2024-2025 Fantasy Basketball: Mid-Round Value Draft Targets

In fantasy basketball, you can't win your draft in the first three rounds, but you can certainly lose it. Early on, the goal should be to build your team around surefire studs, while mitigating as much risk as possible.

The middle rounds represent a fantastic opportunity to go after high-upside players. You know, the guys with league-winning potential, who also carry a few question marks. Knowing who to target in the middle rounds is just as important as playing it safe in the early rounds.

Here is a list of my favorite mid-round guys to target in fantasy drafts. For this piece, we'll designate rounds 4-9 as the middle rounds. Let's dive right in!

Best Mid-Round Values To Target In Fantasy Basketball

Cade Cunningham - PG, Detroit Pistons
Current Blended ADP - 32.0

Cade Cunningham going around the 4rh round this season feels like one of the biggest steals of the draft IF he can stay healthy. When on the floor he has been showing significant improvement and has demonstrated the ability to continually put up numbers in all categories.

Cade Cunningham tonight:
18 points
7 assists
3 rebounds
9/15 FGM
(23 minutes)

Jaden Ivey tonight:
19 points
4 assists
2 rebounds
1 steal
1 block
7/10 FGM
3/5 3PM
(26 minutes) pic.twitter.com/u6kBk66zo3

— nick (@nsitto2) October 14, 2024

Last season he averaged close to 23 points per game, 7.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds. I think there is room for upside with his scoring as he puts together more consistency and I think he could be the reason you win a few weeks during the season. I think his trajectory is on the upswing and is a spectacular grab around the 4th round.

Pascal Siakam- SF/PF, Indiana Pacers
Current Blended ADP - 38.5

Admittedly, Pascal Siakam is one of my favorite mid-round values this season. If the pace of play of this team holds true, they will once again be one of the league leaders. Additionally, he's entering a full season with this team from camp to pre-season, and right into the regular season. This should help him to build the chemistry needed as we saw his production get better the more time he spent with the team. Last season he ranked 44th in fantasy scoring and I think he improves on that this season to the low 30s.

Franz Wagner - SF, Orlando Magic
Current Blended ADP - 49.5

I typically have a theme in the mid-round and it involves picking up some of the best number 2 options of teams that are getting better. Franz Wagner fits this ideology. We fully understand that Banchero will be the engine that helps this team go, but Wagner is a stud for them in his own right. Last season he averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game.

There will be nights where he is in fact the best player on the floor and this is why I love picking him up in the mid-round. Also, there will be one or 2 games where Banchero sits and he is the alpha dog here. This is a guy that can help stabilize your teams week-to-week and he is a great pickup in the mid-round.

Zach LaVine - SG, Chicago Bulls
Current Blended ADP - 64.0

Please indulge me here for a bit with Mr. Zach Levine. Last season LaVine was hurt for a good portion of the year, and while he typically doesn't complete 82 games, he's been hovering with an average of 65.5 games over the last 4 seasons excluding last year. Additionally, He's been around a 24-point-per-game scorer during that span. Last year he was down to 19.5 points per game, but the big news of DeMar DeRozan heading to Sacramento will place him squarely in play as the top scoring option again.

Zach LaVine last night:

28 points
9/12 FG
6/6 3PT
4/4 FT

He’s going to remind a lot of people how good he is 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iIpY3BwzGD

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 13, 2024

With that in mind, I think he's one of the biggest values between the 6th and 7th rounds this season.

Darius Garland - PG, Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Blended ADP - 64.5

Garland will be one of the primary contributors on this team in the assists category this season and will also chip in close to 20 points per game while doing so. We know this is Donovan Mitchell's team, but Garland is the number two guard here and will continue to be highly productive.

DARIUS GARLAND days away from Cavs regular season basketball! pic.twitter.com/VLok6NJIbP

— Across The Cavs (@AcrossCavs) October 13, 2024

Last season he averaged 18 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds. There will be games this season where he looks like the best player on the floor and it's those games that will help you win a few weeks this season. If healthy he typically plays close to 70 games which is a really good number in today's "load management" NBA. I love Garland in the mid-round this season.

RJ Barrett - SF, Toronto Raptors
Current Blended ADP - 100.5

I am very excited for RJ Barrett this season as he will be a top 3 option on this Raptors team. In terms of mid-round value, he's a guy who will help you with scoring production and since entering the league has been fairly reliable. He should hover around 20 points per game with an upside of 30+ on some nights.

Additionally, once he arrived in Toronto we saw a nice rebounding bump with him. This should bode well for his overall fantasy production for the season and getting him around the 9th round is really good value.

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