Fantasy basketball stock watch: Cooper Flagg, Ty Jerome lead early breakouts to buy

Breaking down the early risers delivering league-winning value and see which hot starts are worth chasing on the waiver wire or in trade talks Only a handful of games into the 2026-27 NBA season, fantasy basketball managers are already separating real breakouts from small-sample noise. From Cooper Flagg's elite across-the-board production to Ty Jerome's 45-point opener, several early risers are delivering league-winning value in points, rebounds, assists, steals and three-pointers. Tyrese Haliburton and Trae Young are back in form, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is surging, and big men like Domantas Sabonis and Alperen Sengun are stuffing the stat sheet. Here are 10 players who have already made a statement, with the numbers that matter for your waiver wire, trade targets and weekly lineups.

Flagg has begun his sophomore campaign with a bang, standing out as one of the league's top producers. In fact, he is the only player to average at least 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game at this early stage in the season. He turned in a season-high of 32 points in the season opener and is coming off a 29-point, 11-rebound outing in the last game. He is also shooting an impressive 56.5 percent from the field, including 35.7 percent from deep and has hit 18-for-20 from the foul line. Despite MVP-like numbers