We’re back with more coverage of the class of 2026! It’s great to be here live on Dynatyze in such a rocking community.
If you haven’t read my Substack article announcing Dizzle Dynasty’s partnership with Dynatyze, you can find that here, where I essentially cover much of the same information. However, in the spirit of the holidays and the mania around the class, I’ve got two boards for you today.
2026 Dynasty Basketball Rookie Rankings 1.0
First up, we’ve got the first installment of my dynasty rookie rankings for the players likely to come into the 2026 NBA Draft. I’ve ranked my comprehensive top 60 order for how I would be drafting them in a dynasty rookie draft if it happened today (minus two players yet to be made available in our prospect pool, Amarri Monroe of Quinnipac and Tarris Reed Jr. of UConn). This list is purely based on my fantasy perspective with some correlation to the real thing, divided into tiers. I consider rookie drafts conducted in tiers to be a smart process in navigating value tied to picks and players, so this will remain a staple on each update.
You can find these rankings here via Dynatyze, complete with notes for every player:
https://dynatyze.com/fantasy-basketball-experts/zachreifschneider/rankings/dizzle-dynasty-2026-dynasty-rookie-ranks-1-0
Here is also some loose notes about this class I compiled:
• So, everything you’ve heard about this class and the hype behind the crop of elite prospects? It’s all true and as good as advertised. Having a top 3 pick in this draft is going to feed you for a long time to come and having one of Boozer, Peterson or Dybantsa sets you up with a star and a top 15-30 asset from Day 1. You absolutely need to come away with one of them in your drafts if you’re tanking out the year. If any one of them doesn’t get a minimum of one All-Star nod in their careers, that would shock me.
• Dybantsa is a slight step down from Boozer and Peterson, but to be honest, it’s entirely possible he climbs back up there with them soon with the pace he’s at. Anything can change at this point.
• My second tier has some great consolation prizes. Caleb Wilson is my favorite player past the top 3 and has tremendous upside with his size, tools and high-level productivity for being a little raw on offense. Kingston Flemings is awesome and you could easily sell me on him over Wilson at the 4th pick. More on Flemings next.
• I LOVE KINGSTON FLEMINGS. I think this kid is the real deal and it’s no wonder why so many people are starting to come to a consensus on him as a top 4-5 prospect. Great numbers, very productive, extremely obvious talent that passes the eye test with flying colors, and seems like a smart, self-aware, mature leader on and off the court. We don’t often talk about things like leadership as they pertain to fantasy, but I’m of the opinion that leadership qualities and positive character traits are a crucial part of becoming the player you are and were meant to be. It’s ingrained into players’ games when you look close and I think the person Flemings is informs the way he plays and what success can look like at the next level. The franchise that wants to draft him, even before any one-on-one interviews, is surely already picking this up through the way Flemings communicates on and off the court. Drafting someone they think highly of as a young man speaks to the confidence they have in him potentially evolving into a franchise player. Does this have much to do with the numbers? Not directly of course, but it does matter to get on the court when the organization is confident enough in you and your confidence. People believing in you and you believing in yourself makes a world of a difference. That’s a fact of life. I believe in Flemings, and I know NBA teams will believe in him deeply.
• Jayden Quaintance has already started to shine just one game into his Kentucky career (Saturday vs. St. John’s). He tore his ACL earlier this February at Arizona State and has come back looking great and just as athletic as he was. He’s a defensive menace and could be a fantasy star as a big man. Think Robert Williams but with availability.
• There’s a lot of great options across the board even into the long 8-19 tier. Some strong guards with good games and potential to function like offensive engines (Labaron Philon and Darius Acuff Jr.), high-upside forwards to tap into (Koa Peat, Nate Ament), supreme do-it-all analytic superstars (Yaxel Lendeborg), quality big men with very appealing fantasy games (Hannes Steinbach, Pat Ngongba), so on and so forth. This draft is a lot of fun, man.
• A few of My Guys of this class outside of the top 15 include Christian Anderson, Thomas Haugh, Amari Allen, Dailyn Swain, Keaton Wagler, Paul McNeil Jr., Juke Harris, Joshua Jefferson, Darrion Williams, Kylan Boswell and Nick Martinelli. These are guys I will be following close in leagues where I’m picking later than the lottery.
• Piggybacking on that: with the way Keaton Wagler is trending upward, it wouldn’t surprise me if I am spending a lottery pick on him come draft day. He’s already on the path of being a one-and-done. He’s been a demon for Illinois this year. I was early to him as a guy I snagged in a college basketball league I’m in with my other Dizzle Dynasty teammates, Brian Taylor and James Cullin. He’s great! He has a ton of upside I’m excited to see get unlocked more a the next level.
• There are surely a few players on your radar that I don’t have listed here, like Tyler Tanner or Aday Mara. Much like our big boards, we try to be realistic about who stays and who declares. This list will change a lot as we start to get more of a feel, so if you don’t see someone on here right now, anticipate seeing them in the next update or beyond. If I had to put a pin on each of them, though, I’m probably higher on them for fantasy than I am IRL.
2026 NBA Big Board 2.1
Next up is my 2026 big board for IRL purposes. Again, this draft is just absurd and the fact that some of these players are where they are versus my dynasty board just speaks to that. Some guys I like much more IRL, some I like more for fantasy. It’s all fairly close, so if you want a feel for the IRL outlooks and how they differ, check out the Big Board here:
https://dynatyze.com/fantasy-basketball-experts/zachreifschneider/rankings/dizzle-dynasty-irl-big-board-2-1
If you like what you’re seeing here with my boards, be sure to sound off here or on Twitter/X and stay tuned for future updates. I’ve got some more content coming here and elsewhere before the end of the year, so get ready!