26-27 Depth
Charts

Where do the NBA depth charts come from?

The rotation comes from Sleeper's published depth chart, the one app that publishes one, which we read every night along with the injury list and how many leagues roster each man: who is in the rotation and in what order. The column a player stands in is his main position on the fantasy app you pick above the chart. A player Sleeper has not placed in the rotation yet, which in September is most of the summer's rookies, stands at the foot of his position's column with no number rather than being left off the roster.

What does the rank beside each player mean?

It is where he sits on our 2026-27 projections, the same board the projections page prints, in the format you have chosen. Points leagues read the projected fantasy points a game under ESPN's default scoring, and 9-cat leagues read his value across the nine categories. Once the season starts those projections move every morning with the box scores, so the rank on the chart moves with them.

Why is a backup marked as starting?

Because the man listed ahead of him is out, on injured reserve or suspended. A depth chart is mostly opened to answer who plays when a starter goes down, so the first man in the column who can play is marked as the one standing in. A player listed as day to day is not treated as out, since day to day players play more often than not.

Is the position on the depth chart the same as fantasy eligibility?

Every fantasy app files a player under one main position and often lets you play him at another, and ESPN, Sleeper, Yahoo and Fantrax each decide that differently. So the chart follows the app you pick above it, ESPN to begin with: the column a player stands in is his main position on that app, and his positions on that app are printed under his name. The order inside a column is always Sleeper's rotation order.

Are the depth charts free?

The charts are free to anyone, with no account: every team, every position, who is out and who stands in, and how many leagues roster each player. The rank beside a player is free for the top 50 of our projections, and Pro shows it for every projected player on every chart.