Trading for a Fantasy Basketball Star, like Victor Wembanyama: What's a Fair Trade for Both Sides?

We are far enough into the fantasy basketball season to know the kind of fantasy squad you drafted/assembled. Some are off to great starts, while others are looking for a jumpstart. 

I wanted to put together a trade-related story today, and decided to take a look at one of the more popular names on our trade analyzer here. You might have heard of him too: Victor Wembanyama.

Let's go over what it would take to acquire, or trade away, Wembanyama. You can basically use this article as a, “What is a good trade for insert star player here?” Let's dive into things.

Conduct your own fantasy basketball trades with help from the FantasySP trade analyzer and trade value chart. 

Wembanyama's Stats So Far

Maybe most notably with Wemby's stats is the first one I'm going to mention, and that's games played. San Antonio has had 11 games so far, and Wembanyama has played in every single one.

After a health scare last season, it's a great sign to see Wemby as a full-go early in the 2025-26 NBA season. I'd put last year's injury scare in the past and not be worried about that going forward.

He is averaging 34.4 minutes per game, along with 26.2 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.1 steals. He's only averaging a bit over a minute more than a season ago, but he's improved his averages in points, rebounds and assists, while being on par with last year's assist numbers and just below the block numbers.

Wemby is a stud, both in real life and for fantasy. If you needed more reason to like him as a fantasy asset, he's shooting 50.5% overall and is 34% on 3-pointers. He hasn't shot over 47.6% overall before, and while his 3-point numbers are down a touch, he's taking over four less per game, which is upping his overall percentage and scoring average.

There was talk of Wemby becoming the top fantasy basketball player last season, but he's truly taken a step toward that this season. So far, he's the No. 3 fantasy player overall, only trailing Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Wemby's Trade Value and Options

If Wemby is scoring with the top-end fantasy talents in the game, he's going to require a big-time player, or massive haul in a trade to get him off fantasy owner's rosters.

On the trade analyzer here at FantasySP, Wembanyama is in trending trades with Alperen Sengun, Jokic and Luka Doncic, so those are definitely some top-end talents worthy of trading for a high-end talent like Wembanyama.

Our trade analyzer uses player ratings to assess trades, and right now, Wemby has a rating of 32.7. Sengun is at a 29.89, which is a great mark, but still considerably behind Wembanyama.

The trade is close enough to call it a fair trade, but it's definitely tilted toward the side getting Wembanyama. I thought it'd be interesting to see what our Fantasy Expert had to say about the deal, so I ran trade through the analyzer.

“It's a fair, star-for-star swap between two first-round caliber bigs. Wemby is the slightly better overall fantasy piece, especially for blocks-focused or balanced builds. Sengun is ideal if your roster badly needs assists and playmaking from the center spot and you can afford to give up elite shot-blocking.”

I agree with the Expert and would definitely prefer Wemby for the long haul. Sengun is a high-end fantasy center though, and he offers a bit more in assists if that's what you are looking for.

If you are considering moving Wemby for Sengun to add some assists to your team, I'd maybe look into adding a second player to each side of the trade. The second player should be better on Sengun's side, but maybe it will make the owner holding Wembanyama more willing to part with him.

Wembanyama is the guy who is supposed to dethrone Jokic as the top fantasy player, but Jokic just isn't slowing down.

Jokic's player rating is way up at a 39.52, so this trade is a little more lopsided in favor of him. If you looked closely at the season-long point totals so far, Jokic is not only the top fantasy player, but he's 58 points clear of SGA, and almost 200 points ahead of Wemby. Jokic is on a level of his own.

Our Fantasy Expert says that while the trade is close to fair, the side getting Wemby isn't getting enough for Jokic. I'd expand the trade, adding a second player to each side, and making sure the second player alongside Wemby is clearly better than the second player alongside Jokic.

Wemby could overtake Jokic someday, but that time hasn't come yet.

The Wembanyama for Donic trade is extremely close to being even, as Donic's player rating of 33.29 is just ahead of Wemby's 32.7.

Our Fantasy Expert says, “Which side “wins” is purely about team build: Luka is the ultimate points/assists engine; Wembanyama is the ultimate big-man anchor. From a league-commissioner and fairness perspective, this is a clean, justifiable superstar-for-superstar swap that should be allowed to stand.”

That sums it up well. Both guys are elite fantasy talents, but are just at different positions. If you need a guard, swapping Wemby for Donic makes a ton of sense.

Both have some availability concerns, so this is a near-perfect fantasy basketball trade in my eyes.

More Tradeable Players and Trade Ideas

On the FantasySP trade value chart, Wembanyama sits fifth overall, only behind Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gilgeous-Alexander and Donic.

There's a decent dropoff after Wemby, with Cade Cunningham next, but nearly two points behind him for player ratings. 

Sengun is after Cunningham, and Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker and James Harden round out the top 10 for now.

One-for-one swaps are the easiest fantasy trades to do, but it's tough when discussing an elite talent like Wembanyama.

If I rostered Wemby and my fantasy roster was still average-or-worse and I wanted to trade the superstar away, I'd be more inclined to move Wemby for multiple players in return.

Half of Wemby's player rating is 16.35, so let's look at some players ranked around there. Here are a few: Ausar Thompson (16.34), Nicolas Claxton (16.31), Jakob Poeltl (16.2), Kyshawn George (16.12).

While there's some solid fantasy assets in that group, and around that player rating, Wemby is a top-end option, so I'd want to “win” the trade on paper to accept and send him away. That means the players coming back need to be more valuable fantasy assets than just reaching his player rating. 

Even making a point jump up gets me into a more comfortable range of fantasy assets to get in return. Isaiah Hartenstein (17.9), Shaedon Sharpe (17.94), Jrue Holiday (18.14) and Josh Hart (18.23) are some names I like.

Really, if you can land two players in the top 80 on the trade value chart, fantasy owners trading away Wembanyama would be at least tempted to pull the trigger.

To really blow the fantasy owners moving Wemby away, you need to overpay a bit, as I said already. Don't be afraid to pair a couple top-80 players, if not considerably higher, to go after Wemby.

As I said earlier too, there's only four players ranked ahead of him right now, and he's a ways ahead of the next fantasy asset. You are acquiring a top-five fantasy player, so expect to pay a hefty price to get him.

Use our trade value chart and trade analyzer to come up with a trade to help you land Wembanyama, or the star player you are targeting.