Fantasy Basketball Sleepers: 7 league-winning players hiding in plain sight

5. Fantasy Basketball Sleepers: RJ Barrett will become the Knicks’ first option.

If the second half of the 2021-22 season taught us anything, it’s that New York Knicks star RJ Barrett is the real deal. At just 22, he’s shown substantial growth during every season of his career including a near 24-point-per-game average in the back half of the year. He’s a versatile scorer who can put the ball on the floor and maneuver his way to the basket or break down a defender for a jump shot.

Sneakily, Barrett has some playmaking skills that will be highlighted in a secondary ball-handler role with Jalen Brunson coming to town. Concurrently, he’s now playing with the best point guard of his young career, which should alleviate some of the pressure and set him up for higher-quality shots as they develop chemistry on and off the court.

Quite frankly, RJ Barrett should be closer to a top 50 pick than a player going near the 100s and of all the players on this list, his jump from ADP to final ranking should be the highest. Not to break the fourth wall here, but I’ll be targeting him in every single one of my fantasy basketball drafts this season. There are many lower-usage players like Mikal Bridges, Bobby Portis and even his Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson going before him in some drafts.

Go out and draft Barrett before someone else scoops one of the top fantasy basketball sleepers.

Average draft position is 93.5 on Yahoo, 97 on ESPN.