My Perfect Fantasy Basketball Draft | Best Choice in the MIDDLE of EVERY ROUND | The Hardest Spot!

Storyline / Topic

This video is part of a multi-episode series where Dan Besbris (Old Man Squad Fantasy Basketball) explains his “perfect fantasy basketball draft” approach for snake drafts.

The emphasis is on grabbing the best value players in the middle portion of each round—not the early picks and not the very late picks. Dan treats each “middle band” as a shared player pool that opponents will often draft from, so the goal is to pick players you can build around reliably.

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Core Draft Concept (Middle-Round Strategy)

• Focus on the middle picks of each round (e.g., picks 5–8 as “middle” in an early round).
• Expect that when you reach later half picks (e.g., 17+), many earlier targets are already gone.
• The strategy is not “full team construction,” but rather selecting the best options typically available in those mid-band spots.

Head-to-Head vs. Roto

Dan highlights that this strategy plays differently depending on format:

• Head-to-head: tougher because opponents converge on the same limited pool.
• Rotisserie (Roto): easier because you can diversify across more categories.

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Key Player Picks by Round (Highlights)

Round 1 (middle of the round)

He presents the “easy” pick as Cade (based on common assumptions), but argues several other stars are comparable for mid-round value.

Comparable candidates / honorable mentions:

• Tyrese Maxey
• Jayson Tatum
• Anthony Edwards
• Jaylen Johnson
• Donovan Mitchell

His leaning:

• Prefer Cade or Tyrese Maxey as easier “build-around” anchors.
• He notes:
  • Edwards and Mitchell are harder to build around (fit/production-profile concerns).
  • Tatum can be “lighter” in some categories due to fewer assists.

Important caveat: even Cade isn’t treated as an absolute lock. He also mentions plausible alternatives in that band, such as:

• Kawhi Leonard
• Joel Embiid
• Kyrie Irving
• Tyrese Haliburton

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Round 2 (middle of the round)

• Jamal Murray is his favorite mid-round pick.
  • He notes Murray’s previous rating was 17th and expects only a slight drop.

Secondary favorites / alternatives:

• Austin Reeves
• If going even lower: Stephen Curry (described as “technically the third round”)

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Round 3 (middle of the round)

• Primary: Trey Murphy
• Backup: Amen Thompson

Deeper fallbacks if they’re unavailable:

• James Harden
• If Harden is gone: Evan Mobley (targeting free throw rebounds)
• If Jaylen Duren drops enough, he could fit a similar value range

Dan emphasizes that third-round mid options don’t have many truly “confident” alternatives—so tier matters.

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Round 4 (a value “jump” down the list)

• Lauri Markkanen at pick 44 is highlighted as strong value.

Dan suggests Markkanen’s draft drop is driven by game-missed concerns, but he expects:

• more games than public perception
• continued top-25-ish production even after the drop

Also considered:

• Kyrie Irving—more cautious due to games-played concerns.

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Around Round 5 (end of 5th / mid-to-late section)

He praises the back half of Round 5 and likes a cluster of players in that neighborhood, including:

• Nikhil Alexander-Walker
• Onyeka Okongwu
• Tyler Herro
• Dejounte Murray
• O.J. Anunoby (among others)

He doesn’t claim one “perfect” best pick, but instead notes the players are close enough that you choose based on upside and risk.

Specific callout:

• Herro may have the most upside in the group, with a red-flag risk (small but present).

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Round 6 (middle of 6th)

Dan says Round 6 is not very successful overall, but he gives:

• Main mid-6th option: Michael Porter Jr. (MPJ)
• Backup: Dyson Daniels
• Other reliability options: Ryan Rollins, Julius Randle

He also addresses the psychological downside of drafting someone who may perform worse than last year—arguing the drops won’t necessarily be large, especially when players are selected 3–4 rounds later than their previous top-year ranking.

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Round 7 (big pivot: Paul George)

This is a major portion of the video.

Dan explains that Paul George is normally outside his “potential group,” but he endorses the pick aggressively.

Risk-management reasoning:

• Last year’s issues were attributed to:
  • starting injured
  • missing time early
  • a long suspension
• He argues those circumstances likely don’t fully repeat
• He also cites stronger historical fantasy context (usage, minutes, production)

Upside estimate:

• expects a top-15 fantasy ceiling across nine categories
• willing to take the risk to chase upside

Also mentioned around the late-7th/value neighborhood:

• Norman Powell (earlier in the low 90s described as an easy mid-round decision)
• Note: Kyrie is not directly tied to this section; the George segment is the main story.

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Round 8 to 9 (injury risk and value picks)

Round 8

• Norman Powell (easy mid-round choice; efficiency/scoring profile)

Round 9 (middle)

• Core mid-band option: Jaylen Suggs (~102)
• Dan calls Round 9 one of his least favorite rounds overall, suggesting Suggs is the “almost only” mid-band choice.

Key cautions:

• Suggs is injury-prone
• ideally needs 65–70 games (not guaranteed)

Other names mentioned:

• Immanuel Quickley (less value than Powell, but role impact may matter)
• Ausar Thompson (depends heavily on defense + minutes development)

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Round 10 (low expectations for the middle; prefer the front)

Dan prefers the start of Round 10 over the middle/back half.

Early Round 10 examples (lower risk in his view):

• Andrew Wiggins
• Kevin Porter Jr.
• Jabari Smith Jr.
• Keegan Murray
• John Collins (more stable than some alternatives)

He says the middle feels “boring” and lists examples he dislikes:

• Peyton Watson
• Jusuf Nurkic
• CJ McCollum

Notable takeaways:

• Keegan Murray: confident he can reach top 100 even in a bad year; could reach top 75 in a good year.
• John Collins: lower ceiling, but Detroit usage could push him into the top-100 tier.

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Betting / Promo Segment (Non-Strategy Content)

The video also includes a brief FanDuel Sportsbook promotional segment involving an “opening-night 3-pointers” betting slate (e.g., questions involving Tatum / Shai / Weemby / LeBron). It’s presented as promotion, not draft strategy.

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Key Tips / Strategy Takeaways

• Choose a build-around anchor from the mid of Round 1 (Cade / Maxey / Mitchell discussed as archetypes).
• Expect head-to-head opponents to draft the same limited pool, making value and fit critical.
• The best value “clusters” tend to show up mid-to-late Round 2, and especially the back half of Round 5.
• Don’t overreact to last year’s rankings if the season context was unusual—players can rebound (Dan’s Paul George case is the clearest example).
• Some rounds are less reliable—especially Round 6 and Round 9—though he still finds a couple of “best shots.”

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Gamers / Sources Featured

• Dan Besbris (Old Man Squad Fantasy Basketball / host)
• FanDuel
• FanDuel Sportsbook
• FanDuel Sportsbook opening-night betting promo content

Players mentioned (primarily as draft targets):

• Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Johnson, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Austin Reeves, Stephen Curry, Trey Murphy, Amen Thompson, Jaylen Duren, James Harden, Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen, Kyrie Irving, Nikhil Alexander-Walker, Onyeka Okongwu, Tyler Herro, Dejounte Murray, O.J. Anunoby, Paolo Banchero, Alex Sarr, Immanuel Quickley, Ausar Thompson, Michael Porter Jr., Dyson Daniels, Ryan Rollins, Julius Randle, Paul George, Brandon Ingram, Killian Hayes, Mo Bamba, Norman Powell, Josh Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein, Nemias Queta, Andrew Wiggins, Kevin Porter Jr., Jabari Smith Jr., Keegan Murray, John Collins, Peyton Watson, Jusuf Nurkic, CJ McCollum, Darius Garland, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Sandro (nickname for Sandro Mamukelashvili), Bradley Beal, Derrick Jones Jr., Jordan Miller, Nick Richards, Klay Thompson, Benedict Mathurin, Shea Gilgeous-Alexander (implied as “Shai” in betting).