2026-27 Rotoworld Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft: Grades for all 12 professional groups

Rotoworld’s annual Dwell Mock Draft Present came about on Thursday, October 15, and Noah Rubin, Raphielle Johnson and I had a blast drafting with 9 of the most effective minds within the fantasy hoops business.

Particular because of: Josh Lloyd, Dan Besbris, Brian Taylor, George Bissell, Dan Titus, Dan Palyo, Alex Barutha,Adam King and Adam Inventory.

In one other annual custom, I’m grading every of the groups based mostly on strengths, weaknesses and the way they’ll fare on this 9-Cat, H2H league.

Do you agree with my grades? Who do you suppose ended up with the most effective crew?

⇒ Try the total mock draft present right here: >

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Rotoworld’s fantasy basketball specialists reveal their favourite picks and gamers to keep away from in every of the primary 10 rounds, plus their most well-liked draft methods, late-round targets and extra.

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Zak Hanshew, Rotoworld | Grade: C+

Strengths:REB, AST, FG%, BLK
Weaknesses:FT%, TO, 3PM

I had first-world issues on this one, selecting between Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama. I went Jokić for his sturdiness and across-the-board contributions. Wemby is a monster within the blocks class and an efficient scorer and rebounder, however Jokić is the one man in historical past to steer the league in assists and rebounds in the identical season. You possibly can’t get that type of versatility with another participant.

I paired Joker with Younger and Kessler on the 2-3 flip earlier than grabbing an upside large in Kessler and my favourite worth in Garland. I rounded out the draft with a handful of rookies, took possibilities on Morant and Risacher, relying on resurgences in new conditions and picked my favourite Celtics heart.

This crew received’t be nice in triples and can wrestle in turnovers and FT%, however it would fairly compete in boards, dimes, blocks and FG%. This may not seem to be a crew that may be good in factors, however there are some high-usage guys whose conditions will pressure them to take quite a lot of photographs. Stable core with loads of swings – simply how I prefer to draft.

Josh Lloyd, Basketball Monster/Locked On Fantasy Basketball | Grade: C

Strengths:PTS, REB, BLK
Weaknesses:STL, TO, AST

Joker went first, so in fact Josh grabbed Wemby with the second decide. He solidified his maintain on the blocks class with a second-round decide of Anthony Davis and moved on to Brandon Miller, which was the earliest any of the Rotoworld crew had seen him taken in drafts.

Josh navigated the center rounds efficiently right here, getting strong gamers in Jaylen Brown and Deni Avdija earlier than taking a swing on Damian Lillard in Spherical 6. Coming off a significant surgical procedure and enjoying in a brand new system makes him a high-risk, high-reward possibility right here.

The tip of the draft shored up some three-point taking pictures with Norman Powell and CJ McCollum, and Josh took an opportunity on some younger, upside choices within the rookie Darius Acuff Jr. and second-year man Jeremiah Fears. There’s loads of upside right here, however Davis, Lillard and Sharpe are dangers for availability and function, and the ultimate three picks are dart throws.

Dan Titus, Yahoo! Sports activities | Grade: A

Strengths:PTS, 3PM, AST, STL
Weaknesses:REB, BLK, FG%

DT leaned into guards early, so it’s not stunning that his greatest strengths are guard-heavy contributions in factors, triples, dimes and swipes. This crew may have a troublesome time ever profitable in blocks, however Titus did his greatest to steadiness out rebounding within the center rounds with Onyeka Okongwu, Julius Randle, and Jaden McDaniels.

Excessive-usage gamers like Luka Dončić, LaMelo Ball, and Keyonte George make this a turnover-heavy crew, however there are some succesful free-throw shooters on this squad, giving DT the prospect to fairly compete in a minimum of six classes week-to-week.

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Alex Barutha, RotoWire | Grade: B

Strengths:PTS, FT%, STL
Weaknesses:AST, FG%, TO

Barutha opened the draft with the most effective participant accessible after the standard suspects – Jokić, Wemby and Dončić – went within the first three picks. He paired SGA with back-to-back values in Stephen Curry and James Harden earlier than including LeBron James and Joel Embiid within the later rounds.

The tip of the draft rounded out with some upside swings in Derik Queen, John Collins, Cason Wallace, and Anthony Black.

This can be a surprisingly well-rounded crew that must be aggressive in almost each class, however there are many dangers concerned. Can Embiid and LeBron keep wholesome? Will Curry see his enjoying time and availability dip? And if these gamers are compelled to overlook time, will the late-round, upside guys have the ability to fill in successfully?

Analytically, this can be a nice crew, however I’m involved about availability.

Adam Inventory, Elite Fantasy Basketball | Grade: C

Strengths:FG%, BLK, REB
Weaknesses:FT%, TO, 3PM

Cunningham’s ADP is the best it’s ever been, and the do-it-all guard went fifth to Adam. He paired him with a perennial top-20 man in Durant earlier than grabbing Jalen Duren within the third spherical as his beginning heart.

Adam took some dangers within the center rounds with Franz Wagner and Dejounte Murray, who’ve had hassle staying on the courtroom in current seasons, and Ty Jerome, who confirmed main upside in a small pattern measurement final season.

Jarrett Allen is a tremendous second heart, however this league performs two facilities, and the backups are Myles Turner off a down 12 months going through extra competitors and Daniel Gafford, who has by no means been in a position to keep wholesome. I just like the late-round Miles Bridges decide, however the second half of this draft is crammed with query marks. Cade, Durant and Wagner can rating at will, however I’m involved about scoring for the remainder of the gamers on this roster.

Dan Besbris, Outdated Man Squad/RotoBaller | Grade: D

Strengths:REB, AST, STL
Weaknesses:BLK, FT%, TO, 3PM, PTS

No surprises right here as Giannis Antetokounmpo went sixth, and Dan went big-man heavy with a Punt FT% construct, taking Alperen Şengün and Domantas Sabonis together with his subsequent two picks. He picked up his solely guard of the primary 5 picks in Josh Giddey earlier than grabbing Paolo Banchero in Spherical 5.

After hitting F/C laborious, Dan grabbed guard-eligible gamers with every of his subsequent six picks, choosing up Milwaukee’s PG rotation in Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr., nabbing Stephon Fort and getting a participant with versatile eligibility in RJ Barrett.

This can be a crew that has some large strengths in rebounds, steals and assists as a result of the early-round bigs are all sturdy facilitators, however there are some large holes throughout 5 classes, and Dan’s crew may have hassle competing weekly on this H2H format.

Adam King, Outdated Man Squad/RotoWire | Grade: A-

Strengths: REB, FG%, STL, BLK, TO
Weaknesses:PTS, 3PM, AST, FT%

Whereas a number of the analysts on this draft dipped their toes within the Punt Construct pool, Adam King jumped into the deep finish. As Noah talked about all through the Draft Present, this can be a true Kingy construct, as he punted offensive classes and went all out with protection.

Kingy went all out to make sure he would win in REB, FG%, STL, BLK and TO, however he’ll barely have any room to compete in PTS, 3PM, AST or FT%.

Kingy’s draft is the proper instance of concentrating on particular classes and choosing the gamers who greatest provide help to win in these classes. I like this method, but it surely’s not with out dangers, as shedding even a single one among his 5 sturdy classes will value Kingy a weekly win.

“Thunder Dan” Palyo, RotoBaller | Grade: D+

Strengths:3PM, FT%, TO
Weaknesses:REB, AST, BLK

Jayson Tatum at No. 8 seems like a great spot for him, as he’s anticipated to be a full-go for the beginning of the 2026-27 season. “Thunder Dan” paired Tatum with a pair of wings over his subsequent two picks, getting strong positional eligibility from Austin Reaves and Trey Murphy III.

Dan spent his middle-round picks on upside choices, grabbing Kyrie Irving in his return from a missed season, Ivica Zubac in his first full season with Indiana and Naz Reid in his first stint as a full-time starter.

Dylan Harper has monster upside, and Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Smith Jr. are underwhelming but regular contributors. I favored this draft by way of Choose 7, however the ho-hum Wiggins and JSJ picks coupled with the questionable ultimate 4 picks drove my ultimate grade of this crew down significantly.

George Bissell, Rotoworld | Grade: D-

Strengths:3PM, FT%, TO
Weaknesses: PTS, AST, STL

I’m not a giant fan of taking Tyrese Maxey so early in a draft attributable to Philadelphia’s revamped offense that ought to take the ball out of his palms greater than in previous seasons. The identical is true of VJ Edgecombe who went in Spherical 7.

This crew has little depth at F, and the backup facilities are all dangerous picks attributable to alternative (Moussa Diabaté and Aday Mara) and availability (Jakob Poeltl).

For a guard-heavy construct, this crew doesn’t look nice in factors, assists or steals, and I’m unsure it is going to be very aggressive on a weekly foundation.

Brian Taylor, Rotoworld | Grade: B-

Strengths:3PM, STL, PTS, FG%
Weaknesses:FT%, BLK, TO

Brian made the many of the tenth decide, grabbing Anthony Edwards and pairing him with Jamal Murray to create a powerful guard pairing. Grabbing Kawhi Leonard in Spherical 3 and Jaren Jackson Jr. in Spherical 4 are strong values, notably as JJJ may play the 4 or 5 for Utah.

Michael Porter Jr. performed an enormous function for Brooklyn final season, however his utilization may definitely take a success with Julius Randle within the fold. The following three picks have been spent on dependable veterans who may far outperform their ADP, and Brian adopted these picks up with three harm dangers.

Brandon Ingram (Achilles) is out indefinitely, however he will be stashed in an IL spot, Fred VanVleet is again after lacking all of final season, and Jusuf Nurkić (foot) will probably be out by way of a minimum of early November. This crew is powerful in 4 classes and will compete in steals and assists.

Raphielle Johnson, Rotoworld | Grade: B

Strengths:AST, FG%, TO
Weaknesses:REB, BLK, FT%

Raph grabbed his first-round goal in Donovan Mitchell and instantly paired him with final season’s 18th-ranked participant, Jalen Johnson. Mitchell is as strong as they arrive in fantasy hoops, however can he present High-12 worth if Cleveland’s roster is totally wholesome?

The following two picks have been nice worth choices in Evan Mobley and Jalen Brunson, and OG Anunoby at Choose 62 was a steal. Pascal Siakam had a down 12 months, however Raph is assured in a bounce-back enjoying alongside Tyrese Haliburton. The later rounds of the draft featured some worth performs in Immanuel Quickley, Cedric Coward, and Saddiq Bey in addition to some upside flyers in AJ Dybantsa and Quentin Grimes.

This crew has environment friendly scorers and passers who don’t flip the ball over an excessive amount of. There are scorers and defenders right here, which can enable the crew to compete in factors and steals and infrequently compete in triples.

Noah Rubin, Rotoworld | Grade: B+

Strengths:FT%, BLK, TO
Weaknesses:REB, STL, FG%

I began the draft with the primary decide, and Noah ended it with Choose 156. He began out with two sturdy facilitators in Scottie Barnes and Tyrese Haliburton. Barnes has eligibility at three totally different positions, however he can rack up assists like a high quality PG.

Noah nabbed Devin Booker and Lauri Markkanen together with his subsequent two picks, including two sturdy scoring choices. Desmond Bane at Choose 60 was a steal, and Kel’el Ware at No. 61 may repay if he breaks out for the Bucks. Alex Sarr may wrestle to copy final season’s success on a crowded Washington roster, however Zion Williamson and Zach LaVine have been sturdy worth picks.

I really like Darryn Peterson exterior the High 100, and grabbing Brooklyn’s backcourt seems like a sneaky-good transfer. This crew will probably be sturdy in a minimum of three classes and aggressive in factors, assists and triples.