Wemby or Jokić at 1.01? Our Mock Draft Makes the Call

For a couple of drafts now the 1.01 debate lived between Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That era's over. In our 2026 mock draft, the first name off the board was Victor Wembanyama — the 7-foot-4 Spurs center who finished second in nine-cat, per-game value last season (2025-26), trailing only Jokić, with SGA a hair behind in third.

The tiebreaker came down to blocks. Wemby locks up an entire category by himself on draft night, and that's before you factor in everything else he stuffs into a box score. Jokić is still a live threat to repeat as the top-ranked fantasy player, but Denver's depth took a real hit when Peyton Watson left; the DeMar DeRozan signing helps, yet Jokić may have to carry more, which could nick his efficiency at the margins.

The Rest of Round 1

Jayson Tatum and Cooper Flagg both jumped out. Tatum is another year removed from his 2025 playoff Achilles rupture — and a healthy Tatum is an elite fantasy asset even with Jaylen Brown swapped out for the availability-challenged Paul George. Flagg's stock climbs with Kyrie Irving back in the fold; the reigning Rookie of the Year already has the category-league toolkit. Tyrese Maxey landing mid-first tracks too: LeBron James' arrival reshapes his role, but getting downhill on the opposite side of LeBron should terrify defenses.

The early rounds are littered with injury bets. Anthony Davis was the most surprising second-rounder — he's an elite fantasy option when he plays, but he logged just 29 games across a season-plus in Dallas and has cleared 60 games only twice in seven years. You draft him assuming at least one long absence and hope it doesn't hit at playoff time. Same energy around Joel Embiid later, who's played 39, 19 and 38 games in the three seasons since his 2023 MVP.

The Fantasy Fallout

With Wemby already rostered, the play was guards at the 2/3 turn — Austin Reaves (a LeBron-departure beneficiary) and Jalen Brunson. Brunson is the one to circle. He posted 26 points, 3.3 boards and 6.8 dimes across 74 games in 2025-26, good for 40.5 fantasy points per game (our rank: #30, #14 among guards). His production didn't meet his ADP of 21, but the dip was mild and he stayed a top-50 player.

Bottom line: if you're picking first, take Wemby and don't overthink it — you'll never pick blocks or DPOY upside again all draft. But the sneaky-profitable move is treating Brunson's slightly deflated ADP as a discount. Buy low on a top-50 guard capable of giving you more than he did last year. Let someone else chase the Davis and Embiid ceilings and eat the games-missed tax.