LaMelo playing 70+ games and other bold predictions for 2025-26

Sometimes it takes an expert's oculus to spot thing earlier everyone other does, specified arsenic Tyler Herro finishing No. 13 connected the Player Rater, oregon Ivica Zubac putting up 16.8 PPG and 12.6 RPG, similar each of them did past season.

How galore radical saw this coming?

If you did, you had a large limb up connected the contention successful your phantasy hoops leagues -- that's for sure!

With that successful mind, we gathered our fantasy basketball experts -- André Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabell, Jim McCormick and Steve Alexander -- and tasked them with detailing their boldest phantasy predictions for 2025-26.

Brandon Miller volition decorativeness successful the apical 40 connected the Player Rater

Currently going 85th connected mean successful ESPN unrecorded drafts, Miller's coaching unit already trusts him to find his ain shot, and his quality to make discourtesy for others is lone growing. With the imaginable to loft an absurd fig of 3-pointers per crippled and his knack for amassing antiaircraft numbers, helium could travel the Trey Murphy III way to becoming a peculiar 3-and-D phantasy helping arsenic aboriginal arsenic this season. Few players his size are this skilled astatine some slashing and shooting, making Miller an outlier astatine his position. -- McCormick

Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard volition some decorativeness apical 50 successful phantasy points this season, and astatine slightest 1 of them volition decorativeness successful the apical 20

Embiid and Leonard are some ultra-elite phantasy hoops performers connected a per-game ground that person a past of missing important quantities of time. Last season, they missed a combined 108 of the imaginable 164 games. But I look for this play to beryllium bounce-backs for both. Both are entering the play comparatively steadfast and each it would instrumentality is 60-65 games astatine their emblematic levels to scope these milestones. -- Snellings

Four Celtics volition decorativeness among the apical 10 successful made 3-pointers this season, adjacent with Tatum out

No squad has attempted and made much 3-pointers than past season's Boston Celtics, and that volition hardly alteration conscionable due to the fact that prima Jayson Tatum is retired for most, if not the entirety, of the season. Four Celtics -- Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser -- volition decorativeness among the apical 10 successful 3s made this season, portion a 5th (leading scorer Jaylen Brown) volition travel close. -- Karabell

Matas Buzelis volition beryllium a top-25 phantasy player

I foresee the Bulls starting him and giving him astir 30 minutes per game, and his stat acceptable is built for fantasy, hopefully providing blocks, steals, 3-pointers, rebounds and blocks. He's being ignored until aboriginal successful drafts aft past season's less-than-stellar numbers, but helium has arsenic overmuch upside arsenic astir immoderate subordinate successful this year's drafts. I'm trying to get him everywhere. -- Alexander

LaMelo Ball plays much than 70 games

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