12-Team Categories Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft from 12th Position: Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry, Alperen Sengun, Austin Reaves, Bradley Beal and More

It’s time for another fantasy basketball mock draft.

This was a 12-team categories draft with 10 starters (1 PG, SG, SF, PF, C,G, F and 3 utility) and five bench spots. I took the 12th draft slot. It was done with the FantasyPros fantasy basketball mock draft simulator.

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Rounds 1-2: Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry

Tatum is an NBA star who plays a bunch of games and fills up the stat sheet. He averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1 steal and 0.6 blocks over 74 games last season. That’s exactly what you want early in a categories draft.

Curry averaged 26.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks. He’s obviously a great 3-point shooter, but he actually puts up solid averages overall, making him another good, early categories pick.

Rounds 3-4: Alperen Sengun and Jalen Williams

Sengun continues to improve with each NBA season. In his third season, he averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks. That’s great production, and I expect even higher averages in his fourth season, so I look at this as a draft steal despite it being just round 3.

The versatile Williams averaged 19.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks last season. He’s another player on the rise and someone who can put up stats pretty much across the board. 

Rounds 5-6: Immanuel Quickley and Mikal Bridges

Quickley is another rising young player. He averaged 17 points, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.1 blocks, but had even better averages with the Raptors. Quickley is being slept on a bit in fantasy drafts, in my opinion.

Bridges is a player I listed as a draft bust for his current ADP, but that was also a 10-team format, so getting him a round later eased my mind a bit. He averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1 steal and 0.4 blocks with the Nets last season. He’s with the Knicks now - New York is loaded with talent, but the recent trade that sent out Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns means Bridges should have more scoring chances now, which is what I was most worried about before.

Rounds 7-8: Austin Reaves and Jrue Holiday

Reaves’ role continues to expand each season. He averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks per game last season. He should continue to provide a fairly balanced stat sheet even if his minutes stay relatively the same this season.

Holiday can also fill the stat sheet, making him another solid pick this late in a categories draft. He averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks last season and should continue to provide similar numbers for at least this season.

Rounds 9-10: Bradley Beal and Khris Middleton

I’m usually against taking oft-injured players, but I simply couldn’t pass on the upside of Beal any longer. He averaged 18.2 points, 5 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1 steal and 0.5 blocks across 53 games last season. I’m not relying on Beal to be a star for my team, which means I’m set up for him to add to my team instead of breaking me if he misses a bunch of games again.

I doubled up on risky picks and grabbed Middleton, who played in 55 games last season and comes into training camp limited with an ankle injury. He still averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks per game last season, which is great production for a player who is a secondary fantasy option for me.

Rounds 11-12: Josh Hart and Jerami Grant

The recent trade made Hart more appealing to me in the later rounds. He averaged 9.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks last season, and should put up more well-rounded numbers on this year’s team.

I think Grant is a major fantasy sleeper this season. He averaged 21 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks across 54 games last season. Because he missed so many games, I think he’s flying under the radar - he should lead the Trail Blazers this season.

Rounds 13-14: Taylor Hendricks and Nick Richards

I took a bit of a gamble with Hendricks here. He only played in 40 games last season and averaged 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and blocks and 0.7 steals. Hendricks is projected to start for the Jazz, or at least play a healthy amount of minutes, so I’m banking on him taking off in his second NBA season.

I realized I failed to draft another center after Sengun, so I got Richards late. He averaged 9.7 points, 8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 0.8 assists and 0.4 steals last season. That’s pretty solid production, but might come off the bench if Mark Williams can stay healthy.

Round 15: Max Strus

I capped my draft with Strus, who I actually considered several rounds earlier. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks last season, which are pretty solid numbers and make him a great late-round pick.

Final Thoughts

My team was projected to finish sixth in the league. I think that’s fair given some of the risks I took, but it also means there’s a chance I far exceed that projection if a few of those picks hit.

I really feel strongly about my first eight rounds, along with the Hart, Grant, and Strus picks. If Beal and Middleton can stay healthy, and Hendricks and Richards improve/play a bunch, I really like my team’s chances.

Pretty much my entire list of picks can fill up the stat sheet, meaning I’m pretty covered in all stats. An injury to a top-end pick would be tough to overcome, but that’s pretty much the case in most mocks/drafts.

The only thing I’d really be concerned about is center depth. If Sengun was out for an extended period, I feel like that would decimate my fantasy team. I’d likely have to make a trade to replace Sengun, and it would cost me one of my top picks. I wish I can paid closer attention to the center position.

Overall though, I feel pretty strongly about this mock draft. I don’t feel like it was my best effort, but there’s also a lot to like and be hopeful about. 

Be sure to revisit some of my previous NBA mocks, and check back to FantasySP again for even more fantasy basketball mock drafts, along with other draft coverage as the NBA season closes in.