Daily
Best Ability is Availability
Walker Kessler was the ninth-best fantasy player in basketball per game. He finished 445th in season totals.
Walker Kessler was the ninth-best fantasy player in basketball last season, per game. He finished 445th in season totals. Keldon Johnson was the 192nd best player per game, but he managed to finish 91st overall, with 82 games under his belt.
Johnson didn't do anything special. He averaged 12.7 points two seasons ago and 13.2 last season. Same team, same role, 23.9 minutes a night and then 23.3.
| Keldon Johnson | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 77 | 23.9 | 12.7 | 4.8 | 1.6 | .482 |
| 2025-26 | 82 | 23.3 | 13.2 | 5.4 | 1.4 | .519 |
Nobody wrote a sleeper column about him. There was nothing to write. He just showed up every night, ended up shooting a little bit better than last season, and became a top-100 fantasy asset.
Most preseason rankings you read are per-game rankings. Games played per game is an actual stat that I have been keeping track of, and something that I like to include in my pre-season z-scores. If you think that you got unlucky because you drafted Anthony Day-to-Davis or Temetrius Jamel Morant, I've got bad news for you: that was on you.
The phenomenon of high ADP players getting injured has become more and more common over the last 3 years.
| Played 78+ games | Top-80 picks who played under 50 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 15.0% | 10% |
| 2024-25 | 11.9% | 21% |
| 2025-26 | 9.8% | 26% |
So, this year, when drafting, ask yourself if your pick is made of glass, or how likely they are to sneak a gun into the arena. Or even better, include games played per game category in your pre-season rankings.