Fantasy Basketball 2026 1st-Round Mock Draft and Best Team Names

With the 2026-27 NBA season tipping off next week, this might be the busiest draft weekend on the fantasy basketball calendar.

So, do you have all of your draft decisions mapped out by now?

Obviously, things will take some unexpected twists and turns during the actual talent grab, but you should go in with ideas to cover everything: how to get the right early-round stars, how to bulk up the back end of your roster with overlooked sleepers and, of course, how to avoid eyerolls and elicit legitimate chuckles with the right team name.

Luckily, this guide should help on all fronts with a mock first round, a spotlight on sleeper favorites at each position and a list of 10 of our favorite team names for the upcoming campaign.

Injuries limited Jerome to just 15 appearances last season, but he turned as many heads as he possibly could during that abbreviated run. He managed to cram 19.7 points and 5.7 assists (against just 1.8 turnovers) into only 22.6 minutes a night, all while compiling a highly efficient 47.4/42/87.5 shooting slash.

If Memphis ups his floor time, he might be a standout in every offensive category. And the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies figure to do exactly that, since Walter Clayton Jr. has struggled mightily, and Scotty Pippen Jr. plays more of a combo-guard game.

Forward: Yaxel Lendeborg, Golden State Warriors

The Warriors seemingly have an opening-night starting spot reserved for Lendeborg already, and they won't be the only impact role they'll ask the rookie to fill. He'll draw marquee defensive matchups on a nightly basis, and he might be the second offensive option for as long as Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porziņģis are sidelined.

If Lendeborg looks anything like he did at Michigan, he could offer across-the-board fantasy value. During his lone season with the Wolverines, he averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 stocks while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 82.4 percent at the line.

Sharpe has been a per-36-minutes monster for as long as he's been in the NBA. His career per-minutes marks feature 16.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 stocks. He's just never had much of a chance to show whether he can sustain that impact over a greater role, since he's been stuck behind Nic Claxton.

Well, Brooklyn seems ready to finally figure that out. This summer, the Nets shipped out Claxton and gave Sharpe a two-year, $20 million deal. Sharpe seems cleared for take-off, and he could be a fortune-changer in fantasy if that per-minute production remains anywhere near constant.