If you're in a keeper league, you know how important it is to always be on the lookout for young talent. Whether you're a winning team looking to continue dominating or a rebuilding team looking to hoard potential, it's always worth seeing who's available.
It goes without saying why guys like Evan Mobley, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, and the like are worth trying to get your hands on. And chances are, if you don't have them, you can't pry them away from who does.
Instead, look to pick up relatively unknown or underperforming players from the waiver wire to stash. Go to a winning team's manager and send him a win-now piece for a young player he can afford to give up to make a run for the league's title.
This list is far from comprehensive and doesn't include the most elite young talent, but it contains players who should be acquirable in your keeper league:
High-Level
Jalen Suggs, Magic
You probably won't be able to pry Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green away from fantasy managers, but my guess is there will be people willing to cut bait on Suggs for the right offer. He's shooting an abysmal 31.2 percent from the field, and he has a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Plus, he's being overshadowed by Cole Anthony, and Markelle Fultz will be coming back eventually.
Despite his struggles, there are aspects of Suggs' game that stand out as positives going forward. He's aggressive getting to
If you're in a keeper league, you know how important it is to always be on the lookout for young talent. Whether you're a winning team looking to continue dominating or a rebuilding team looking to hoard potential, it's always worth seeing who's available.
It goes without saying why guys like Evan Mobley, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, and the like are worth trying to get your hands on. And chances are, if you don't have them, you can't pry them away from who does.
Instead, look to pick up relatively unknown or underperforming players from the waiver wire to stash. Go to a winning team's manager and send him a win-now piece for a young player he can afford to give up to make a run for the league's title.
This list is far from comprehensive and doesn't include the most elite young talent, but it contains players who should be acquirable in your keeper league:
High-Level
Jalen Suggs, Magic
You probably won't be able to pry Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green away from fantasy managers, but my guess is there will be people willing to cut bait on Suggs for the right offer. He's shooting an abysmal 31.2 percent from the field, and he has a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Plus, he's being overshadowed by Cole Anthony, and Markelle Fultz will be coming back eventually.
Despite his struggles, there are aspects of Suggs' game that stand out as positives going forward. He's aggressive getting to the rim when he decides to drive, and he's taking 4.2 free throws per 36 minutes, converting at a nice 83.7 percent. He's also drawing non-shooting fouls on 2.7 percent of team plays – a figure that ranks in the 94th percentile for combo guards and is often an indicator of how "unguardable" you are at your position. For example, the league leaders for point guards and combo guards in that metric are Trae Young, Ja Morant, Chris Paul and Luka Doncic. For me, that's enough to justify a buy-low.
Alperen Sengun, Rockets
Despite being drafted 16th in this summer's draft, Sengun had plenty of hype surrounding him. He won't be an easy target, but impatient fantasy managers in win-now mode can likely be persuaded to let him go. He's seeing just 19.3 minutes per game and is ranked 180th per game in eight-category leagues, making him near unplayable in 14-team leagues. The free-agent signing of Daniel Theis is really cutting into Sengun's workload. Those two, plus Christian Wood, are all best utilized at center, so there's a logjam that won't be easy for Sengun to break out of.
Still, the per-36-minute numbers are fascinating. He's providing 17.5 points (7.7 free-throw attempts!), 9.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals(!) and 1.1 blocks. Those are astounding numbers for anyone, let alone a 19-year-old rookie – especially the free throws. Sooner than later, he's going to play himself into more minutes. Get him on your team before that happens.
Mid-Tier
Nah'Shon "Bones" Hyland, Nuggets
After being out of the rotation to start the year, the 26th overall pick from this year's draft forced his hand in late October, and he's seen 18.0 minutes per game over the past nine contests. During this stretch, he's averaging 8.9 points on 38.6 percent shooting, 2.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals.
If there's one thing the Nuggets are short on, it's volume scorers. The second-leading shot-taker on the team is Will Barton at 13.8 field-goal attempts, and even Aaron Gordon is taking just 9.9 shots per game. Eventually, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. will come back, but even when they do, Denver will need a punch off the bench. That's a role Hyland projects to fill going forward. It's unclear if he'll ever be able to work himself into a legitimate starting role, but the cost to acquire him should be low enough to gamble on. In addition to his aggressive shot-taking (10.5 threes per 36 minutes), he's been impressive as a playmaker (4.6 assists to 1.8 turnovers per 36 minutes).
Saddiq Bey, Pistons
Bey is struggling with his shot to start the year, with splits of just 38/29/77. However, he's been given significantly more responsibility within the Pistons' offense. Compared to his rookie year, Bey has upped his usage from 18.7 percent to 21.0 percent. That mostly shows in his improved passing, with his assists going from 1.4 per game to 3.1 per game – nearly doubling his rate per 100 possessions – and his turnovers staying low (1.3). He's also an improved defender and rebounder compared to his rookie year.
The 22-year-old is undoubtedly benefiting from being on a bad team, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him eventually land a starting role on a competitive team. He shot 38.0 percent from distance as a rookie, and if he can continue improving as a playmaker and defender, his future gets really interesting. Capitalize now and acquire him while his name recognition is essentially zero.
Immanuel Quickley, Knicks
Quickley remains buried in the Knicks' deep guard rotation, and there might be a fantasy manager in your league that can't deal with another year of this. Plus, he's shooting just 38.1 percent from the field, which will make him easier to acquire.
While the field-goal percentage is concerning, he's shooting 37.5 percent from three, and he's an 89.3 percent free-throw shooter. Eventually, the two-point efficiency should come around. His better-than 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio for his career is also a good sign. Ultimately, the per-36-minute numbers – 20.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 0.9 steals – are hard to ignore.
Devin Vassell, Spurs
To put it simply, Vassell is the new Mikal Bridges, who was the new Robert Covington. The sophomore had a relatively underwhelming rookie campaign but has come on strong for a Spurs team that desperately needs offense from anyone capable of delivering. Vassell is a three-and-D wing who's playing 26.4 minutes per game, hitting 2.1 threes at 40.9 percent and registering 1.9 combined steals-plus-blocks.
Vassell may actually be able to turn into something more dynamic than Bridges or Covington, however. He's shown some ability to create shots for himself. He's unassisted on 23 percent of his made baskets, which is a much higher mark than Bridges (10 percent) and Covington (3 percent). Even if that's just a function of the Spurs' rebuild, it's encouraging.
Deep Cuts
Dalano Banton, Raptors
Banton was created in a lab to be a Masai Ujiri deep second-round pick, and he was drafted 46th overall this past summer. He's a 6-foot-9 playmaker with good finishing ability and defensive upside. He's playing 12.6 minutes and averaging 5.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals-plus-blocks. That doesn't sound too impressive, but he's mostly creating those points for himself, takes 55 percent of his shots at the rim, and is fouled on an absurd 15 percent of his overall shot attempts. I'm not quite sure what he is, but he should be on your radar in deep keeper leagues.
Paul Reed, 76ers
Reed was last season's G League MVP, Rookie of the Year and was voted to the All-Defensive 1st Team. He's played just 292 NBA minutes and is probably the best per-minute monster you've never heard of. Per 36 minutes, he's averaged 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 2.5 blocks and 2.2 assists. I have absolutely no idea what the career path to him being a fantasy-relevant player is, but he's worth stashing in deep leagues if you can eat the roster spot.
R.J. Hampton, Magic
Hampton has plenty of pedigree. He was ranked seventh in his 2019 recruiting class. However, he slipped to 24th in the 2020 NBA Draft and wasn't utilized by Denver in the first half of last year. However, the Magic have made an effort to rehabilitate his value after acquiring him at the trade deadline last season. Since joining Orlando, he's averaging 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.9 combined steals-plus-blocks in 22.8 minutes. He's got some work to do proving himself as a shooter, but he's an elite athlete that can get to the rim and isn't even 21 years old yet.
Naz Reid, Timberwolves
Reid has comically high usage for a backup center. I can't really say he's made significant improvements since being scooped up by the Wolves after going undrafted in 2019, but I just can't stay away from the per-minute production. For his career, he's 20.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals per 36 minutes. He should be the Thunder's starting center, not the Wolves' backup. I'd be willing to take a chance on him with the hopes of him landing in a better situation somehow.
Jaxson Hayes, Pelicans
To keep it simple, Hayes is an extremely good offensive rebounder (4.7 per 36 minutes), foul-drawer (6.1 free throw attempts per 36) and shot-blocker (2.5 per 36). Will a team pay him to be a starter? It seems unlikely, but you never know. Even if he was seeing just minutes in the mid-20s, he could end up fantasy-relevant.
Nassir Little, Trail Blazers
While I've often used Little's 21.8 minutes per game as a punchline to how bad Portland's bench is, I'm starting to come around on the idea that he's earning that time rather than it just being handed to him out of necessity. What you're buying with Little is a forward who has already shown impressive rebounding (2.4 offensive, 6.6 defensive per 36 minutes) and defensive (1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per 36) ability. The rub is that he's a three-point shooter who is only mediocre in that department. He's taken just over 45 percent of his shots from three over the past two seasons and is hitting 34.4 percent of them. That's passable but needs to improve. If it does, there's real potential there.
