The 2024-25 NBA season begins on October 22nd, 2024 and is set to be quite the season.
The Boston Celtics (+320 odds to win the NBA Finals) are the favorites, but the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, and Milwaukee Bucks are within striking distance.
Oklahoma City Thunder
+650
Minnesota Timberwolves
+1000
Absent from that list are the San Antonio Spurs (+15000), but according to the NBA projections from numberFire, Victor Wembanyama is the most valuable fantasy basketball player entering the season based on his expected production compared to the rest of the league.
(Playing in a points league? We’ve got you covered, there, too. Here’s our top 250 fantasy NBA points rankings.)
Here is the top 250-ranked fantasy basketball players for the 2024-25 season, via numberFire’s value over replacement player fantasy formula.
| 1 | Victor Wembanyama | C | SA | 11.7 |
| 2 | Nikola Jokic | C | DEN | 11.5 |
| 3 | Joel Embiid | C | PHI | 10.5 |
| 4 | Anthony Davis | FC | LAL | 10.4 |
| 5 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | PG | OKC | 9.5 |
| 6 | James Harden | GF | LAC | 8.6 |
| 7 | Luka Doncic | PG | DAL | 7.7 |
Victor Wembanyama is the top-projected fantasy basketball player for the 2024-25 season, per numberFire.
He’s projected for massive value additions in blocks (266) and rebounds (796), ranking first and ninth, respectively. Last season, Wembanyama led the league with 254 blocks with nobody else above 190. Chet Holmgren (190) was a distant second in blocks a year ago and is projected for the second-most this season at 173. Wembanyama’s block value is impossible to overstate.
Wembanyama also has a top-20 points projection for the season.
Nikola Jokic is in the same fantasy tier as Wembanyama and offers robust production virtually everywhere.
Jokic has top-12 projections in points (9th), rebounds (3rd), assists (5th), and steals (11th) while also having a plus impact in field goal percentage.
That gives him four top-15 projections across the eight non-turnover categories. Nobody else has that many.
Joel Embiid has slimmed down 25 to 30 pounds and has his eyes on playoff success, but his regular season projections are still quite high.
He’s slated to finish 6th in points, 19th in rebounds, and 14th in blocks, per numberFire’s projections.
Embiid also brings plus free-throw shooting splits (and at a high volume).
Even projecting Embiid for 65 games, numberFire’s model ranks him third in VORP.
Yet another big, Anthony Davis is next up on the list.
Davis is projected to rank fourth in both rebounds and blocks while also sitting top-35 in points and field goal percentage.
An all-around defensive presence with league-leading rebound upside keeps Davis as a top-tier fantasy pick ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The only guard inside the top five is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though James Harden and Luka Doncic round out the top seven.
As for SGA, he’s projected to lead the league in scoring (2,346 points over 76 games for 30.9 points per game). The per-game rate actually is third behind Doncic (32.7) and Embiid (32.0).
But Gilgeous-Alexander can do more than score. He’s projected to finish 33rd in free throw percentage, 18th in assists, and 3rd in steals.
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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.
