Top Fantasy Basketball Players for Punting Head-to-Head Categories

If you're playing in a fantasy basketball league with head-to-head categories (either 8-category or 9-category), one of the draft strategies you should consider is "punting" a specific category.

What this means is purposely drafting a team that you're expecting to lose a specific category in every matchup. By focusing less on well-rounded players who can produce decent numbers across the board, this lets you focus your roster on maximizing your chances of winning the other categories.

Typical fantasy basketball rankings don't account for this strategy, since you can punt any of the eight or nine categories, which can make it a tough one to draft. But The Duel is here to help.

Below are the top players to target if you're punting any category. Note that these aren't just straight-up player rankings, but a list of players whose value increase the most when you're punting each category.

Top Players for Punting FG%

• Damian Lillard
• Jayson Tatum
• Paul George
• Trae Young
• Fred VanVleet
• Kristaps Porzingis
• Lonzo Ball
• PJ Washington
• Robert Covington
• Marcus Smart

Top Players for Punting FT%

• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Luka Doncic
• Domantas Sabonis
• LeBron James
• Rudy Gobert
• LaMelo Ball
• De'Aaron Fox
• Ben Simmons
• Clint Capela
• Russell Westbrook

Top Players for Punting 3-Pointers

• Joel Embiid
• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Jimmy Butler
• Rudy Gobert
• Tobias Harris
• DeMar DeRozan
• Dejounte Murray
• Jrue Holiday
• Kawhi Leonard
• Ben Simmons

Top Players for Punting Points

• Bam Adebayo
• Chris Paul
• Lonzo Ball
• Mikal Bridges
• Miles Bridges
• Marcus Smart
• Draymond Green
• Isaiah Stewart
• Jrue Holiday
• Myles Turner

Top Players for Punting Rebounds

• Damian Lillard
• Trae Young
• Zach LaVine
• Brandon Ingram
• DeMar DeRozan
• Pascal Siakam
• Robert Covington
• Kyrie Irving
• Tyrese Haliburton
• Fred VanVleet

Top Players for Punting Assists

• Joel Embiid
• Anthony Davis
• Michael Porter Jr.
• Rudy Gobert
• Myles Turner
• CJ McCollum
• Derrick White
• Terry Rozier
• Mikal Bridges
• OG Anunoby

Top Players for Punting Steals

• Karl-Anthony Towns
• Nikola Vucevic
• Kristaps Porzingis
• John Collins
• Kevin Durant
• Devin Booker
• Tobias Harris
• Trae Young
• CJ McCollum
• Brandon Ingram

Top Players for Punting Blocks

• Stephen Curry
• Trae Young
• Devin Booker
• Domantas Sabonis
• Jimmy Butler
• Chris Paul
• Brandon Ingram
• Khris Middleton
• Julius Randle
• Ja Morant

Top Players for Punting Turnovers

• James Harden
• Luka Doncic
• Trae Young
• LeBron James
• Russell Westbrook
• Devin Booker
• Zach LaVine
• Ja Morant
• Kevin Porter Jr.
• Julius Randle

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.