Kyrie Irving or Jimmy Butler III: who to draft in 2026-27 fantasy basketball

Net Prophet ranks Kyrie Irving 78th and Jimmy Butler III 81st for the 2026-27 season, 3 picks apart. A category counts as won only when the projected gap clears 0.25 standard deviations of that category across the 177 ranked players this comparison is drawn from.

Kyrie Irving wins 4 of the nine categories, Jimmy Butler III wins 5.

Our board separates them by 3 picks; consensus ADP separates them by 74 picks, with Jimmy Butler III going earlier in the room.
Kyrie Irving leads in PTS, 19.2 to 17.4 per game as the board projects them.
Both are eligible at SG, so this is a straight swap for the same roster slot.
The board grades both "fragile" for availability.
Both rank inside the 177 players this comparison set is drawn from.

Draft position

Where each is ranked and where the room is taking them (2026-27).
Measure	Kyrie Irving	Jimmy Butler III
Net Prophet rank	#78	#81
Consensus ADP	#121	#47

Category by category

Projected per game for 2026-27, nine-category scoring. Turnovers count fewest-first.
Category	Kyrie Irving	Jimmy Butler III	Edge
PTS	19.2	17.4	Kyrie Irving wins
REB	3.8	4.9	Jimmy Butler III wins
AST	3.6	4.3	Jimmy Butler III wins
STL	1.0	1.1	Jimmy Butler III wins
BLK	0.4	0.3	Kyrie Irving wins
3PM	2.2	0.9	Kyrie Irving wins
TO	1.7	1.4	Jimmy Butler III wins
FG%	47.3%	51.5%	Jimmy Butler III wins
FT%	91.6%	86.0%	Kyrie Irving wins

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