The 2025 fantasy basketball season delivered another year of unforgettable performances and seismic shifts across the league. From MVPs who propelled their teams to victory to the notable busts and the less thrilling, yet practical, rookie class, each moment made an impact. As front-office decisions and load management altered the season's narrative, it's time to recognize the standout players — not just for their stats, but for how they shaped the fantasy landscape.
Here's the breakdown of the season's biggest winners and losers.
🏆 Fantasy MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Preseason ADP: 4.4
Current rank: 2
Nikola Jokić deserves a nod, while Josh Hart and Dyson Daniels also have a case since they were the best values relative to ADP this season. Still, from start to finish, SGA delivered more consistently than any other player in fantasy.
SGA leads the league in scoring and despite being top-echelon in volume and usage, he has a ridiculous 52/37/90 shooting split through Monday. He's racked up the third-most stocks this season (207) and is one of 11 players to average at least a steal and a block per game. He was the most rostered player on the top 500 head-to-head public leagues on Yahoo (32.0%) and if I had a vote, he'd be the MVP in real life, too.
😭 Biggest Fantasy Bust: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Preseason ADP: 11.4
Current Rank 74
Brandon Ingram was a close option, but given the draft capital tied to the former MVP, Embiid is the right choice. After chronic knee issues and other ailments sidelined him longer than fantasy managers intended, the highly drafted player failed to live up to his MVP-like expectations.
Fantasy managers wasted a pick because he played in just 19 games and even when he did play, his efficiency dipped to a career-low 44%. He also saw a drop-off in minutes, rebounds, blocks, assists and steals from last season.
He is reportedly undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery later this week. I would ignore this situation, no matter the discount going into next fantasy season.
✋ Fantasy Defensive Player of the Year: Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
Preseason ADP: 144.0
Current Rank: 14
No one is more deserving of fantasy DPOY than the "Great Barrier Thief." Daniels has amassed a ridiculous 222 steals through Monday, the most since the 2008-2009 season. On the steals front, he can crack the
Topics in this Story
