Who Is The Number One Pick in Fantasy Basketball?
Wemby vs Jokic - 2025-2026 Season
Who Is The Number One Pick in Fantasy Basketball?
It’s rare to walk into a fantasy draft without a consensus number one overall pick on the table. The uncertainty around the number one pick happened last season, and it will likely be the case this coming season as well. The debate is centered around Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama. In the 2024-25 fantasy season, it was essentially a coin flip between these two players, and it’s likely to be the same way heading into the 2025-26 season. Both players have a worthy case for why they should be the first off the draft board, but if we began drafting today, the answer to who I would take in the spot is clear.
Nikola Jokic has been the pick for several consecutive seasons, and finished number one in per game and totals rankings again this season. Jokic was not only the best fantasy player this season by a large margin, he also set career highs in points, threes, assists, and steals, while nearly matching rebounds as well. This represents the 5th consecutive season of Nikola Jokic finishing number one in fantasy basketball totals rankings and 8th consecutive finish in the top 10. Jokic has been the pillar of consistency and has never played less than 69 games in a season in his entire career. His consistency and production across the board has made him an easy pick in fantasy. His lack of weakness in any category makes it easy and fun to build your team after selecting Jokic as your cornerstone.
Victor Wembanyama was the shiny new toy heading into drafts last season and had a strong case to be drafted number one. He finished 7th per game and 5th in totals in his rookie season, finishing out his first year strong as he was thrusted into the conversation for the number one pick. His sophomore season went largely as expected with a boost in minutes and role before it was shockingly cut short, he ranked 2nd in per game 9cat rankings and was shooting up the board on track to pass Jokic. Wembanyama played only 46 games before forcibly being sidelined due to blood clots. It’s expected he makes a full recovery and should be on track to play game one of the 2025-26 campaign. Wembanyama started out the season relatively slow producing mid first round value and had a strong chance to finish as the number one ranked player if given the chance to play out the season. Similar to Jokic, he doesn’t seem to have any category as a strong weakness, and obviously shoots up fantasy rankings due to his outlier block total.
Nikola Jokic & Victor Wembanyama are both fantasy powerhouses and a clear tier above the rest of the first round. It’s fair to say that whoever is granted the first two picks are given a head start among their leaguemates. It’s not all bad to pick second and force the person ahead of you to make the decision easy.
If I had to make the selection for the number pick, the answer to me is Nikola Jokic. His proven consistency in production and games played is unprecedented as he comes off one the best fantasy seasons of all time. He is now on the other side of 30 as he begins to slowly transition out of his prime, it’s unlikely to be a steep drop off and the floor feels much safer with Jokic than Wemby. His production in all fantasy categories makes it incredibly fun to build a team around him as you can lean into any punt build you’d like with your following picks.
I would not be surprised at all if Victor Wembanyama finished number one in fantasy rankings this season and he is a completely reasonable pick if you prefer him over Jokic. There still remains a lot of questions around Wembanyama and his midseason health scare. The reports seem to indicate he will be fully cleared to start the season, but it’s important to monitor any potential news of missed games or a minutes restriction. When he plays I think there’s no question he will produce the way you expect him to, even with just a fraction of the track record that Jokic has, I’m not worried about any sort of concerning production floor.
I’m also not worried about his blocks falling off like I would be with some players, but it’s still worth noting the different ways that these two players get to their ranking number. Wemby has a slightly less balanced approach than Jokic with so much of his value coming from blocks, it makes it slightly more challenging to build a team around this sort of large outlier.
You cannot go wrong with either of these players and it’s almost guaranteed that a majority of fantasy championships will be won on the backs of Wemby or Jokic. This write up was fun to create, but it’s generally hard to mess up your first round pick, especially if you have both of these options available to you. Fantasy drafts are won in the later rounds, but it’s certainly helpful to start your team out with one of these beasts.
by BEN - Fantasy Ball 365
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Robbin Marx
NBA Fantasy Analyst
Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network
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