The 2025-26 NBA season starts on Tuesday(!), and we're here to provide some last-minute updates on players who have either increased or decreased their fantasy draft stock over the last several weeks. For the purpose of this exercise, we will discuss preseason takeaways heading into the start of the regular season and how some injuries are affecting players and teams throughout the league.
There is no specific rank to these changes in draft stock. We're simply here to offer up some intel to help managers looking for an edge as draft season winds down. With that being said, let's get started.
Fantasy Basketball Risers & Fallers
Amen Thompson, G/F (HOU) - Stock Up
Thompson has been a popular riser over the last month or so, and for many reasons. First, and most unfortunate, was the potential season-ending ACL injury to veteran Fred VanVleet towards the end of September. FVV was primed to lead the new-look Rockets with future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and a burgeoning list of talented youngsters on the roster, but that responsibility will fall mostly to Thompson now. Second, he's an unbelievably versatile and explosive athlete that is just beginning to scratch the surface of his talent.
As he heads into Year 3, Thompson has the skills, opportunity and environment necessary to make that exponential leap that we often see from players entering that stage of their young career. In three preseason outings, the 22-year-old averaged 17.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals
The 2025-26 NBA season starts on Tuesday(!), and we're here to provide some last-minute updates on players who have either increased or decreased their fantasy draft stock over the last several weeks. For the purpose of this exercise, we will discuss preseason takeaways heading into the start of the regular season and how some injuries are affecting players and teams throughout the league.
There is no specific rank to these changes in draft stock. We're simply here to offer up some intel to help managers looking for an edge as draft season winds down. With that being said, let's get started.
Fantasy Basketball Risers & Fallers
Amen Thompson, G/F (HOU) - Stock Up
Thompson has been a popular riser over the last month or so, and for many reasons. First, and most unfortunate, was the potential season-ending ACL injury to veteran Fred VanVleet towards the end of September. FVV was primed to lead the new-look Rockets with future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and a burgeoning list of talented youngsters on the roster, but that responsibility will fall mostly to Thompson now. Second, he's an unbelievably versatile and explosive athlete that is just beginning to scratch the surface of his talent.
As he heads into Year 3, Thompson has the skills, opportunity and environment necessary to make that exponential leap that we often see from players entering that stage of their young career. In three preseason outings, the 22-year-old averaged 17.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals on 56.3 / 66.7 / 91.7 shooting splits in 25.2 minutes per game. It's a small sample size, but if his three-point shooting and free throw stroke can take another step in the right direction, the sky's the limit for Thompson in 2025-26.
LeBron James, F (LAL) - Stock Down
James, who will turn 41 at the end of December, is dealing with a nerve issue (sciatica) that initially popped up during the summer. On October 15, a report from ESPN's Shams Charania stated that the 22-year veteran isn't expected to make his season debut until mid-November. James will still have plenty of fantasy value when he's on the court, but there's a chance we see the King start to take more of a cautious approach throughout the regular season. There could be some rest days and scheduled absences coming.
Alperen Sengun, C (HOU) - Stock Up
After leading his native Turkey to a deep run in EuroBasket 2025 over the summer, Sengun looks ready to keep the hype train rolling into 2025-26. Similar to Amen above, 'Alpi' stands to benefit from the presence of Durant and the injury to VanVleet. Houston will surely run some of their offense through him in the frontcourt, and the results from preseason action have been impressive. In his three outings, Sengun dished out 26 total assists against eight turnovers, posting averages of 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in only 24.1 minutes.
Jaden Ivey, G (DET) - Stock Down
Ivey recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to "relieve right knee discomfort" on October 16 and will be reevaluated in four weeks. This is incredibly unfortunate for him and the Pistons, especially when considering he hasn't played a regular season contest since the first day of January because of a broken fibula. In 30 games in 2024-25 before the injury, Ivey averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 0.9 steals in 29.9 minutes. The 23-year-old was putting together a breakout campaign for Detroit in his third year as a pro, and he'll have to delay the comeback even further now as he enters Year 4.
Ausar Thompson, G/F (DET) - Stock Up
Ausar joins his twin brother on the list as they both prepare for their third season in the NBA. The scoring punch isn't quite there yet for the fifth overall pick in 2023 by the Pistons, but it's the all-around game and athleticism you're banking on with Ausar. With Ivey out for at least the first month in 2025-26, Thompson should see an uptick in minutes and usage, primarily as a ball-handler. In four preseason appearances, he averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 boards, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks, collecting at least one steal and one block in each outing. Much like his brother, Ausar will contribute across the board in fantasy, but his field goal, three-point and free throw percentages could be volatile over the course of the year.
Jalen Suggs, G (ORL) - Stock Down
Suggs (knee) has battled injuries throughout his four-year career thus far, as he's only appeared in more than 60 games just once (2023-24). After suiting up for 35 contests last season, the 24-year-old missed the entire preseason and, as of this writing, is still doing primarily non-contact work in practice because of the knee injury that he suffered in January 2025. With no clear timetable set for his return, there's no telling when Suggs will be on the court for the Magic in 2025-26.
Bennedict Mathurin, G/F (IND) - Stock Up
The Pacers will be without Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) for the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign, but the franchise does not consider this to be a "gap year" while missing their star point guard. Enter Bennedict Mathurin. The 23-year-old is a fiery competitor and effortless athlete who can score in bunches, as evidenced by his 31 points on 11-of-12 shooting (4-4 3Pt, 5-5 FT) in 23 minutes in his final preseason outing on October 13. Despite his scoring prowess and tenacious approach, Mathurin has been deployed mostly as a reserve during his time in Indiana, but that should change this season. He's been in the starting unit for coach Rick Carlisle in the exhibition games, and it wouldn't be shocking to see Mathurin lead the Pacers in scoring as he enters Year 5.
Andrew Wiggins, G/F (MIA) - Stock Down
With Tyler Herro undergoing surgery on his left ankle and foot in mid-September that will keep him sidelined for at least eight weeks, the Heat have a gaping hole in the scoring department to begin 2025-26. Herro suited up for a career-best 77 games while averaging a career-high 23.9 points per game last season. Wiggins, who came over at the trade deadline in the Jimmy Butler deal last February, has been pretty underwhelming through four preseason outings. In those four games, the 30-year-old averaged 8.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.5 steals on 38.2 / 33.3 / 50.0 shooting splits in 18.5 minutes. The opportunity is there for Wiggins to pick up the slack in his first full season in Miami, but he's trending in the wrong direction with meaningful contests on the horizon.
