Dr. A's Fantasy Basketball Mailbag: Rookie Rankings, Next Season's Top 12

Ranking rookies, Chet Holmgren, Joel Embiid and early fantasy rankings all made it into the Dr. A Mailbag column this week. Keep the questions coming at @docktora! Let's go. 

Rank these rookies for next season: Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, Brandon Miller, Brandin Podziemski, Keyonte George, Scoot Henderson, Taylor Hendricks and Bilal Coulibaly. Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)

I'm going to go with Keyonte George, Scoot Henderson, Brandin Podziemski, Brandon Miller, Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, Bilal Coulibaly and Taylor Hendricks. 

I think the hype on George is real, Scoot should see a minutes boost, Podz may be locked into a bigger role, Miller and the Thompson Twins should be solid, Coulibaly will be a defensive wiz and Hendricks had his moments this year. But I think George might be the man here. 

Vodka or tequila, ROS. I just want to thank you for another season of awesome content and chats. Cheers and good luck! Matt Boyer (@MattBoyerCrime)

Too easy. Vodka all day. My wife stopped drinking beer recently and has lost a ton of weight, so thank you, Titos. And Matt, thank you for the comments. Between my podcasting schedule and columns at RotoWire and the stuff I'm doing at ESPN, I've had the most fun this year than at any time over the past 20 years. Granted, I'm in the poor house, but I love all my little jobs and have had a blast doing this again. And I can't wait for next season!

Where do you draft Chet Holmgren next season? Chili Palmer (@PrinceChillTx)

Great question! I'm thinking he's a second-round draft pick, and he's going to finish ranked right in the middle of the second round this season. He's not a guy I want to blow a first-round pick on unless blocks are ridiculously weighted in your league, but he should be a rock solid second-round fantasy pick across the board. And if you can team him with Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama, your team may be unstoppable. 

Speaking of Wemby, a thought occurred to me last night. Is he going to be too unfair to use in fantasy for the next 10 or 15 years? We used to have to ban Michael Jordan in some leagues back in the day, and I think we could be heading down a similar path with the king of the 'Dad Block.' I'm not going to openly push for a Wemby ban anytime soon, but it would not surprise me if we get there at some point. If you get Wemby at No. 1 and then back him up with a Chet Holmgren or a Devin Booker, your team may be unbeatable in fantasy. It's crazy, but that's the impact Wemby may end up having next year. His teams will win all the fantasy chips. 

Does the injury to Joel Embiid significantly reduce his value in next year's drafts? Speaking of next year, who are your Top 12? Illgobbo (@Illgobbo)

Embiid's constant injury worries are bothersome to both fantasy managers as well as the Sixers, and the window for the Sixers to win a championship may be closing fast. I love Embiid, and his big season last year was awesome to watch. But he's proven once again that he's fragile, never plays against Nikola Jokic and I don't think I have the guts to draft him with a first-round pick, which is where he's going to go. So, in summary, I don't know that his value will be crushed in fantasy drafts, and I fully expect him to go in the first round, but who will actually step up and draft him is a different story. I doubt I have very many shares of Embiid next year, and I'm not alone in the "never again" crowd, at least for now.

Here is my early first round for next year, off the top of my head. 

1. Victor Wembanyama (and it's not close in my mind, it's more like automatic)
2. Nikola Jokic
3. Luka Doncic
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
5. Tyrese Haliburton
6. Domantas Sabonis
7. Giannis Antetokounmpo
8. Kevin Durant
9. Stephen Curry
10. Anthony Davis
11. Anthony Edwards
12. Joel Embiid or Donovan Mitchell

What range would you draft LaMelo Ball in next year? 30-40? 40-50? Gary S White (@garyswite)

The Ball Brothers have been somewhat of a fantasy disaster thus far, and while LaMelo has all the talent in the world, he simply can't stay on the court. I'm probably done messing with him, as he's burned me on several occasions. But if I do decide to mess with him, it will be in the 40-50 range. As Michael Scott and George Bush famously said in one way or another over the last few years: 

"Fool me once, strike one. But fool me twice - strike three." - Michael Scott

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." - George Bush