Fantasy Basketball Trade Thought: Should You Trade For/Away Spurs' Victor Wembanyama?

Discussing if fantasy basketball owners should trade for/away Victor Wembanyama.

It’s time for another fantasy basketball trade story. This time we will feature San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama.

After taking a look at Wemby’s season so far, we’ll look into the popular trades before assessing things from each side of the deal. Let's get to it!

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy basketball trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Wembanyama’s Season

The first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft hasn’t disappointed this season.

Across 52 games (all starts), Wemby is averaging 20.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and blocks and 1.3 steals. He’s doing all that in just 28.5 minutes. Wembanyama is shooting 46.7% from the field, 31.8% from 3-point land and 81.3% on his free throws.

Those numbers result in him ranking 40th on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart. That doesn’t match his Average Draft Position mark of 23.28, but with more minutes, he could easily pass a number of the players right ahead of him.

All in all, I’d have to say fantasy owners should be pleased with Wemby’s rookie season. The nice thing about trading a player that popular is that his name carries a little extra weight, so you might be able to flip him for a player ranked well ahead of him.

Popular Trades

Wembanyama is part of three popular trades on the FantasySP Trade Analyzer. 

He’s up against Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard, Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson. On the trade value chart, Lillard is 26th, Tatum sits seventh and Brunson is 14th.

Lillard has had a down season by his lofty standards, but he is still averaging 24.5 points, 6.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.2 blocks across 35 minutes in the 53 games he’s played in. He’s shooting just 42.3% overall and 34.2% from deep, which are both bottom three marks in his career.

Another thing worth mentioning with Lillard is that the Bucks will be fighting for playoff positioning as the season winds down. Wembanyama and the Spurs won’t be in that position, so the rookie might continue to log fairly limited minutes, if he isn’t rested completely.

Tatum and the Celtics will also be in the playoff hunt, and while the team has a big advantage for the top seed and could play things safe with Tatum, he’s still got a better fantasy outlook than Wemby does on the Spurs.

Tatum is averaging 26.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 steals across 35.9 minutes in his 54 games played. He’s shooting 47.5% overall and 36.4% from deep.

We covered Brunson in another one of these trade stories. He’s been great for New York and will at least be fighting for the No. 2 seed with the Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brunson has played in 55 games, averaging 36 minutes, 27.7 points, 6.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1 steals and 0.2 blocks per game. He’s shooting 47.8% from the floor overall and is 40.3% on his 3-pointers.

Trade Breakdowns with Help from Analyzer

This is probably the most fascinating trade story I’ve done this season. 

You have a big name in Wembanyama, which could work in your favor, but also the thought of the Spurs shutting him down to a degree as the season winds down (maybe that’s why he’s in so many popular trades?). The three players he’s being dealt for are superstars for their franchises, and are having really good fantasy seasons too. So would any of these deals work?

The trade analyzer goes off player ratings, so you already should know that the analyzer says the Wembanyama side of the trade is getting less value in each trade.

The closest trade is Wemby for Lillard - they are separated by less than two points. 

Wemby stuffs the stat sheet a little better than Lillard does, but because of Lillard’s extra playing time, he scores about four points more a game. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but added up over the final weeks of the regular season, it makes for a big difference. I prefer to have my fantasy players on playoff-contending teams, so I give Lillard a little extra edge than what the analyzer says.

So, if someone offered me Wembanyama for Lillard, I wouldn’t take the deal. I wouldn’t flat out decline the offer either, instead trying to expand the deal (probably to a two-for-two swap). I’d target a guard that had a good amount of assists to offset the void left by Lillard and then deal my second player away from a position of strength.

If someone offered me Lillard for Wembanyama, I would probably take that deal. I’m not 100% sold on it because I wouldn’t want to trade Wemby away if it severely hampered my forward/center position. I’d do the deal if I had some depth at those positions or if you were worried about Wemby's usage down the stretch.

The Wemby for Tatum trade is the most lopsided, with the Tatum side coming out ahead by over 11 points. 

Tatum is a great fantasy asset because he provides good averages in several categories, along with playing a ton of minutes and being his team’s top scoring option. It’s hard to trade a guy like Tatum away, and as great as Wemby is, this deal isn’t very close.

If I was offered Wemby for Tatum, I’d counter by asking for another player from the opposing owner - I’d try to just add that player to the deal, because to get a really fair deal, it’d probably take making a three-for-three swap, and already giving up a player like Tatum, it’s going to be hard to come to an agreement. Because Wemby could rest down the stretch, you probably could get a player with a rating close to 15, instead of 11. The two-for-one deal could help match Tatum's numbers and also add some much-needed depth to your team.

On the other hand, if someone offered Tatum for Wemby, I’d instantly accept. It’s a one-sided trade and you are definitely going to come out ahead for the rest of the season.

The Wembanyama for Brunson trade is nearly a six-point difference.

For a guard, Brunson has really good averages across the board, and then you add in the fact he’s the top scorer on a playoff contender and his fantasy value rises even more. This is similar to the Wemby for Lillard swap, but even more favorable for the side getting Brunson.

So, if I was offered Wembanyama for Brunson, I’m countering with a two-for-two offer, which would hopefully even up the trade some more. I’d again target a guard to replace Brunson, unless you are just stacked at the position.

If I was offered Brunson for Wemby, I’d take that deal. The difference in fantasy value between these two is simply too good to pass on, even if it leaves you lacking at the forward/center position. You could look to expand the deal, but I’d probably just make a waiver wire add to fill the void left by Wemby’s departure from your team.

Most fantasy basketball league’s trade deadlines are closing in, so be sure to use FantasySP’s Trade Value Chart and Trade Analyzer to help you come up with fair trades. Also check back to this site for similar articles to this one! Happy trading!

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