Thunder Dan's 2023-2024 Fantasy Basketball Rankings and Draft Analysis

October 20, 2023

Draft season is officially upon us! Before jumping into your draft, take a look at Thunder Dan's latest 9-Category draft rankings.

It's about that time! If your league hasn't drafted yet, odds are you are going to draft soon! I have been doing a number of drafts in industry leagues and staff leagues and I am finally ready to unveil my first look at my rankings.

Now there are still two weeks of preseason games and some injuries and contract situations yet to be sorted out. And even a few position battles remain to be settled in camp, so these rankings - like any rankings - are still in flux and may be updated in the next few weeks.

So it's been with great earnestness that I dug into my rankings this season and I wanted to bring you a unique 150 that you're not likely to find anywhere else in the industry. I wasn't afraid to take some stands here on players, moving guys up and down quite a bit from where they're ranked elsewhere. In addition, I will highlight a couple of guys that I'm either higher or lower on than the current consensus ADP (Yahoo! and ESPN). And so here they are, my top-150 9-Category draft rankings for the 2023-2024 fantasy basketball season.

Fantasy Basketball 9-Category Head-to-Head Rankings

My Guys - Players I'm Higher On Than The Field

I am higher than the Yahoo/ESPN/CBS consensus ADP rankings on the following players

Anthony Edwards (SG/SF, MIN) - Consensus Ranking: 13.7, TD Ranking: 9

I have been trying to leave every draft with Anthony Edwards in the second round when I can. But he's actually being taken at the end of the first round and I am not the only analyst high on the fourth-year player. This season feels like a MVP-caliber breakout so you are probably going to have to reach for him a bit if you want to build around him. He's been healthy in his career and is just 22 years old, the sky is the limit.

De'Aaron Fox (PG - SAC) - Consensus Ranking: 27.3, TD Ranking: 21

He took a huge jump last year that I didn't even think was possible and I had kind of given up on him being an elite player. But he has some really nice pieces around him with Sabonis, Murray, Huerter, and Barnes. Fox delivered in a big way for this team down the stretch, leading them to a top 4 seed in the playoffs and a thrilling series against the Warriors. His 51% shooting on solid volume takes him well above the other point guards with his similar skill set. I will take 25-4-6 with a steal per game on 50% shooting all day and I love pairing high-percentage guards with big men on fantasy teams.

Paul George (SG/SF, LAC) - Consensus Ranking: 43, TD Ranking: 31

Brandon Ingram (SF/PF - NOP) - Consensus Ranking: 44, TD Ranking: 33

I love both of these guys about a round earlier than they are going. George is always an injury risk and Ingram missed a lot of time last year, but you're going to find too many complete skill sets like these guys have down past 40 in the draft. PG13 finished in the top 25 in the Basketball Monster per game value rankings and Ingram casually dropped 25-5-5 with a big uptick in assists at the end of the year.

Chet Holmgren (PF/C - OKC) - Consensus Ranking 55, TD Ranking 43

Jalen Williams (SG/SF/PF - OKC) - Consensus Ranking 75, TD Ranking 55

It's only his second year, but Williams made a huge impression on me last season and I think OKC is fantasy gold this year with young, exciting players who are going to play fast and mesh well together. Williams can do a little of everything and looks like he added a bunch of muscle to an already solid frame.

Chet is the real deal and about as skilled of a 7-footer as you're going to see in the league this year. He was outstanding in Summer League and just dropped 20-9 in his first preseason game. I expect some pretty efficient scoring from him with some occasional threes and a whole bunch of boards and blocks.

Devin Vassell (SG/SF - SAS) - Consensus Ranking 94, TD Ranking 74

The addition of Wemby is really only going to enhance these other Spurs guys this season in my opinion. Tre Jones, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson all put up very useable stats last season but they should add some efficiency this year with Wemby drawing a ton of attention and being able to stretch defenses with his outside range and guard skill set. Vassell can shoot a solid percentage while also being a huge boon in threes, steals, and points. He's a guy I want to reach on for sure.

Later Rounds: Onyeka Okongwu, Zach Collins, Malcolm Brogdon, Patrick Williams

Stay Away - Players I'm Lower On

I am lower than the Yahoo! consensus on the following players

Pascal Siakam (PF/C - TOR) - Consensus Ranking: 28, TD Ranking: 39

Have we seen peak Pascal? It feels like he may have maxed out in Toronto and his future there is uncertain. FVV is gone and maybe that keeps his assists up, but Poeltl has cut into his rebounding. He's really a better points league guy as he didn't do much damage in blocks or steals last year and is middling at best in threes and FT%.

Jordan Poole (PG/SG - WAS) - Consensus Ranking: 43.3, TD Ranking: 54

I know Poole is going to put up a ton of shots and score a lot of points, but he isn't really built for 9-cat as he's likely to tank your FG% and turnovers without offering many steals, blocks, or boards. I will let others be drawn to his big point totals but I really am not interested in his inefficient, hollow scoring.

Julius Randle (PF/C - NYK) - Consensus Ranking: 38, TD Ranking: 86

Here's my annual warning to "never draft Randle in 9-cat leagues" as he's really only a points league player (ala Russell Westbrook). Jalen Brunson is now the guy in New York and if Randle isn't scoring a ton of points and piling up rebounds and assists, his value plummets. He is a negative player in both percentages, blocks, steals, and turnovers.

Jonas Valanciunas (C - NOP) - Consensus Ranking: 83, TD Ranking: 97

Jonas is still doing his thing and has developed a nice outside game over the years. But he has really been phased out in New Orleans to where he is a borderline platoon player at times, as the Pelicans opted to play small in the fourth quarter a lot of nights. With Zion set to return to the lineup, JV is basically the fourth option on offense behind McCollum, Ingram, and Williamson.

Others I will never draft: Russell Westbrook III, R.J. Barrett, Andrew Wiggins, Anfernee Simons

Color-Coded Draft Rankings

These rankings are the same as the ones above, but a different view with some color-coding:

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