At the end of any NBA regular season, it’s a good practice to review the fantasy NBA rankings, while they are still fresh, and take stock of how players performed and infer why they finished where they did. It’s not ideal to look at a rankings list and attempt to draw out context in a vacuum. Here is a list of players who exceeded expectations in the 2024-25 season by finishing with a better position at the end of the season than their average draft position (ADP).
NBA Fantasy: Players Who Exceeded Expectations in 2024-25
*ADP is based on Yahoo! data, and end-of-season rankings have been taken from 9-cat per-game rankings at Basketballmonster.com. All players selected finished inside the Top 100 rankings.
Dyson Daniels
There’s no questioning Dyson Daniels‘ winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2024-25. He took a massive leap forward thanks to opportunities as a starter for the Atlanta Hawks. A trade to the Hawks from the New Orleans Pelicans boded well for his fantasy outlook. However, heading into the 2024-25 season, there were questions regarding his role with his new team and how many minutes he’d be able to play during the NBA season. As a result, Daniels had an average draft position of 136, making him a late-round flier in standard leagues.
Daniels managed to start in all 76 games that he played in. He posted averages of 14.1 PPG on 49.3% shooting from the field, 5.9 RPG, 4.4 APG, a league-leading 3.0 SPG and 1.1 3PG in 33.8 minutes per game. This allowed Daniels to finish the season as the 14th-best player in 9-cat per-game rankings. He proved to be an amazing complement to Trae Young and his offensive game. He rounded out the Hawks’ defense as an excellent point of attack and on-ball defender.
It is worth noting that Daniels’ top-15 finish is heavily tied to his elite production in the steals category. However, that should be tempered by the fact that he is only 22 years old and that he still possesses an upward-trending trajectory. Even if Daniels sees a slight pullback in his steals production next season, the nature of his game lends itself towards a fantasy-friendly stat set. Consider him as someone who can hold a “safe” floor inside the Top 50 come 2025-26.
Josh Hart
Josh Hart was one of the bigger and more pleasant surprises in the 2024-25 fantasy basketball season. He finished 2023-24 125th in 9-cat per-game rankings, prompting fantasy GMs to target him in the latter half of fantasy drafts in 2024-25. Hart somehow smashed his 116 ADP with an impressive finish this season as the 26th best player in fantasy basketball. He quietly provided solid across-the-board production as a member of the New York Knicks’ starting five, posting averages of 13.6 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.1 3PG and 1.5 SPG on 52.5% FG. A shift in the team’s dynamic, thanks to the acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves, allowed Hart’s unselfish game to make a lasting impression on the stat sheet night in and night out.
Hart was a bit of an iron man, averaging 37.6 minutes per game across 77 outings in 2024-25. His steady production made him a perfect “glue guy” — not only for the Knicks but for fantasy managers as well. A top-30 finish is likely the top end of what Hart is capable of at this stage in his career. That said, he can be a sneaky draft pick in 2025-26 if he falls far enough. His lack of elite scoring should be enough for managers to see him fall outside of the top 50 in most drafts next season.
Trey Murphy III
Trey Murphy III had an average draft position of 97 in the 2024-25 season. He managed to beat his ADP by a margin of 70 spots, finishing 27th overall in 9-cat per-game rankings at the end of the season. Murphy showed flashes of being an emergent two-way threat, averaging 21.2 PPG, 3.0 3PG, and 1.1 SPG. The New Orleans Pelicans showed a commitment to Murphy, earmarking him as their 3-and-D guy of the future. They displayed this by parting ways with Brandon Ingram.
Unfortunately for Murphy, his season was cut short by injuries. He was diagnosed with a torn labrum and a partial tear of the rotator cuff in his right shoulder. Devastating injury aside, Murphy projects to be a core player for the Pelicans moving forward. Once he gets his feet back under him, expect the forward to once again flirt with top-50 value in fantasy basketball.
Amen Thompson
Amen Thompson was one of the biggest breakout NBA players in the 2024-25 season. He finished just outside the top 50 (54th), proving that his combination of elite athleticism and basketball acumen would translate well both onto the hardwood and the stat sheet. Considering that Thompson had an average draft position of 116 in Yahoo! leagues, he easily surpassed any expectations. A move to the starting lineup (42 games started) translated into across-the-board improvements in Thompson’s stat set. He became an integral part of the team, so much so that he was simply too good to continue coming off the bench.
He’s a player who can do it on both ends of the floor. He contributed defensive stats with 8.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG and 1.3 BPG. Thompson showed flashes on the offensive side of the ball, notching a career-high 33 points against the Boston Celtics on January 27. His ceiling remains uncharted at this point in his career. He’s hands down the best player on the Rockets’ roster. It behooves them to hand the promising 22-year-old the keys to the franchise moving forward.
Christian Braun
Thanks to a strong summer league performance by Julian Stawther, there were questions as to who would start at shooting guard for the Denver Nuggets this season. Christian Braun appeared to have a leg up on Strawther thanks to his mini-breakout the year before. However, Braun’s lack of 3-point shooting ability did help offset the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency. Strawther is a streaky knock-down shooter but lacks Braun’s basketball IQ on defense. This perceived risk of a time-share situation scared off more than a few fantasy managers on draft day, allowing Braun to slide in drafts with an ADP of 133.
Braun quashed all concerns about his fantasy outlook, running away with the starting SG job. He emerged as a fantasy NBA darling thanks to his roto-friendly stat production. The shooting guard was a smooth scorer with averages of 15.4 PPG on 58.0% FG and 82.7% FT. He was no slouch on defense, producing nightly averages of 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. Braun’s well-rounded and drawback-free stat set allowed him to finish 57th overall in 9-cat scoring formats. He’s someone who can build on a strong 2024-25 leap and should not be slept on in 2025-26 fantasy drafts.
Jaden McDaniels
The exit of Karl-Anthony Towns proved to be an elixir for Jaden McDaniels and his fantasy production. McDaniels was a longtime afterthought in fantasy, being unable to translate his defensive impact onto the stat sheet. For several seasons, Daniels continued to disappoint in the fantasy arena. His lack of scoring and peripheral stat contributions was too much of a drag on his fantasy impact. Understandably, McDaniels was drafted just inside the top-150 in fantasy drafts (142nd) in 2024-25.
With KAT taking his talents to the Knicks, McDaniels needed to make a stronger impression on both ends of the floor. The forward responded by providing noticeable upticks in scoring (12.2 PPG), rebounds (5.7 RPG), steals (1.3 SPG), and blocks (0.9 BPG). He was no longer a player who provided “hollow production” and finished the season just shy of making a top 75 (76th) in 9-cat per-game rankings. McDaniels blossomed last season, taking his contributions on the offensive side of the ball to new heights. He posted an impressive 30-point, 13-rebound monster line against the Blazers on February 8. After the All-Star break, McDaniels showed improved confidence, notching averages of 13.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and and 1.0 blocks per game on 49.3% shooting from the field.
McDaniels projects to be a solid 1-1-1 contributor heading into the 2025-26 season, making him a solid target outside of the top 100.
Honorable Mentions
Onyeka Okongwu, Cam Johnson, John Collins, Tari Eason, Payton Pritchard, Cason Wallace, Ty Jerome, Quentin Grimes.
© Mike Watters-Imagn Images
The post NBA Fantasy: Players Who Exceeded Expectations in 2024-25 appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.