No Ceilings NBA Fantasy: October roundtable part 1

Devin Booker, a star on Nathan’s No Ceilings Fantasy League team, is averaging 23 points to start the 2026-27 NBA season.

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No Ceilings fantasy basketball? That’s right, folks.

The NBA, paired with the good people at Yahoo Sports, asked us if we’d be interested in participating in a Fantasy Basketball league. Obviously, the answer was an easy yes.

Our whole entire No Ceilings family got together to participate in a 12-team NBA fantasy basketball league. Some teams feature multiple GMs who are teaming up to see if they can take home the championship.

Our league is public,

which means the fans can take a look at everyone’s roster and follow along (here)

to see who can take home some serious bragging rights this season.

Below, our entire No Ceilings family decided to partake in a fantasy basketball roundtable in order to give our teams a little grading, as well as talk about the other teams in the league.

How would you grade your draft?

Rucker

: I would probably say an A. There’s potential to have a bit of a wagon on my roster. Adding a pair of superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brunson to start things off was great. Landing legends like Kevin Durant and LeBron James presented some sensational value that was too intriguing to pass up. My draft strategy early was to attack the highest upside, followed by targeting potential value selections in the middle rounds and trusting my board. Eventually, I thought I got some good positional needs and young upside plays as well.

Nathan

: I’d give my draft about a B. The dynamic quartet (when healthy) of Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker and Amen Thompson gives me plenty of scoring opportunities, plus they’re more complete perimeter options who rebound for their position, generate defensive steal opportunities and can really pass players open for easy assists. And again, when healthy, all of Joel Embiid, Ivica Zubac and Jarrett Allen are proven centers who excel at finding ways to put points on the board and man the middle of the floor for their respective teams. Some of the depth on my roster is a bit more unproven, so I’ll be crossing my fingers all season long for good health and waiver wire luck!

Albert

: My roster is filled with world-champion New York Knicks, so my grade should be an easy A. Unfortunately, I need to take this exercise seriously and give myself an A-. The minus is there to keep me humble. Objectively, I got Toumani Camara in the later rounds as a bona fide steal. I took a big bet on Anthony Davis and bought into what he’s selling. He’s telling everyone that’ll listen that he wants to play 82 games this season. If he does play a ton of games for an exciting Wizards team, I just might have grabbed a league-winner. As a draft expert, I took some swings on rookies Darryn Peterson, Brayden Burries and Mikel Brown Jr. I think all three guys will get a real runway to play this season.

Metcalf

: B-. I think I got caught up too much with trying to find the do-it-all forwards who end up producing better advanced numbers than raw counting stats. I should’ve probably swung on a few more volume scorers instead.

Nick

: I think I would give myself a solid B; it had been a while since I’d done a fantasy draft, and I started getting worried about how it would turn out by the third round, but I think I did pretty well in the later rounds.

Corey

: I’m going to give myself a B with potential to get that grade up once my team gets healthier. Nabbing a guy like Giannis Antetokounmpo allowed me to set a strong foundation due to his ability to play both forward spots and fill up every aspect of the stats sheet. I took a swing on Kon Knueppel early, which I think is going to pay off when he’s back on the court. Elite shooter with more playmaking chops in his bag than most people realize. He’s in the perfect spot now to get to show those skills off after the Hornets moved on from LaMelo Ball and in many ways gave him the car keys. Then I nabbed Tyler Herro and Julius Randle later on, both of whom I think are in for monster statistical seasons. You know what, maybe I’ll give myself an A after all.

Paige/Izzy

: I think we’re sitting at a B+ and, fingers crossed, will see our team lock in more soon. We were lucky to grab the first pick, and getting Jokić first was definitely the move. We were stumped between choosing him or Wemby. We’ve got a good little motley of players, and some are the more star-power archetype of their respective teams. And, above all, not only do we have Jokić, but we are also backed by the sheer power of his horses.

Jacob/Finn (Finn)

: A smooth A- feels right here without getting into overconfident territory. We got some star power, some depth and versatility at every position, and a few big breakout candidates. With Wemby at the helm, it’s going to be tough to beat us.

Jam/Stephen (Stephen)

: I think a B+ is pretty fair. Even as some of the games have played out, a number of our players have punched above their projections. As always, there were probably some things we could have done differently, but we got some great players across our draft board.

Jam/Stephen (Jam)

: I’m with Stephen here on a B+ grade. Anchored by Luka, the team is filled with versatility and stat sheet stuffers. I’m tempted to give an A-, but there are one or two decisions that I would love to have back.

Owen/Quinn (Owen)

: An A. We gotta trust that the process we had will come to fruition. We had a set of guys we wanted to target going in and came away grabbing plenty of them, even leaving some off the board. Tyrese Haliburton, Deni Avdija and Chet Holmgren are our engines, while Dylan Harper, Alex Sarr and Jalen Williams project as a high-upside trio. In the later rounds, we targeted players with high counting stats. Guys like Jalen Green, Brandin Podziemski and Miles Bridges who, at worst, will stuff a stat sheet. Overall, good outing.

Ignacio/Latif

: A B+ would be fair. It’s not our ideal vision for the roster, but considering we were second-to-last in the draft order, we feel like we did as much as we could with what we had. Our top three picks (Jalen Johnson, Stephen Curry and Walker Kessler) should all have statistically impactful seasons, which gave us the freedom to make some high-risk, high-reward bets (Kawhi) and pick up some potential steals (Ty Jerome) later in the draft.

Rowan/Parker

: Maybe we’re hard graders, but I feel a solid B- describes how I feel about our draft. It feels great to have SGA and Evan Mobley helming our team, but after that, there are some fun swings at each position. I think the guard, wing and center spots we chose have a lot of upside, but could also deal with some logjams at their positions, which could hinder their production.

Name one player you felt you had to have in this draft and why?

: Jayson Tatum. After drawing the fifth pick, I had a bit of an early dilemma looking at some gigantic names on the board. It’s always hard to pass up some sure-fire Hall of Famers (hello Giannis), but I feel like this could be one of the most impressive seasons for Jayson Tatum coming up.

: I was really hoping for Tyrese Maxey to circle back around to me in the second round, and thankfully he did. I wanted a versatile player who could produce and cover multiple position categories in Cooper Flagg, but Maxey is as much of a top-tier player for fantasy purposes as almost any other player in the NBA. He’s a go-to scorer on the 76ers despite all of the talent the franchise accumulated in the offseason, and he’s as consistent as they come both in terms of producing and actually playing heavy games and minutes. He’s a co-captain of my team for a reason.

: After being told the team would put extension talks on hold for the foreseeable future, it looks like Karl-Anthony Towns will have a lot to play for, even after a title-winning season. A highly motivated Towns, who unlocked something as an offensive hub from the nail for the Knicks, could create a fantasy monster this season. I fully expect his assist numbers to be up this season, and he’ll take even more three-point attempts. Towns is still an elite rebounder, so the multi-category value at center was too good for me to pass.

: At the 12th pick, which is rough by the way, I knew my options were going to be pretty limited. I probably reached, but I knew Cam Boozer wasn’t getting back to me in the third round, so I said screw it and swung with the 13th pick. We’re already seeing him put up awesome numbers across the board, and I think that’ll only improve throughout the season.

: For multiple reasons (Kings fandom, my personal belief in him having a bounce-back season, and both the name and the icon I chose for the fantasy team itself), I kind of had to have Keegan Murray on this squad. I could maybe have gotten him in a later round, but I wasn’t about to take that chance.

: I felt like I had to target the Greek Freak. I think people forget just how impactful Giannis is when he’s healthy, and I expect an absolutely MONSTER season out of him. A motivated Giannis with a dash of Heat Culture is a scary thought.

: Maybe it’s the Chicago connection for Izzy, but grabbing Caleb Wilson was a big deal for us. It was between Wilson and Buzelis, definitely two of the guys who have been dialed in for the young Bulls, but we ultimately decided on Wilson. Midwesterners like us have to stay loyal to our teams!

: Ryan Rollins. I’m a Bucks fan and am really bullish on Rollins being a cornerstone for this team. It didn’t look like it on opening night, but the star leap for Double-R is coming at some point. We’re hoping it’ll come this season.

: I felt like I wanted to have one of the “Big Four” of the incoming rookie class. Having covered them as long as we had, I wanted to see some payoff. Getting AJ Dybantsa was one of my prouder picks, personally.

: Domantas Sabonis. Coming off an injury, I thought he would drop in the draft and would be a tremendous value pickup. He’s still one of the most versatile and productive bigs in the game. One of the few who can consistently flirt with triple-doubles. To my delight, he was not scooped up by Nick, our resident Kings fan, and we were able to grab Sabonis in the fifth round.

: Tyrese Haliburton and Chet Holmgren would be the easy answers here, but for me, the “must-grab” guy was Brandin Podziemski. Being able to grab a guy like that in the later rounds, knowing that he gives a scoring punch on top of good rebounding and stock numbers, ensures a spread-out portfolio. Low turnovers mean less damage to his night-to-night totals as well, making him an easy late-round steal.

: Jalen Johnson has made improvements on his game on a year-over-year basis, so grabbing someone with that upward trajectory with a full season of first option usage was a must-have.

: With a high draft pick at #4, you want consistent greatness, and there hasn’t been a player that epitomizes it like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Over the past four seasons, his averages have hovered around 30 points, six assists, five rebounds and 1.5 steals. He hardly makes mistakes, as he’s shot over 50% from the field and turned the ball over under three times per game. While the rest of the team is full of upside swings, Gilgeous-Alexander is the ultimate key to being a contender in this league.

Who’s the one player who got away during the draft?

: I had Stephon Castle on my radar before he got sniped one pick before me. I thought that was a fantastic selection, as I believe Castle is going to continue to ascend upward for the Spurs throughout the next couple of seasons. Plenty of attention has been spotlighted on a number of players on San Antonio’s roster. But I think Castle is ready to take another big leap this season. I let out a couple of frustration battle cries when that pick happened.

: Given how I love to craft my fantasy teams around players who can check every box and put up stats across the board, I was very sad to see Cameron Boozer taken so early in our fantasy draft. Despite being a rookie, his entire case for becoming a potential star is in how well-rounded his game is. He’s a three-level scorer, extraordinary passer and a proven, top-tier rebounder. Also, he’s already getting every opportunity to produce in Memphis. He would’ve been a dream third pick for my roster.

: I really wanted Cameron Boozer. I firmly believe he will be the best rookie in all of fantasy this season. Given his situation, playing with Zach Edey in the frontcourt, and the minutes he’ll get from the jump, he’s a prime candidate to outplay his draft slot. Boozer will be a monster contributor with how he stuffs the stat sheet. As long as he stays healthy this season, I expect him to be on a lot of rosters that win leagues.

: I was really hoping Jalen Williams was going to make it back to me in the third round, and he just went a few spots before me. Now that he’s healthy, we’re already seeing him essentially back to his All-Star form. The versatility and production he brings to the court is so much fun.

: Nathan taking Tyrese Maxey one pick before I could get him still stings a little–especially since I’m facing Nathan in Week One.

: I really, really, really wanted Cameron Boozer on my squad. He’s a rookie in most people’s eyes, but to me he’s a destroyer, sent from the future. He can’t be bargained with. He can’t be reasoned with. He doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop until he dominates the stat sheet and your heart.

: It’s got to be Matas Buzelis. That was a painful loss. I think it ended up working out because we do have a pretty guard-heavy squad, so all should work out.

: Julius Randle was on our shortlist across multiple rounds. We’re both confident he’ll have a big season statistically for Brooklyn. But positional need and other intriguing names taking priority for us ultimately led to him falling through our fingers when Corey drafted him in the fifth.

Jam/Stephen (

Stephen)

: I REALLY wanted one of Dyson Daniels or Ausar Thompson with our eighth-round pick, and both were taken three spots before our pick. I’m still happy to have Cason Wallace, but I had my heart set on one of those two.

: Trae Young, without a doubt. Young is still a terrific player and a nightly 20 points and 10 assists threat while commanding high usage. I thought he would have been a perfect fit. Going in the fourth round was excellent value that I wish we were able to snag.

: Reed Sheppard was the one that got away for me. I knew it would be ubercompetitive at the top, so I didn’t get my hopes up for any one guy. But knowing that a guy like Sheppard, who didn’t exactly have the best postseason run, could be available down the board for a high-reward, upside swing got my gears turning a bit. Sadly, he was stolen away.

: Once we found out we had the 11th pick in the first round, we settled on a number of targets who could realistically be available at that spot: Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Haliburton, and Anthony Edwards. They all went in the four picks before us.

: I’m not only saying this because of his opening night eruption, but Ty Jerome was a player that we were circling and just missed on. He could be in line for another breakout season just a few after his first breakout performance.

What was your biggest steal of the draft?

: I had a pair, honestly. I understand he’s 41 years old, but landing “The King” LeBron James in the fifth round was too good of a value to pass up. I understand the dilemma of drafting someone of LeBron’s age, but this is also fantasy basketball. In terms of production, LeBron has continued to be a consistent monster throughout the last 10+ seasons. After losing out on one of my top targets in Stephon Castle one pick before, I pivoted and took LeBron as a “let’s just get nuts” type of value pick.

: I know I’m just crossing my fingers for him to be healthy for enough games to matter, but Joel Embiid in the eighth round is a pretty great pick given how he’s proven he’s one of the best big men in basketball so long as he’s on the court. He’s a multi-level scorer who operates as a hub for the 76ers, and he’s the last line of defense for a team that’s desperate for rim protection and interior support, meaning he’s always in play to have a great game on the glass and blocking shots. We’re only a few games in, but he’s already been one of my best picks and performers.

: I mentioned it earlier, but getting Toumani Camara in the later rounds felt like an absolute heist for me. Camara continues to be a defensive dynamo, adding a ton of value with steals and blocks, but the real reason he’s a steal is his growth on offense. Camara will keep getting open looks from the perimeter with all the dynamic guard play this season, and keeping his game as a play-finisher while staying fresh on defense is great for his fantasy production.

: The turn at the sixth and seventh round for me was awesome. Being able to walk away with Zach Edey and Nickeil Alexander-Walker that late felt like I struck gold. Now Edey has to stay healthy, but… we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

: Getting Ajay Mitchell in the eighth round felt like a huge win. We’ll see how it plays out, but I’m feeling pretty good about that one.

: Temetrius Ja Morant baybay! Sure, the backcourt for the Trail Blazers is crowded. Sure, Dame and Ja starting together might not be ideal defensively. But it’s going to be absolutely electric all season long, and Ja is going to fill it up whenever he’s on the floor.

: Funny enough, because Izzy fell asleep and Paige was away, we were auto-drafted Ayo Dosunmu. Sheesh, when we saw that, it felt right. We have no doubt Ayo is going to build on the great season he had last season with the Wolves and surprise even more people as this upcoming season gets underway.

: No bias here, I promise, but Ryan Rollins in the eighth round is going to end up looking like incredible value. We’re talking about a bona fide second option and lead handler who can contribute across the board statistically here. Especially if Tyler Herro gets traded down the line, Rollins has the runway for a star breakout laid out for him in Milwaukee.

: EASILY getting Paul George in the 10th round. We were talking about getting some defensive, 9-category dudes to complement our top players, but PG was too good to pass up where we got him.

: Yup, I couldn’t agree more with Stephen. It’s EASILY Paul George. George is the type of versatile two-way wing that I love both in real and fantasy basketball. He immediately rewarded us with a monster opening day performance: 38 points (7-for-12 from deep), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.

: When our fifth-round pick came up and we saw Dylan Harper on the board, it was almost an instantaneous pickup. He had a huge rookie season, built momentum into the playoffs, and now he’s forced his way into the starting lineup heading into Year Two? C’mon, easy grab.

: Obligatory “it’s been two games” disclaimer here, but getting Ty Jerome in the ninth round was huge. Even if his numbers come back down to earth as the season goes on, we feel he’s going to play a major role on this Grizzlies team, filling up the stat sheet and helping our fantasy team massively.

: Ty Jerome in the ninth round could be an absolute steal. Health is a big factor with Jerome, as he’s only played 60+ games just once in his career–two seasons ago in Cleveland. However, this is one of the most productive per-minute players in the league. Memphis will look to maximize his skill set because of his superb efficiency in the pick-and-roll. Whenever he plays, he’s going to put up ridiculous numbers.