Fantasy Basketball 2022: Ranking Sleepers for NBA Week 3

Entering the third week of the NBA season, it's still early, but enough games have been played for fantasy managers to start making tough decisions.

While certain late-round draft picks were fun gambles, those roster positions shouldn't be tied up when contributors are emerging on the waiver wire.

There are already some intriguing options who haven't been scooped up in the majority of leagues. Looking solely at guys rostered in only one-third of Yahoo fantasy leagues or fewer, there's a number of sleepers who can bring value now.

Before we dive into the top three, here's a quick bonus candidate: the San Antonio Spurs' Josh Richardson.

With Josh Primo released by the team, minutes should open up in San Antonio. And Richardson's rostered percentage (24 percent) should grow as he returns from his back injury, bringing some points and threes to the suddenly vacated backcourt.

We stay in San Antonio for the No. 3 sleeper this week. Jeremy Sochan was selected ninth in the draft as a raw, defensively gifted prospect and was expected to need serious development hours on offense. But the teenager is already acclimating.

Before the 19-year-old started missing action because of illness, the rookie forward started each game for the Spurs this season. He's scored double-digit points in his last three, with two three-pointers in each of his last two (an exciting departure from the 0.8 per game he hit at Baylor).

That offensive upside isn't awe-inspiring, but it's significant when coupled with his true fantasy value: defense.

In his last four games, he has provided one-plus "stocks" (steals or blocks) in each contest. If this is his floor, then Sochan—who's rostered in just 14 percent of leagues—is worth keeping an eye on as he develops.

Shifting to another rookie, Jalen Williams practically flew up mock drafts this summer as more and more people got eyes on his tape at Santa Clara.

His numbers were great (18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, on 51.3 percent shooting from the field, 39.6 percent from three and 80.9 percent from the line), but the eye test was even better.

At 6'6", the 21-year-old has good size, but he's not the biggest or the most explosive wing. What he is, though, is a basketball player. He looked like the most comfortable player on the court most days, and that all-around game is already flashing this season.

In his first game back from an orbital fracture, Williams played 27 minutes and piled up 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, four steals and one block in a win against the Dallas Mavericks. Those defensive numbers shouldn't be sustainable, and a shift toward more offensive production should be expected, but that stat line is clear evidence of pure hooping upside.

If he is adjusting to the big leagues this quickly, he could be an elite early-season sleeper. Available in 70 percent of leagues, he's worth picking up if his next game back is anything like his last.

Finally, a simpler, current-value sleeper is available in Max Strus of the Miami Heat.

The undrafted 26-year-old magically worked his way into serious minutes last year, and now he's gone even further: averaging 30.9 minutes per game over the Heat's first seven contests.

Recently, Strus has been making the most of that opportunity. Over his last three games, the forward has 41 points, 19 rebounds and, most importantly, 10 threes. If your roster needs some help in the three-point department, he can give a valuable edge while simultaneously not sacrificing your points and rebounds.

He's right at our cut-off presently, rostered in 33 percent of leagues. That number should go up if he keeps knocking down three-plus threes a game.