Fantasy basketball: Five big-name players to avoid in drafts

• Steve Alexander

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  Steve Alexander is a contributing writer for men’s fantasy basketball at ESPN. Steve is a member of the FSWA Hall of Fame.

Oct 8, 2025, 12:39 PM ET

Using a high draft pick on an injury-prone player, or any player who misses a lot of games, can ruin a fantasy season in a hurry.

The same is true of using a high pick on a player who is set to see their minutes decrease from last season.

Savvy fantasy managers are able to sniff these type of situations out in advance, and stay away from those players on draft day.

Here are five big names to avoid in your drafts this season.

Joel Embiid, C, Philadelphia 76ers

Embiid has averaged just 50 games played over nine seasons and he appeared in only 19 games last year. He’s never played more than 68 games in a season and he’s reached 60 games just four times. Yes, Embiid is a dominant fantasy player when healthy, but most reports over the summer were not encouraging. Maybe he’ll shock the world and play in 70 games, but the chances of that happening are extremely slim. I’m avoiding Embiid altogether but if I were somehow forced to draft him, I’d definitely be using the final pick of my draft to get Adem Bona, who will take over on nights Embiid is watching in street clothes.

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Anthony Davis, PF/C, Dallas Mavericks

Like Embiid, Davis has a lengthy history of missing games due to injury, and like we saw last season that didn’t change when he was traded to the Mavericks. This season, Cooper Flagg has been handed the keys to the car in Dallas, Kyrie Irving (Achilles) will miss much of the campaign, and the Mavs aren’t expected to be very good. It won’t take much for Davis to be sidelined for substantial time whenever he is injured and an early shut down isn’t out of the question, either. He made it through 76 games in the 2023-24 season, but that was an outlier. He’s an incredibly risky first-round pick.

Paul George, SF/PF, Philadelphia 76ers

George, who is 35 years old, was a fantasy disaster last season, playing in just 41 games. He had offseason knee surgery in July and his availability is questionable for the start of the season. Games played are always an issue with George, and the Sixers are serious tank candidates in hopes of keeping this summer’s draft pick. On top of that, Embiid’s future is murky due to his health problems. Tyrese Maxey was shut down last season and it’s hard to see the Sixers not trying to protect their draft pick again for this campaign. I will not be drafting George, regardless of how far he may fall.

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Ivica Zubac, C, LA Clippers

Zubac is coming off a fantastic season in which he posted averages of 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in a whopping 32.8 minutes per game. The points, rebounds and minutes were all easily career highs and the Clippers simply didn’t have anyone to relieve the big man. They signed Brook Lopez over the summer, who has been a starter throughout his career, and that means there’s absolutely no reason for Zubac to play big minutes again this year. Right around 25 minutes per game sounds like a reasonable expectation for Zubac in 2025-26, which means a reduction of eight minutes per game. While I don’t expect a true timeshare between the two big men, Zubac’s numbers simply have to come down. Zubac averaged just 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in his previous season.

Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C, Atlanta Hawks

Porzingis is great when he plays, but he hasn’t played in back-to-backs over most of his career and the Celtics used him as an every-other-game center last year. He’s now with the Hawks, who have an excellent young prospect in Onyeka Okongwu, and while that they could start Porzingis at power forward and Okongwu at center, it’s tough to envision Porzingis playing much more than half the season. His games-played log speaks for itself: 42, 57, 65, 51, 43, 57, 0, 48, 66 and 72. He’s appeared in at least 60 games just three times over his 10-year career and I’d be shocked if he plays in more than 55 games in this one.

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