Friday's Fantasy Basketball Streamers: De'Andre Hunter, Ace Bailey, and More
Streaming players from three teams that have good matchups on Friday.
Every NBA team has played between four and six games over the first week-plus of the season. While that gives us a chance to get an initial glimpse at each squad, we barely know anything in the context of the 2025-26 season; there's a long way to go.
We can start making inferences and following early trends, and that is truest in fantasy basketball, where there's no time to wait around to see what will happen.
Let's look at three teams with good matchups on Friday and the streaming players who have been on the court most early in the season and are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from NBA.com.
Check out FantasySP's defensive rankings to find the players and teams with the best matchups each day!
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors
We're looking to attack teams that play at a fast pace and have a poor defensive rating, theoretically giving opponents more chances to rack up stats against a bad team. Toronto fits that criteria and is one of our favorite early-season targets, as they have played at the fifth-fastest pace and have the second-worst defensive rating.
The Cavs are coming off the top seed in the Eastern Conference but a disappointing end to last season. They started 3-2 and are again expected to be among the best in a wide-open East.
Guard
With Darius Garland, Max Strus, and Sam Merrill all out of action, there are more minutes to go around, and that helps Tyson and Porter the most, as they are generally a little further down the depth chart. Tyson had 19 points, five rebounds, and three steals on Wednesday; Porter's big game was last Friday, when he had 14 points. Both are lower-level streamers.
Ball has done a little of everything but hasn't put up big stat lines, particularly not scoring the ball. He had 11 points in one game but just seven combined in the other three games that he played. He's another guy lower on the fantasy radar.
Forward
Wade doesn't put up many numbers, though he did hit three shots from deep on the way to 10 points in the opener. Hunter is the guy you really want to grab from Cleveland, as he has been starting and playing heavy minutes (though he missed two games). Hunter is averaging 15.7 points, five rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.
Center
Nance had 10 points and six rebounds in the first game of the season but has seen his stats decline since that point. He's below the level of a fantasy contributor unless you're desperate for a center.
Indiana Pacers vs. Atlanta Hawks
Fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, the Pacers are feeling the effects of their new lineup without Tyrese Halburton and Myles Turner (and with a few other guys injured): Indiana has started the season 0-4.
The Hawks are close to the middle in pace, and they have the ninth-worst defensive rating so far. They aren't a great matchup, but they are a little better than average as a fantasy target, and Atlanta is missing Trae Young, which might throw things into flux.
Guard
Both of these guys are in line to play big minutes in the near future because of injuries to Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin, as well as T.J. McConnell missing the start of the season.
Sheppard started with 15 points but has seen his numbers go down. He could be in line for another bump with increased opportunity. Dennis is an undrafted second-year player who scored 12 and 17 points over his past two games and could put up more points with so many guys out. Both Sheppard and Dennis are decent streaming options, with Dennis maybe having the better ceiling.
Forward
Nesmith has soaked up volume the past few games with guys out, taking 17 and 16 shots in the last two. The problem is that he has only made eight of those 33 attempts (six of them were three-point makes). Walker can do a little bit of everything, including score, but he is inefficient offensively and better relied on for other stats.
Center
Everyone here is a low-level fantasy player. Bradley is the best option if you're desperate, but it's better to skip the whole group.
Utah Jazz @ Phoenix Suns
Utah was a team we were targeting the past few years, but the Suns have a completely new roster that was expected to struggle, so they are the ones we go after here. Like the Hawks, Phoenix has played at closer to an average pace, but they have the third-worst defensive rating, creating a very enticing matchup.
The Jazz still aren't expected to be great, but they are 2-2 and can probably approximate average play for stretches. Anything better than their bottom-feeder status from the past few years would be a welcome improvement. Utah is playing a lot of guys, so it's more about picking through to find the players who are on the court and producing the most.
Guard
Mykhailiuk is a shooter and scorer who doesn't do a lot else, but he is on the court most from this group, so that's something. Clayton reached 10 points in the first two games and totaled eight rebounds and 11 assists in that time, but his numbers fell off in the past two contests; he's likely to continue that inconsistency.
Bailey is a high-upside option, but he hasn't played many minutes yet and will have plenty of rookie growing pains. He's a name for the future rather than right now, though we're sure to see some flashes.
Forward
Sensabaugh scored 20 and 15 points in the first two games but has just eight combined points in the past two. His minutes and usage dropped sharply despite much of the same rotation in all four games, so I'm not trusting Sensabaugh now. Hendricks is a low-level fantasy player.
Center
Filipowski is interesting because he can play both forward and center, and he has played the fifth-most minutes per game on the team with modest stats (7.5 points, 5.0 rebounds). Nurkic won't play a ton of minutes, but he is averaging eight points and eight rebounds per game, a nice line for a backup center.
