2023-24 Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft: 12-team points

It's fantasy football mock draft season, and things are no different here at Yahoo Sports. Our team recently conducted a 12-team, points league mock draft with Yahoo NBA writers and other fantasy basketball analysts in the industry — and the picks are in!

Team-by-team results are at the bottom of the article — but first, here are some interesting findings about the draft's results.

Holdouts and suspensions made an impact

• James Harden, a perennial top-20 player in all fantasy basketball formats, continues his cha-cha slide down the draft board, going 36th overall here. He's been away from the Sixers the past two days, and there's been no update on when he plans to return to the team. The Harden-Morey standoff looks like it'll bleed over into the regular season as the potential deal with the Clippers seems to be held up over the Clippers' unwillingness to part with Terance Mann in any deal for Harden. Drafting Harden is a considerable risk right now, knowing he could hold out once the season begins on Tuesday.

• Ja Morant is suspended for the first 25 games of the season, and though he was drafted in the seventh round, that could end up being one of the steals of the draft, considering he finished in the top 12 in points formats the past two seasons.

• Miles Bridges' latest legal issues dropped his draft stock to the 13th round. He's already serving a 10-game suspension from last season, so there's a risk of further disciplinary action with his latest transgression.

Getting guards early is key in any format

• In points formats, it's essential to select the players with high usage rates, play a lot of minutes and score the most points. Unsurprisingly, 21 of the first 36 picks have guard eligibility. The results are consistent with our previous categories mock draft, where 20 of the first 36 picks were guards. Going guard-heavy in the first few rounds is a strategy I've found most effective this season.

Big men fly off the board in Rounds 4-6

• Here are the players with center eligibility who were selected between the fourth and sixth rounds (picks 37-72 in 12-team leagues): Myles Turner, Kristaps Porziņģis, Chet Holmgren, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, Nikola Vucevic, Walker Kessler, Nic Claxton, Alperen Şengün, Rudy Gobert and Jarrett Allen.

• In summary, you'll want to use these rounds to grab at least one big man because they'll dry up quickly. Grab one, and then you can focus on filling other roster needs until the later rounds. There's a healthy mix of underrated bigs like Jalen Duren, Mark Williams, Jusuf Nurkić, Jonas Valančiūnas, Wendell Carter Jr., Mitchell Robinson and Paul Reed, especially for points leagues.

Young players are climbing up draft boards

• If you want to get either Victor Wembanyama or Chet Holmgren, it will cost. Holmgren (44th overall) was going in the fifth round of drafts earlier in the offseason, but in this mock, he went shortly after Wembanyama (34th overall). Their performances in the preseason drove the price up, and it could certainly be worth it after what we've seen from both dynamic rookies.

• Jordan Poole went off the board at 45th overall and, after Wednesday night's 41-point explosion, it wouldn't surprise me to see him creep up from a late fourth-round pick to an early fourth-rounder.

• Pistons' rookie Ausar Thompson going in the 10th round was probably too early (says the person who drafted him), although he looks like he is getting closer to securing a spot with the starting unit. I've been high on him all offseason, and spending a 10th-round pick on him feels worth it.

• Brandon Miller (ADP 131) went 15 spots earlier than his ADP. He'll likely benefit from Miles Bridges' absence earlier in the season, but can he leap Gordon Hayward? I like Miller's chances as the season wears on.

Undervalued picks to highlight

• LeBron James falling to 35th overall may not seem valuable to some, but James is a top-10 fantasy player in points leagues (when healthy). Without worrying about efficiency and turnovers, getting LeBron this late was a gift from the basketball gods.

• It's not about me, I promise, but scooping Tyrese Maxey in the fifth round (56th overall) felt criminal, given the drama surrounding Harden.

Points league guys showed up

• Hello, Keldon Johnson and RJ Barrett. Two players who are not good for category leagues made their presence felt in this mock draft. Johnson came off the board in the seventh round, while Barrett was selected in the ninth.

Team 1: Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports

First off, his team name was elite (John Starks of Winterfell), staying on brand with his love for John Starks and, apparently, "Game of Thrones." He favored experience over youth, passing on any player with less than five years of experience through the first seven rounds. Devine also drafted almost every big man possible (Jokić, Porziņģis, Ayton and Jarrett Allen).

He also doesn't believe in point guards — waiting until round eight to select Tre Jones (who's since been replaced by Jeremy Sochan in the Spurs' starting lineup); given the complementary pieces, I don't mind his strategy of going big-man heavy.

Team 2: Ben Rohrbach, Yahoo Sports

Dino Radja's Lung Darts (another compelling throwback name) surrounded his second overall pick, Luka Dončić, with several All-Star forwards in Pascal Siakam, Jaylen Brown and Demar DeRozan.

He certainly went with the high-risk, high-reward mantra, drafting Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Ben Simmons. Rohrbach constructed a very entertaining team that lacks a true center, but overall, this squad is getting buckets.

Team 3: Austin Swaim (FanDuel)

He brought balance to the force, having a perfect mix of guards, forwards and centers. Thankfully, he didn't let Paul George fall past No. 30 overall, a common theme I've observed recently in drafts.

A few value picks I loved were getting Jalen Williams 70th overall, Michael Porter Jr. 94th and Zach Collins 118th. Terry Rozier is also a nice bounce-back candidate in the 7th round. It's a solid team all around.

Team 4: Mike Barner, Rotowire

Mike understood the assignment, getting Giannis Antetokounmpo fourth overall, as he's one of the best for points formats. One can argue top three. Pairing him with Desmond Bane, Bam Adebayo and Jordan Poole is nasty.

He also nabbed one of my breakouts in Tyus Jones, and getting OG Anunoby in the sixth round was great value. He even snuck in Jeremy Sochan with his final pick, which was savvy considering Pop's recent announcement of Sochan joining the starting lineup.

Team 5: Vincent Goodwill, Yahoo Sports

During the Vegas Summer League, I told Vinnie that Chet Holmgren would win Rookie of the Year, and I guess the slim bowl convinced him that he should spend up for the Thunder rookie (44th overall). I like his team a lot because he has several players I was targeting late, like De'Anthony Melton, Trey Murphy III and Wendell Carter Jr.

Value-wise, if Bradley Beal can stay healthy, getting him in the sixth round could be fruitful.

Team 6: Nick Whalen, Rotowire

Getting Cade in the third round to go with Shai Gilegous-Alexander and Karl-Anthony Towns is one helluva trio. He got Scottie Barnes and Walker Kessler around the spots I expected, but I appreciated Nick's strategy in selecting underrated players like Keldon Johnson, RJ Barrett and Steven Adams specifically for this format.

Jonathan Kuminga is worth a late-round flier, as he's been going bonkers in the preseason. Just remember Draymond Green will be back in action soon.

Team 7: Justin Henry, Sharp Football Analysis

Justin built his team off a trio of All-Star guards with a ton of usage in Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray. In the fifth round, Paolo Banchero will end up being good value as he's a way better player for points leagues than category formats.

I like that Justin landed Rudy Gobert, Clint Capela and Valančiūnas because those statue (traditional) bigs rack up a lot of double-doubles, which are ideal for points leagues. Jaden Ivey will be a value pick, assuming he holds onto the sixth-man role in Detroit.

Team 8: Dan Titus, Yahoo Fantasy

Man, I love my team; I would die for them (players), aw. If I'm quoting Drizzy, I must really like my squad. Sure, there are always risks when drafting Anthony Davis. Still, he's a top-five player in points leagues and loading him up with young All-Star-caliber guys with no availability issues like Anthony Edwards, De'Aaron Fox, Darius Garland, Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Green is crucial.

My bigs and bench depth could be better, but I liked getting Jordan Clarkson in the 11th round, considering he was good for 20 points per game as a starter last season.

Team 9: Sloan Piva, The Sporting News

Sloan has a habit of taking my guys in mock drafts, and he succeeded yet again. I was eyeing Devin Vassell in the sixth round and Mark Williams in the eighth. He has a similar build as me, going very guard-centric early on and I love that combo of Stephen Curry, Devin Booker and Fred VanVleet.

D'Angelo Russell in the 10th round was good value, considering he's starting and seemingly ready to channel his inner Derrick White this season.

Team 10: Alex Barutha, Rotowire

I crowned Alex the winner of our previous category league draft, and he also crushed this one. The LaMelo Ball and Trae Young combo on the turn is great, and then he went with the Alien, Wembanyama, in the third round.

Josh Giddey, Tyler Herro and Bennedict Mathurin are a few mid-to-late-round players who get a nice boost in points formats, and I like that he spent his final pick on Paul Reed.

Team 11: Raphielle Johnson, NBC Sports/Rotoworld

Another extremely balanced squad, Raphielle didn't take many risks and let the board fall to him. I previously mentioned that getting LeBron James 35th overall was a good value for the format, and he did a great job in the middle rounds of his draft getting Sengun (fifth round), Kyle Kuzma (sixth round), Markelle Fultz (seventh round) and sleeper Onyeka Okongwu in the eighth round.

P.J. Washington's stock (134th overall) is likely on the rise, and I like that he used the later rounds to take some unheralded players who are slated to start right away, like Shaedon Sharpe, Bruce Brown and Grant Williams.

Team 12: Jake Fischer, Yahoo Sports

He claims he missed the first parts of the draft and I believe him because who else would be daring enough to reunite Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden. Jake's been following the Harden drama more than anyone so it was pretty ironic that he'd end up on his team. Former big-three aside, once Jake actually picked, he did a good job balancing out his volatility with Myles Turner, Franz Wagner and breakout candidates Anfernee Simons and Keegan Murray. He also got Russell Westbrook at 108 overall, which is a good price, considering he's much better for points leagues.

The decision to use his last pick on Santi Aldama has me wondering … what does Jake know that I don't? I guess time will tell, but I expect him to be cut bait by the Grizzlies' season opener next Wednesday.