The High Score 100: The biggest rankings risers and fallers for the 2025-2026 season

The 2025-26 regular season of fantasy basketball is officially in the books. Before we get to the final High Score 100 rankings, a couple of housekeeping notes on methodology. First, any player who didn’t suit up for at least 30 regular-season games has been excluded from consideration. That means Anthony Davis, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and Walker Kessler are all off the board, after their per-game averages fell within the top 100 overall.

Second, the risers and fallers below are limited to players who appeared on both the preseason High Score 100 and the final rankings. That means guys like rookies Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe — both of whom earned spots on the final list after impressive debut seasons — aren’t eligible for the comparison since they weren’t projected inside the top 100 in October. The same goes for players like Collin Gillespie, Isaiah Collier, Ryan Rollins, and Saddiq Bey, all of whom cracked the final 100 but weren’t on the preseason radar. Their emergence is a story worth telling — just not this one.

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As for the final rankings (down below), here’s what stood out most when you stack preseason expectations against where everyone actually landed.

📈 High Score Risers

Keyonte George – G, Utah Jazz (Final ranking: 28th, Preseason: 86th, Rank change: ⬆️ 58)

Nobody had a bigger leap in the entire High Score 100 than George. He came into the season 86th in my preseason projections, largely because Isaiah Collier was expected to take a share of the offense early. It didn’t happen that way: Collier got hurt, George got the keys and he never gave ‘em back.

The third-year guard turned into a legitimate top-30 asset — a true breakout that I’ve been staunch about all season, calling him one of the most improved players in the league both in fantasy and in real life. Between his growth as a scorer, his efficiency and 28% usage rate, George was one of the best valued guards of the season.

Michael Porter Jr. – FC, Brooklyn Nets (Final ranking: 37th, Preseason: 68th, Rank change: ⬆️ 31)

The move away from Denver’s crowded offensive ecosystem to Brooklyn unlocked MPJ’s upside in fantasy. Sure, the Nets are tanking, but it didn’t prevent Porter from averaging career-bests in points, rebounds, assists, steals, 3s and free-throw percentage.

He was Brooklyn’s offense, and while 68th was the highest I’ve had him ranked in years, I didn’t give his game enough respect. His 30.4% usage rate ranked in the top 15 in the league, and with Brooklyn looking like an undesirable free-agent destination, we’ll likely see this version of MPJ next season. Get ready to pay up!

Jalen Johnson – FC, Atlanta Hawks (Final ranking: 6th, Preseason: 30th, Rank change: ⬆️ 24)

Johnson was already on the breakout radar (hence me having him as a third-rounder), but first-round value and sixth overall?! Nah, that was unreal. Johnson’s All-Star campaign is justified, ranking second in triple-doubles this year (13) behind Nikola Jokić. Trae Young getting both hurt and traded stamped Johnson’s fantasy outlook as one of the most versatile stat stuffers this season.  

At 23.0 ppg, 10.4 boards, 8.0 assists with 1.8 stocks per game, he was not only consistent but offered fantasy managers those spike game opportunities to win in High Score.

📉 High Score Fallers

Ivica Zubac — FC, Indiana Pacers (Final ranking: 83rd, Preseason: 56th, Rank change ⬇️ 27)

I was pretty high on Zu after he posted the best numbers of his career in 2024-25. He and James Harden formed one of the top assist duos in the league, but I discounted how all of the offseason moves in bringing in Brook Lopez, Bradley Beal (initially) and John Collins might impact Zubac’s role in the offense. What ended up being less of that and more about Zu just not playing as well and Kawhi Leonard morphing back into one of the best players in the league, stunted his progression.

Zu’s numbers were down seven of nine categories while also dealing with injuries before being sent to Indiana at the deadline. That was essentially the end of his season, as he’s played in just three games for the Pacers with a minutes restriction. I’m not totally out on him; playing with Tyrese Haliburton will be a good thing long-term, but that chemistry will take time to build. Unfortunately, this season is pretty much done and fantasy managers who selected Zu fell short of expectations.

Miles Bridges — FC, Charlotte Hornets (Final ranking: 76th, Preseason: 45th, Rank change ⬇️ 27)

The ascent of Brandon Miller and my rookie of the year, Kon Knueppel, ate into some of Bridges’ opportunity size this season. I thought the High Score format would boost his fantasy value a bit since you didn’t have to worry about his inconsistent shooting.

However, with fewer touches, it didn’t really matter because his volume was down, resulting in fewer counting stats across the major fantasy categories. Top-50 in retrospect was too rich and I’ll expect to see him as more of a late 70s-80s guy going forward. The Hornets are rightfully prioritizing their younger core.

Zion Williamson – FC, New Orleans Pelicans (Final ranking: 45th, Preseason: 13th, Rank change: ⬇️ -32)

Even though he’s on the fallers list, the fact that we’re still seeing Zion play games into March is a W. Still, I aggressively ranked him expecting All-Star-level production, and that didn’t happen. I figured no Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray taking time to rehab and the rookie learning curve would elevate Williamson. The Pelicans’ season took too long to get on track and while Zion’s been solid, he was far from a second-round value, averaging 38.7 fantasy points per game.

Now the question becomes, will Zion be on the Pelicans next season? He’s arguably in the best shape of his life; making it through the end of the season could give a bump to his trade value this summer … but from a fantasy perspective, Zion is more of a top-50 guy than where I gassed him up to in the preseason.

Complete High Score 100 rankings

The High Score 100 is a running reflection of end-of-season performance for the 2025-26 fantasy basketball season