Midway through the 2011-2012 season, the New York Knicks had lost 11 of 13 games and seemingly had no options left in their backcourt. Baron Davis was out with a bad back, and Iman Shumpert was sidelined with a knee ailment. Coach Mike D’Antoni turned to a combo guard averaging 3.6 points in 6.1 minutes, and within days, Jeremy Lin had sparked Linsanity across the sports world and in fantasy leagues. The lesson is that fragile rosters and thin depth charts can produce magical fantasy outcomes. Predicting that Lin would become a star was hard. Expecting him to step up in a valuable D’Antoni offense was not.
Last season, Ryan Rollins followed a similar path with far less hype. The gifted, overlooked combo guard scaled a thin backcourt depth chart to become a fantasy star. The Milwaukee Bucks entered the season without trusted scoring or shot creation beyond Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was surprising that Rollins, a player undrafted in most leagues, finished No. 30 overall on the Player Rater, but his team’s roster invited that leap.
This piece considers which players around the league might have a far higher ceiling than the market currently appreciates. Sometimes a player is only a trade, injury or promotion away from an lasting and rewarding role. A single post from Shams Charania can change multiple depth charts in an instant. These are the contingency talents who need some blend of luck, development, timing and trust to pop. Which widely available players, sitting in free agency or found in the late rounds of drafts ahead of the 2026-27 season, could become the statistical forces that Lin, Rollins and others have been in past seasons?
Ajay Mitchell and Aday Mara, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder have waves of capable backups, which makes it tougher to predict who benefits if a star misses time. Mitchell, however, already has proof of concept. Across just over 100 playoff minutes with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander off the court last spring, Mitchell produced 26.5 points and 7.8 assists per 75 possessions. He will likely hold independent value even behind a healthy cast of stars, but he is also an injury update away from becoming a true force. Mitchell would likely inherit a major role if either Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams were sidelined.
Mara, a rookie with remarkable preseason production and tape, has enough rim protection and paint scoring potential to surface if either Isaiah Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren misses time. Rim protection is one of the most transferable skills from college to the NBA. This is one case where I would rather be early than late.
Ayo Dosunmu, Minnesota Timberwolves
LaMelo Ball has averaged just over 50 regular-season games over his six-year career and played a career-low 28 minutes per game last season as part of a deliberate maintenance routine.
Dosunmu, meanwhile, made NBA playoff history with a 43-point performance against Denver this past April, the second-highest-scoring game ever by a playoff reserve. He has thrived when given the power to create in both Chicago and Minnesota. Now he is in a high-stakes situation with a long-term contract, playing behind one of the least durable lead guards in the league. Dosunmu checks many of the Lin-like boxes.
Anthony Black, Orlando Magic
With both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner off the floor last season, Black posted 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals per 36 minutes for the Magic. Over last winter and spring, Black shifted from a player without a clear identity into an aggressive downhill driver with a newfound ability to finish or find teammates. The question is whether he can produce at a fantasy-relevant clip when the team’s two foundational forwards are healthy.
Black was the sixth pick in his draft class and is only scratching the surface of his potential. He may need little beyond the trust of his coach to take off. Don’t forget him when searching for a high-ceiling guard late in your drafts.
Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz
Last season’s rookie class was so spectacular that Bailey’s strong spring was largely overshadowed by a lottery-bound effort in Utah. The rangy forward averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 14 games last March, shooting 45.3% from the field and 40.3% from three. That stretch included a 37-point game against a Toronto Raptors team that was among the league’s better defensive groups. Bailey should see extended chances to score off the bench and may even contend for major minutes in smaller closing lineups.
The team’s star forwards, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., have each faced significant durability concerns over the past few seasons. Whether through promotion, injury or some blend of both, Bailey’s path to scoring stardom is less winding than it might seem.
Collin Sexton, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers roster is top-heavy and leans on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as its offensive engines. It is easy to forget that Sexton, still just 27, has become an efficient, if nearly elite, scoring guard. He has bounced around the league due to a lack of size and defensive utility, yet he has produced nearly 24 points and five assists per 36 minutes over the past three seasons on Durant-like shooting splits.
Even if the Lakers’ star playmakers stay healthy, Sexton is an entirely viable Sixth Man of the Year candidate as a microwave scorer off the bench for a team without much scoring or playmaking depth. If he is ever handed the keys to the offense in place of one of the team’s star creators, even for a few weeks, Sexton would thrive.
Isaiah Stewart, Memphis Grizzlies
You will find Zach Edey on many fantasy rosters, but you will also find “Beef Stew.” The Grizzlies are leaning into a tougher, larger roster identity, and Stewart embodies that direction. In just under 23 minutes per game for the Detroit Pistons last season, Stewart posted 1.6 blocks per game, good for eighth in the NBA.
Stewart proved he could be fantasy relevant even as a secondary big behind an All-NBA center in Detroit. Edey, for all his gifts, has yet to show he can endure the NBA grind for even a few months at a time. Stewart is an injury update away from becoming a double-double force with difference-making defensive numbers. Sign me up.