2023-24 Fantasy Basketball Sleepers: Guards
We are officially two weeks away from the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, which means that your fantasy basketball drafts are rapidly approaching if they haven’t occurred already!
That said, let’s dive into 10 sleeper guards that you should be targeting!
(Disclosure: I used Fantasy Pros’ position designations for these rankings. While there’s plenty of overlap, I looked at players outside the top-20 to signify true sleepers.)
Honorable Mentions:
- Darius Garland (G22)
- Jamal Murray (G25)
- Scoot Henderson (G50)
- Derrick White (G51)
- Franz Wagner (G55) — His two primary position designations are PF and SF, which is the sole reason I did not include him.
- Bruce Brown (G56)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic (G83) — Same as Wagner (why is he listed as a PF?).
- Alex Caruso (G101)
- Keyonte George (G124)
Real List:
Desmond Bane, Grizzlies (G21)
Even though he only appeared in roughly 70 percent of his team’s games last year, Bane produced amicably and continues to improve in every facet. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and one steal a career-best 60.6 percent true-shooting last year; he posted his best rebounding rate and assist rate with a three percent uptick in usage. With Ja Morant‘s 25-game suspension, I wouldn’t be surprised if his numbers continued to gradually improve in 2023-24.
Jordan Poole, Washington Wizards (G27)
Turnovers and efficiency will be an issue, but Poole–who finished as G12 last season–will have an even higher usage in his first year in Washington. Poole averaged 24.9 points, 4.8 assists and one steal per 75 possessions on 43.6/35.3/90.5 (58.4 TS%) in 94 games as a starter the last two years. Let’s see how he does with a considerably worse infrastructure around him.
Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics (G30)
Holiday is the quintessential fantasy basketball guard in head-to-head and roto leagues, having averaged 18.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.4 steals on 49.0/39.6/81.0 shooting splits over the last three seasons. His usage from a year ago–due to Khris Middleton‘s injury-plagued season–will take a dip alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but he will be their third or fourth option. Expect his numbers to be similar to either of his 2020-21 or 2021-22 seasons.
Jalen Green, Houston Rockets (G35)
Green was a top-15 fantasy guard last year, and despite Fred VanVleet‘s insertion, Green’s secondary creation offers him a fairly high ceiling. The 21-year-old guard averaged 22.1 points and 3.7 assists on 53.8 percent true-shooting. Being next to VanVleet could do wonders for Green efficiency-wise, who’s had to carry a massive burden over his first two NBA seasons.
Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder (G41)
Shai Gigeous-Alexander is a top-5 guard in the sport. Though Giddey, Gilgeous-Alexander’s “Robin,” is another rising young guard who’s been oft-productive. He averaged 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists last year, despite being a subpar 3-point shooter, converting on 32.5 percent of his attempts. Giddey’s recorded the 10th-most triple-doubles (8) since he entered the league and had a true-shooting percentage rise of 5.5 percentage points from his rookie to his sophomore NBA season.
Marcus Smart, Memphis Grizzlies (G53)
Marcus Smart will be the de-facto point guard in Memphis in lieu of Morant’s suspension. Smart’s efficiency will always be the drawback, but his continued improvement as a playmaker plus his ability to rack up 3-point makes (on high volume) and steals warrant him being a top-50 guard if he can stay healthy.
Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers (G61)
While some might think the Reaves hype is overblown (it is), he showed last year that he could be a top-3 creator on this team down the stretch last season. Forget the playoffs–where he was outstanding, for the most part–Reaves averaged 17.6 points and 5.5 assists on 57.8/44.3/85.6 (!!!) shooting splits over his last 23 games. That’s a sample that encompasses nearly one-third of the season and nearly 40 percent of Reaves’ 64 total games last year. That’s not nothing. He’s a good late-round flier.
Ben Simmons, Brooklyn Nets (G72)
I’m eating the Ben Simmons cheese .. again! Sue me, I don’t care! If he’s playing, there are not 72 (fantasy-eligible) guards better than him–in fantasy or in real life. In his last fully healthy season, he tallied 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.6 steals. Sure, he doesn’t shoot 3s or convert from the charity stripe, but he’s an excellent flier late in drafts, just in case he has a breakout 2023-24.
Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers (G78)
Is there a slight logjam in the Portland backcourt with Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Malcolm Brogdon and Anfernee Simons? Sure. But Sharpe, who can easily slide over to the 3, lit the Blazers on fire over Portland’s final 10 games when they shut down Damian Lillard, averaging 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists on 46.0/37.8/77.3 shooting splits. No, he’s definitely not going to be posting those numbers over an 82-game season, but I expect an uptick in all-around production and usage (19.0 USG% in ’22-23) in his sophomore NBA season. He’s a good stash in deeper leagues.
Amen Thompson, Rockets (G86)
I’m all in on the Thompson twins. They’re already in the top 5-10% of the league in athleticism, at minimum. Though I’m including only Amen on this list. His vision and off-ball defensive are absurd, so I expect him to rack up a reasonable amount of assists and steals as a rookie. When VanVleet isn’t engineering the offense, there’s a world where Thompson becomes Houston’s primary table-setter at some point this season. His outside shot is a question, though.
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