NBA Fantasy: Forward risers and sleepers to target in your drafts

Naz Reid and Julius Randle both should receive an uptick in fantasy production on new teams.

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The best fantasy basketball sleepers come from situations that just changed, and the 2026-27 forward class is full of them. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo headlined an offseason that reshuffled rotations league-wide. These ripple effects run deep into the frontcourt, from vacated usage in Milwaukee, a rebuild in Brooklyn hunting for shot creation, and a Lakers roster with an open power forward spot.

That churn is where draft value lives. Below are the forwards trending up after landing in better roles, followed by the true sleepers going outside the top 100 in ADP. Each one has a clear path to more minutes than the market is pricing in, and a few could return top-75 value in nine-category leagues.

Forward Risers

Naz Reid, Charlotte Hornets

Reid earned a lucrative contract with the Timberwolves, though with Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle in the fold, he spent most of his time coming off the bench. He has never averaged more than 28 minutes per game in a season, sitting at 26 last year with 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

The trade to Charlotte looks like an ideal landing spot. The Hornets prioritized adding size this summer, and with Miles Bridges now elsewhere, there are shots to go around. Reid has a real path to 30-plus minutes for the first time along with a bump in usage. His career line as a starter includes 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 three-pointers, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks across 77 games. That would translate to roughly 33.5 High Score points, and that’s before accounting for a larger role. The steals-and-blocks combination is exactly what this format rewards, and his ceiling nights as a stretch big can push into the 40s. He carries an ADP of 65 on Yahoo and looks well worth it.

Julius Randle, Brooklyn Nets

Reid wasn’t the only big man the Timberwolves moved this summer. Randle heads to Brooklyn, where the Nets are building around Michael Porter Jr. and adding young talent like rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr.

Randle has averaged at least 20 points in five of the last six seasons, and we’ve seen him thrive as a focal point before. Randle put up averages of 25.1 points, 10 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Knicks in 2022-23 on a 29.5% usage rate. He never climbed above 26.5% usage in Minnesota. That 2022-23 line works out to roughly 43 High Score points per night before steals and blocks are counted. When only your best game of the week counts, a high-usage forward capable of a 30-15-6 explosion is close to a weekly cheat code.

Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat

The Heat altered the trajectory of their franchise by acquiring Antetokounmpo from the Bucks. Tyler Herro went the other way along with a chunk of Miami’s young depth, so this group will lean on Giannis and Bam Adebayo, with Davion Mitchell bringing passing and defense and veterans Tim Hardaway Jr. and Klay Thompson providing floor spacing.

That leaves an opening for Wiggins as the third scoring option. Even on a modest 19.4% usage rate last season, he averaged 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks, good for about 32 High Score points per game. He had cleared 20.9% usage in every prior season, and at 24.5% two years ago he averaged 18 points. Those steal and block numbers do quiet work in this scoring system, and Wiggins can outproduce his ADP of 110.

Forward Sleepers

Jaime Jaquez Jr., Milwaukee Bucks

Jaquez Jr. showed a lot of promise as a rookie, had a quieter sophomore campaign, then got back on track last season with 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists over 28 minutes per game. He shot 50.7% from the field, up from 46.1%, and that performance made him a centerpiece of the package Milwaukee received for Giannis.

The Bucks enter a new era with Herro as their leading scorer and Ryan Rollins alongside him, plus Kevin Porter Jr., Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner in the rotation and young pieces in Brayden Burries and Nate Ament. Jaquez should be a stabilizing force with plenty of minutes available. His 4.7 assists alone are worth 9.4 High Score points, and the modest three-point volume that would ding him elsewhere costs him nothing here. Don’t be surprised if he sets career-highs in points, rebounds and assists.

Collin Murray-Boyles, Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl is signed through 2029-30 at north of $27.3 million annually, so he’ll likely open the year ahead of Murray-Boyles. But injuries limited Poeltl to 46 games last season, and he has appeared in 57 games or fewer in each of his three full seasons in Toronto. Murray-Boyles made the most of that opening, showing his versatility across 22 starts with 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks.

That’s roughly 27 High Score points from a rookie, about a quarter of it from steals and blocks alone. Toronto also has Sandro Mamukelashvili’s 22 minutes per game available to redistribute after his move to the Lakers. Murray-Boyles’ defensive activity is tailor-made for this format, making him appealing at his ADP of 122.

Sandro Mamukelashvili, Los Angeles Lakers

Prior to last season, Mamukelashvili had never averaged more than 15.3 minutes per game. The Raptors made him a critical part of their second unit at 22 minutes a night across 80 games, and he rewarded them with 11.2 points and 4.9 rebounds on 38.9% from deep and 52.3% overall.

In need of size and shooting, the Lakers signed him to a four-year, $52 million contract. With James no longer in town, there are power forward minutes available alongside Jake LaRavia, and another career high in playing time is a reasonable bet. One High Score caveat: three-point shooting doesn’t earn its own category, so his value depends on the rebounds and defensive stats that come with the added run. At an ADP of 114, he’s worth targeting in the later rounds.