprises three weeks into the season. A couple more weeks of this level of play and he might be able to fetch something real on the fantasy trade market.

Miles Bridges – SF/PF, Phoenix Suns Bridges is definitely a riser in 9-cat leagues. He’s currently 27th, averaging 15-7-3 with 45.2/32.8/86.4 shooting splits. He’s also getting over a steal per contest.

Now, while those numbers are solid, I don’t trust he’ll be able to keep this up all season. The supporting cast outside of Booker has been dreadful. I expect their improvements will alter some of Bridges’ success to date.

Bridges’ rebounding numbers are pacing to the best of his career, as is his low turnover rate. But top-30 (and top 70 in High Score and points formats) is too good to be true. Sell, sell, sell.

Full 9-cat rest-of-season rankings Rank Player Position Team 1 Victor Wembanyama C SAS 2 Nikola Jokić C DEN 3 Luka Dončić PG,SG LAL 4 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander PG OKC 5 Cooper Flagg PF,SF,SG DAL 6 Tyrese Maxey PG,SG PHI 7 Stephen Curry PG GSW 8 Jayson Tatum SF,PF BOS 9 Jamal Murray PG DEN 10 Cade Cunningham PG,SG DET 11 Alperen Sengun C,PF HOU 12 Giannis Antetokounmpo PF,C MIA 13 Karl-Anthony Towns PF,C NYK 14 Kevin Durant PF,SF,SG HOU 15 Scottie Barnes C,PF,SF,SG TOR 16 Anthony Davis PF,C WAS 17 Tyrese Haliburton PG,SG IND 18 Devin Booker PG,SG PHX 19 Ty Jerome PG,SG MEM 20 Austin Reaves PG,SF,SG LAL 21 Kyrie Irving PG,SG DAL 22 Jalen Johnson PF,SF ATL 23 Bam Adebayo C,PF MIA 24 Walker Kessler C LAL 25 Domantas Sabonis C,PF SAC 26 Donovan Clingan C POR 27 Donovan Mitchell PG,SG CLE 28 Cameron Boozer PF MEM 29 Evan Mobley PF,C CLE 30 Jalen Duren C DET 31 LaMelo Ball PG MIN 32 Jalen Brunson PG NYK 33 Dyson Daniels PG,SF,SG ATL 34 Amen Thompson PG,SF,SG HOU 35 Trey Murphy III PF,SF,SG NOP 36 Brandon Miller PF,SF,SG CHA 37 Kawhi Leonard PF,SF,SG TOR 38 Ayo Dosunmu PG,SF,SG MIN 39 Paul George PF,SF BOS 40 Nickeil Alexander-Walker PG,SG ATL 41 Yaxel Lendeborg PF,SF GSW 42 LeBron James SF,PF PHI 43 Jaden McDaniels PF,SF MIN 44 Zion Williamson C,PF NOP 45 Derrick White PG,SG BOS 46 Onyeka Okongwu C ATL 47 Joel Embiid C PHI 48 Keyonte George PG,SG UTA 49 Dejounte Murray PG,SG NOP 50 Jaylen Brown PF,SF,SG PHI 51 Ajay Mitchell PG,SG OKC 52 Franz Wagner PF,SF ORL 53 James Harden PG,SG CLE 54 Michael Porter Jr.

SF,PF BKN 55 Lauri Markkanen SF,PF UTA 56 Dylan Harper PG,SG SAS 57 Payton Pritchard PG,SG BOS 58 Paolo Banchero PF,SF ORL 59 Trae Young PG WAS 60 Deni Avdija PF,SF,SG POR 61 Wendell Carter Jr. C ORL 62 Jabari Smith Jr. C,PF HOU 63 Miles Bridges SF,PF PHX 64 Duncan Robinson SG,SF DET 65 Brandin Podziemski PG,SG GSW 66 VJ Edgecombe PG,SG PHI 67 Davion Mitchell PG MIA 68 De’Aaron Fox PG,SG SAS 69 Tyler Herro PG,SG MIL 70 Immanuel Quickley PG,SG TOR 71 Jarrett Allen C CLE 72 Josh Hart SF,SG NYK 73 Darius Acuff Jr.

PG SAC 74 Pascal Siakam C,PF,SF IND 75 Damian Lillard PG POR 76 Zach Edey C MEM 77 Devin Vassell SG,SF SAS 78 Fred VanVleet PG,SG HOU 79 Cedric Coward SF,SG MEM 80 OG Anunoby SF,PF NYK 81 Andrew Nembhard PG,SG IND 82 Kris Dunn PG,SG LAC 83 Julius Randle PF BKN 84 Anthony Black PG,SG,SF ORL 85 Darius Garland PG LAC 86 Naz Reid PF,C CHA 87 Zach LaVine PG,SF,SG SAC 88 Caleb Wilson PF,SF CHI 89 Jrue Holiday PG,SG POR 90 Jeremiah Fears PG,SG NOP 91 Stephon Castle PG,SG SAS 92 Ja Morant PG POR 93 Josh Giddey PG,SG,SF CHI 94 Christian Braun PF,SF,SG DEN 95 Grayson Allen PG,SF,SG CHA 96 Daniel Gafford C DAL 97 Alex Sarr C,PF WAS 98 Darryn Peterson PG,SG UTA 99 Jalen Smith PF,C CHI 100 Desmond Bane SG,SF ORL 101 Ausar Thompson PF,SF,SG DET 102 Matas Buzelis SF,PF CHI 103 AJ Dybantsa SF WAS 104 Kyshawn George PF,SF,SG WAS 105 Jaxson Hayes C UTA 106 Moussa Diabaté PF,C CHA 107 Tari Eason PF,SF,SG HOU 108 Saddiq Bey SF,PF NOP 109 Peyton Watson SF,PF CLE 110 Norman Powell SG,SF CHI 111 Paul Reed C,PF DET 112 Anthony Edwards PG,SF,SG MIN 113 Chet Holmgren PF,C OKC 114 Jalen Suggs PG,SG ORL 115 Daniss Jenkins PG,SG DET 116 CJ McCollum PG,SG ATL 117 Day’Ron Sharpe C BKN 118 Justin Champagnie PF,SF WAS 119 Derrick Jones Jr.

SF,PF LAC 120 Brayden Burries SG MIL 121 Isaiah Hartenstein C OKC 122 Aaron Wiggins SG,SF ATL 123 Brook Lopez C LAC 124 Collin Murray-Boyles C,PF TOR 125 Myles Turner C MIL 126 Aday Mara C OKC 127 Julian Champagnie PF,SF,SG SAS 128 Jared McCain PG,SG OKC 129 Meleek Thomas SG CLE 130 Jaime Jaquez Jr.

PF,SF,SG MIL 131 Neemias Queta C BOS 132 Matisse Thybulle PF,SF,SG LAL 133 P.J. Washington Jr. C,PF,SF DAL 134 Mikal Bridges PF,SF,SG NYK 135 Ryan Rollins PG,SG MIL 136 Mo Bamba C UTA 137 Kingston Flemings PG,SG ATL 138 Andrew Wiggins PF,SF,SG MIA 139 Yves Missi C NOP 140 De’Anthony Melton PG,SG GSW 141 Alex Caruso PG,SG,SF OKC 142 Quenton Jackson PG,SG IND 143 Isaiah Stewart C,PF MEM 144 Cam Spencer PG,SG MEM 145 Ziaire Williams SG,SF LAL 146 Ace Bailey PF,SF UTA 147 Kel’el Ware C MIL 148 Robert Williams III C POR 149 Pelle Larsson SG,SF MIA 150 Mario Hezonja PF,SF CLE 151 Leaky Black SF,PF SAC 152 Klay Thompson SG,SF MIA 153 Nolan Traore PG BKN 154 John Collins PF,C DET 155 Jakob Poeltl C TOR 156 Nic Claxton C CHI 157 Derik Queen C,PF NOP 158 Toumani Camara PF,SF POR 159 Sandro Mamukelashvili PF,C LAL 160 Precious Achiuwa PF,C SAC 161 Jordan Goodwin PG,SG PHX 162 Kyle Kuzma SF,PF MIL 163 Jamal Shead PG TOR 164 Collin Gillespie PG,SG PHX 165 Khaman Maluach C PHX 166 Obi Toppin PF,SF IND 167 Karlo Matković C,PF NOP 168 Tristan da Silva SF,PF ORL 169 Jaylen Wells SF,SG MEM 170 Kevin Huerter SG,SF DET 171 Isaiah Jackson PF,C LAC 172 Jonathan Kuminga PF,SF MIN 173 Ja’Kobe Walter PG,SG TOR 174 Sam Merrill SF,SG CLE 175 Ryan Kalkbrenner C CHA 176 Charles Bassey C GSW 177 Bilal Coulibaly SG,SF WAS 178 Dillon Brooks PF,SF,SG PHX 179 Zaccharie Risacher PF,SF,SG DAL 180 Reed Sheppard PG,SG HOU 181 Max Strus PF,SF LAC 182 Spencer Jones PF,SF DEN 183 Kobe Sanders SF,SG LAC 184 Bobby Portis Jr.

PF,C MIA 185 Keaton Wagler PG,SG LAC 186 Aaron Gordon PF,C DEN 187 Jaren Jackson Jr. PF,C UTA 188 Ryan Dunn SF,PF PHX 189 Al Horford PF,C GSW 190 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope SG,SF PHI 191 Cameron Johnson PF,SF DEN 192 Jake LaRavia SF,PF LAL 193 Tre Jones PG,SG CHI 194 Dean Wade SF,PF PHI 195 Draymond Green PF,C GSW 196 DeAndre Jordan C NOP 197 Clint Capela C HOU 198 Bones Hyland PG,SG MIN 199 Moritz Wagner PF,C BKN 200 Luguentz Dort SG,SF ATL 201 Joan Beringer C,PF MIN 202 Rui Hachimura SF,PF LAC 203 Anfernee Simons PG,SG PHI 204 Jerami Grant SF,PF MEM 205 Marcus Smart PG,SG HOU 206 Javonte Green SF,SG DET 207 Walter Clayton Jr.

PG,SG DAL 208 Trevon Brazile PF,SF DEN 209 Sam Hauser SF,PF BOS 210 Naji Marshall PF,SF,SG DAL 211 RJ Barrett PF,SF,SG TOR 212 Trendon Watford PF,SF NOP 213 Brandon Williams PG,SG GSW 214 Miles McBride PG,SG NYK 215 Jordan Poole PG,SG NOP 216 Jay Huff C IND 217 Kenrich Williams C,PF,SF OKC 218 Keon Ellis SF,SG BKN 219 Keegan Murray SF,PF SAC 220 Bub Carrington PG,SG WAS 221 Tyrese Proctor PG,SG CLE 222 Aaron Nesmith PF,SF,SG IND 223 Bennett Stirtz PG OKC 224 Luke Kennard PG,SF,SG PHX 225 Georges Niang PF GSW 226 Thomas Bryant C CLE 227 Baylor Scheierman SG,SF BOS 228 Tidjane Salaün C,PF,SF CHA 229 Danny Wolf C,PF BKN 230 Jamison Battle PF,SF TOR 231 Gradey Dick SG,SF LAC 232 Dalton Knecht SG,SF NYK Latest