Ranking the top 3 NBA rookies from a fantasy basketball perspective
By Lior Lampert
2. Victor Wembanyama, F/C, San Antonio Spurs
Many people will be shocked to see Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama ranked second on this list, but that is a testament to the player who is ranked ahead of him more than it is a criticism of Wembanyama. As if there wasn’t enough hype surrounding Wembanyama leading up to the season, he gave fans a glimpse of what’s to come in the preseason.
In four preseason games, Wembanyama averaged 19.3 points per game to go with 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. However, what makes Wembanyama so special in both real-life and fantasy basketball is his defensive presence. He averaged 1.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game in the four preseason games he played. Not to mention, he was efficient offensively in that span, shooting 50.9 percent from the field. However, the 3-point shooting and turnovers leave some meat on the bone — he shot just 31.8 percent from 3 and averaged 2.8 turnovers per game. It is important to note that Wembanyama did this all while only playing 20.9 minutes per game.
Now, if we convert those stats to per-36 minutes, the numbers are insane. Per 36 minutes, Wembanyama averaged 33.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, three 3-pointers made, 1.7 steals, and a whopping 4.7 blocks. Those are Earth-shattering numbers and Wembanyama seems poised to have a huge rookie season. His ability to impact both ends of the floor was evidenced in 90 seconds of gameplay against the Warriors last week:
Victor Wembanyama did all this in 90 seconds of gameplay 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dcNW8HIRcD
— Whistle (@WhistleSports) October 21, 2023
What all of this in mind, what separates the No.1 rookie on this list from Wembanyama is the Spurs’ propensity to rest Wembanyama throughout the season. Even though he is a 19-year-old rookie, the Spurs are still a rebuilding team and will not put their prize possession in harm’s way. After all, the Spurs were at the forefront of the “load management” era and while there were provisions put in place to prevent teams from load managing this year, the rules don’t necessarily apply to Wembanyama as a rookie.
He is certainly going to be rested routinely throughout the season, which makes it difficult to rely on him from a season-long perspective. There is no doubt that when he is on the court, he will be making a major impact in fantasy basketball because of his ability to block shots at a high rate, make threes, and shoot efficiently.