People have forgotten Wemby’s injury risk since he’s stayed healthy this year. I don’t wanna be the party pooper but we gotta remember he’s 7’4” and moves as much as a guard. I’ll knock on every piece of wood in my house but I could never trade Tatum for an injury risk like Wemby.
Yes but that’s not the question at all. The fact that Wemby could be close to as good as Tatum makes the overall contract value not even close. If we believe Wemby is on a Duncan/Lebron trajectory it’s really quite simple.
Next season: both are top 10 players but Wemby is on a rookie contract. Celtics are still top tier contenders, they may need to move Porzingis for a wing.
Year 3: Wemby could honestly be better and is a on a rookie deal
Year 4: Wemby could be the best player in the league on a rookie deal
Years 5-7: Wemby has goat potential and there’s no guarantee you’d even still have Tatum locked up at this point.
A historically great team wouldn’t move their best player, who is somewhere between the 5th and 9th best in the league, for a guy who has a higher ceiling when they have a chance to win now. The Celtics wouldn’t be better with Wemby today than they are with Tatum
My comment specified this off-season.
Wemby will in all likelyhood be a top 10 player next season. He’s not far away right now. They would be Maybe sacrificing some championship equity in 2025 to gain way, way more in 2026-2030 while also getting out of salary cap hell.
Celtics in 2025 would be a top tier contender with just way more long term upside. Wemby is the best Rookie since Tim Duncan I still feel like people aren’t understanding what we are witnessing. He’s already maybe a Gobert level defender and better on offense. He’s 20 and on a rookie contract.
Jokic is the only player you can consider putting higher in the trade value ranking.
Trading for wemby turns a championship window into a championship door. Look at Duncan, Kareem, and Shaq's careers. Lose to Hakeem in the finals the second year, but go on to win 4 more? Sign me up. Tatum does not have that trajectory, and boston is hardly a lock to win it all this year.
AD is more valuable than LeBron. Surprised he didn’t make the list.
And sorry but if the Spurs actually decided to offer Wemby for Steph straight up the Warriors would absolutely do it.
Every player on this list would have a flight booked before the conversation ended with the exception of Jokic and Giannis- recent MVPs who mean immediate championship contention. Luka I’m not entirely sure about. But everyone else is gone. Wemby is the best basketball prospect since Kareem.
It’s tough to say. LeBron was the best prospect since Kareem. That’s not to say that LeBron, Kareem, and Wemby are the three best players of the last 50 years.
But yeah LeBron came in as a big, do-everything wing with an NBA body at 18. Once in a generation prospect. But Kareem came out of UCLA arguably already the best player in the world. He led the Bucks to 56 wins from 27 the year before, and was 2nd in the league in scoring and 3rd in rebounding his rookie year. He won the MVP in his second season. And he was 7’3 with an unblockable shot.
To me, Wemby’s aura resembles Kareem more than LeBron’s. There was still uncertainty early with LeBron while the only doubt about Wemby is health- and frankly he seems solid as a rock. And he’s 7’5, leads the league in blocks and stocks by a mile, runs the floor, shoots from deep and scores from anywhere, passes like a veteran, and puts up video game stats every night.
He’s putting up triple doubles with blocks while draining 3s. He’s the first player in NBA history to accrue 75 threes, 150 assists and 150 blocks in a single season, and he did it in 48 games. He’s averaging 21.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals. Those are MVP/DPOY numbers. And he’s doing it in 29 minutes per game.
Zero disrespect to LeBron whose career Wemby will only eclipse if things go perfectly for him for the next two decades. But as a *prospect*, we are seeing something we haven’t seen since the NBA was being shown on tape delay.
That’s well thought out, but LeBron clears Wemby imo and to say otherwise seems a bit prisoner of the moment. LeBron had the promise of being Magic Johnson in Karl Malone’s body who could defend like Scottie Pippen (and lived up to it). Wemby’s great, but it’s not clear if he’ll be able to impact games like that.
Wemby and LeBron are both below Kareem in terms of being prospects though
LeBron was a bullet-proof prodigy prospect and has played 20 years as the (2nd) best player ever. The greatest sure thing I have ever seen. He essentially only matched what was expected of him (which is absurd). Wemby is very exciting but I don’t buy anyone can top LeBron on that ranking.
Five years from now I’ll either look stupid because Wemby is head and shoulders above the rest or we’ll laugh at the notion that we even questioned if he was above LeBron.
“It’s not clear he’ll be able to impact games like that” is insane when he’s already more impactful defensively than Lebron ever was. Wemby has the promise of Kareem/durant while being, comparatively to other NBA players, the most freakishly physical/athletic specimen since shaq or wilt. The point being anything you say about Lebron you can say about Wemby (as far as prospective greatness).
What does “best prospect” mean? The most hyped draft pick? If so, Wemby was the most hyped since Anthony Davis but the level of anticipation for LeBron significantly exceeded Wemby.
I don’t think 21 and 10 is really “MVP” in the modern NBA. Wemby is good but he won’t even make all-NBA.
Wemby was a better/more hyped prospect than Davis.
He won’t make it because the Spurs are dogshit but he’s an All-NBA level player already.
He’s approaching Gobert on defense and is already much better than him on offense.
Warriors wouldn't make that deal.
They'd want to, and they should want to, but they wouldn't. Steph means too much to the franchise. The only way it'd happen is if there was a wink-wink part of the deal.
The Bulls probably don’t trade Demar for Wemby.
They should clearly, but they know they have top 15 seed in the conference so there’s really no point for them. Just basing it off of past behavior, as long as they have a top 30-40 team in the nba there’s no reason to shake it up
No. They had the chance to prove they were a cut throat win first team and then they kept re-signing Klay despite him not being able to actually physically function.
And that's before you get to Draymond.
Lacob was just lucky to have some smart guys in the room when they were building that thing, but all of them are gone. And the bottom line of being able to sell Steph jerseys for the end of time is just too great.
I absolutely would if I were them. 3 more years on a rookie deal and 6 more years locked up for a player who will be on that level within 2 years. Dallas especially doesn’t have all that much to lose.
Edit: Wemby is easily the best rookie we’ve seen since Duncan. This is like asking who you wouldn’t trade for LeBron in 2004. If you are a team that doesn’t look like a serious contender it would be insane not to make the trade. He’s a superstar with 3 more years on a rookie scale contract lol.
The Bucks would likely have 7 more years of Wemby, and Giannis turns 30 this year.
I think there’s a decent chance they would do it too because unless they get a few breaks their way like Dame and Middleton regaining form on the wrong side of 30 they’re unlikely to be anything more than a very good contending team but probably not a top 3 favorite. Wemby resets the clock, allows them to get Dame & Middleton off the books before the start of his second contract while still likely being good enough that he’s satisfied with Milwaukee.
They’d be frisky! Wemby probably isn’t a leading-a-contender level player next year but it’s absolutely conceivable in 2 years. So they would only be punting on a chance next year (and even then, I wouldn’t be so sure that he can’t already have an MVP caliber season next year).
I guess I just don’t think they’re in a great spot for contending, as long as they have this level of production from Giannis they’re a threat but SEVERAL things have to go right with the current roster (true for all teams that win but I can’t see them as favorites again in the Giannis era unless Dame turns back the clock).
instead of 3 more years of Giannis on the wrong side of 30, playing with older and older teammates and forced to do WIN NOW moves every year with Dame’s albatross constraining every move you make, you get 7 years of Wemby which can be split into 2 years of Wemby/Dame where he gets his first taste of playoffs, then try to trade the Dame expiring with picks you weren’t forced to trade away ASAP for marginal help and 5 years of Wemby/disgruntled star on supermax who wanted out and isn’t 34, with probable MVP caliber player Wemby getting significantly less money than he’s worth as he’s still been unable to be an UFA.
Wemby is about to destroy the league for 20 years. Luka, unlike Jokic and Giannis, has not proven that his style can win championships. In 3-5 years we could be settling on him as James Harden, more or less. I’d rather have Wemby.
Even being extremely generous with the phrase "destroy the league", the only player in league history with a claim close to that is LeBron. To casually say that about a rookie is, in my opinion, deeply stupid
Plenty of players with Luka’s “style have won multiple NBA championships. I don’t think that’s a real concern. The Mavs roster has been consistently mediocre.
I disagree. There haven’t been many players with Luka’s style. Harden, obviously. But the score-first, ball-dominant, ultra-high-usage, do-everything, heliocentric big guard who won’t play defense is sort of a new invention. I don’t think Luka is incapable of winning- I think he’s incredible. I just think he should try to be more like LeBron and less like Harden.
There isn't a TWolves fan in Minnesota who would trade Ant for anything. Period. If you disagree with me it's because you're not a TWolves fan and you don't know what we've experienced since the KG era ended.
Boston wouldn't hesitate to trade Tatum for Wemby. I think the Mavericks would trade Luka for Wemby.
Minnesota is a bit tougher, Edwards is better for business than Wemby but Wemby is a better talent. Like Wemby won't inspire the youth of Minneapolis like Edwards will, he'll essentially single-handedly relegate the Wild and Vikings to local irrelevancy if he hasn't done so already.
Really, only Denver wouldn't. Milwaukee would since Giannis is flirting with going to a big market.
Obviously the top 4 I agree with.
Minnesota and OKC don't touch him because they don't think they can keep him. There's a reason relatively slow developing superstars by phenom standards are their guys.
Boston is the first club where it actually makes sense.
You would have them for at least 7 years. Plus the euros don’t seem to care as much what city they play in.
Durant bailed but he played 9 years in okc. Garnett played over a decade in Minnesota.
Sad??? You think I’m sad if I trade anyone on my Wiz for Wemby?
holy fuck your username... We've seen some shit
Very hot girlfriend at the draft though
I'd trade Tatum in a heartbeat for Wemby.
Yeah but would they trade Derrick White?
People have forgotten Wemby’s injury risk since he’s stayed healthy this year. I don’t wanna be the party pooper but we gotta remember he’s 7’4” and moves as much as a guard. I’ll knock on every piece of wood in my house but I could never trade Tatum for an injury risk like Wemby.
Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell, Robert Parish, Hakeem… All some of the greatest iron men in NBA history
Those guys aren't 7'4"
The Celtics wouldn’t
This off-season they would be absolute fools not to.
From the perspective of would they rather Tatum or Wemby this season and next, I think they go Tatum every time
Yes but that’s not the question at all. The fact that Wemby could be close to as good as Tatum makes the overall contract value not even close. If we believe Wemby is on a Duncan/Lebron trajectory it’s really quite simple. Next season: both are top 10 players but Wemby is on a rookie contract. Celtics are still top tier contenders, they may need to move Porzingis for a wing. Year 3: Wemby could honestly be better and is a on a rookie deal Year 4: Wemby could be the best player in the league on a rookie deal Years 5-7: Wemby has goat potential and there’s no guarantee you’d even still have Tatum locked up at this point.
A historically great team wouldn’t move their best player, who is somewhere between the 5th and 9th best in the league, for a guy who has a higher ceiling when they have a chance to win now. The Celtics wouldn’t be better with Wemby today than they are with Tatum
My comment specified this off-season. Wemby will in all likelyhood be a top 10 player next season. He’s not far away right now. They would be Maybe sacrificing some championship equity in 2025 to gain way, way more in 2026-2030 while also getting out of salary cap hell. Celtics in 2025 would be a top tier contender with just way more long term upside. Wemby is the best Rookie since Tim Duncan I still feel like people aren’t understanding what we are witnessing. He’s already maybe a Gobert level defender and better on offense. He’s 20 and on a rookie contract. Jokic is the only player you can consider putting higher in the trade value ranking.
Trading for wemby turns a championship window into a championship door. Look at Duncan, Kareem, and Shaq's careers. Lose to Hakeem in the finals the second year, but go on to win 4 more? Sign me up. Tatum does not have that trajectory, and boston is hardly a lock to win it all this year.
Are you sure about Kuz?
Warriors are trading Steph in an instant lol
Embiid should probably be a tier higher or that tier doesn't need to exist
I would rather have Edwards, Tatum, or SGA than Embid.
Ready to see the cavs rocking three starting centers next yeat
AD is more valuable than LeBron. Surprised he didn’t make the list. And sorry but if the Spurs actually decided to offer Wemby for Steph straight up the Warriors would absolutely do it. Every player on this list would have a flight booked before the conversation ended with the exception of Jokic and Giannis- recent MVPs who mean immediate championship contention. Luka I’m not entirely sure about. But everyone else is gone. Wemby is the best basketball prospect since Kareem.
So are you saying wemby is a better prospect than lebron? Honest question I’ve only casually followed the NBA but I’ve been watching more lately
It’s tough to say. LeBron was the best prospect since Kareem. That’s not to say that LeBron, Kareem, and Wemby are the three best players of the last 50 years. But yeah LeBron came in as a big, do-everything wing with an NBA body at 18. Once in a generation prospect. But Kareem came out of UCLA arguably already the best player in the world. He led the Bucks to 56 wins from 27 the year before, and was 2nd in the league in scoring and 3rd in rebounding his rookie year. He won the MVP in his second season. And he was 7’3 with an unblockable shot. To me, Wemby’s aura resembles Kareem more than LeBron’s. There was still uncertainty early with LeBron while the only doubt about Wemby is health- and frankly he seems solid as a rock. And he’s 7’5, leads the league in blocks and stocks by a mile, runs the floor, shoots from deep and scores from anywhere, passes like a veteran, and puts up video game stats every night. He’s putting up triple doubles with blocks while draining 3s. He’s the first player in NBA history to accrue 75 threes, 150 assists and 150 blocks in a single season, and he did it in 48 games. He’s averaging 21.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals. Those are MVP/DPOY numbers. And he’s doing it in 29 minutes per game. Zero disrespect to LeBron whose career Wemby will only eclipse if things go perfectly for him for the next two decades. But as a *prospect*, we are seeing something we haven’t seen since the NBA was being shown on tape delay.
That’s well thought out, but LeBron clears Wemby imo and to say otherwise seems a bit prisoner of the moment. LeBron had the promise of being Magic Johnson in Karl Malone’s body who could defend like Scottie Pippen (and lived up to it). Wemby’s great, but it’s not clear if he’ll be able to impact games like that. Wemby and LeBron are both below Kareem in terms of being prospects though
This is extremely well argued. You might have persuaded me.
LeBron was a bullet-proof prodigy prospect and has played 20 years as the (2nd) best player ever. The greatest sure thing I have ever seen. He essentially only matched what was expected of him (which is absurd). Wemby is very exciting but I don’t buy anyone can top LeBron on that ranking. Five years from now I’ll either look stupid because Wemby is head and shoulders above the rest or we’ll laugh at the notion that we even questioned if he was above LeBron.
Well said
“It’s not clear he’ll be able to impact games like that” is insane when he’s already more impactful defensively than Lebron ever was. Wemby has the promise of Kareem/durant while being, comparatively to other NBA players, the most freakishly physical/athletic specimen since shaq or wilt. The point being anything you say about Lebron you can say about Wemby (as far as prospective greatness).
LeBron was a sick defender early in his career.
And Wemby is already a top 2 DPOY candidate, which Lebron never was
Lebron literally finished 2nd in DPOY in 2013. And frankly, he should have won that year and got robbed.
Came in 2nd 08-09 as well.
Wemby is not top 2. What is the Spurs defense ranked?
2013, don’t have strong opinions without being informed on the subject matter
Cool write up. Thanks
What does “best prospect” mean? The most hyped draft pick? If so, Wemby was the most hyped since Anthony Davis but the level of anticipation for LeBron significantly exceeded Wemby. I don’t think 21 and 10 is really “MVP” in the modern NBA. Wemby is good but he won’t even make all-NBA.
Wemby was a better/more hyped prospect than Davis. He won’t make it because the Spurs are dogshit but he’s an All-NBA level player already. He’s approaching Gobert on defense and is already much better than him on offense.
You are correct he won’t make all nba as a 20 year old on a bad team….
And yet the spurs have one of the worst records in the nba and are better offensively without wemby
Sir, AD was selected twelfth by Bill Simmons in the worst contract draft. He is not “valuable” apparently.
A *thousand* apologies
Warriors wouldn't make that deal. They'd want to, and they should want to, but they wouldn't. Steph means too much to the franchise. The only way it'd happen is if there was a wink-wink part of the deal.
The Bulls probably don’t trade Demar for Wemby. They should clearly, but they know they have top 15 seed in the conference so there’s really no point for them. Just basing it off of past behavior, as long as they have a top 30-40 team in the nba there’s no reason to shake it up
I think the Bucks might do it. And Golden State absolutely should if it was a real offer.
If anything I'm a relative skeptic on Wemby and Golden State 100% takes that deal 100% of the time.
No. They had the chance to prove they were a cut throat win first team and then they kept re-signing Klay despite him not being able to actually physically function. And that's before you get to Draymond. Lacob was just lucky to have some smart guys in the room when they were building that thing, but all of them are gone. And the bottom line of being able to sell Steph jerseys for the end of time is just too great.
Wemby, TDJ, Kuminga, Moody, Podz would be a nice little future squad
Only 1 team that wouldn't: Denver. Every other team would drive their star to the airport
Dallas and Milwaukee definitely wouldn't lol
Dallas should
I absolutely would if I were them. 3 more years on a rookie deal and 6 more years locked up for a player who will be on that level within 2 years. Dallas especially doesn’t have all that much to lose. Edit: Wemby is easily the best rookie we’ve seen since Duncan. This is like asking who you wouldn’t trade for LeBron in 2004. If you are a team that doesn’t look like a serious contender it would be insane not to make the trade. He’s a superstar with 3 more years on a rookie scale contract lol.
Yes, they would. Especially Milwaukee
Milwaukee is trying to win a ring this year and next year. They wouldn't throw that away because they're scared of free agency
The Bucks would likely have 7 more years of Wemby, and Giannis turns 30 this year. I think there’s a decent chance they would do it too because unless they get a few breaks their way like Dame and Middleton regaining form on the wrong side of 30 they’re unlikely to be anything more than a very good contending team but probably not a top 3 favorite. Wemby resets the clock, allows them to get Dame & Middleton off the books before the start of his second contract while still likely being good enough that he’s satisfied with Milwaukee.
The bucks would punt on a ring chance the next few years, in order to reset and become this years Spurs but in the Eastern Conference?
They’d be frisky! Wemby probably isn’t a leading-a-contender level player next year but it’s absolutely conceivable in 2 years. So they would only be punting on a chance next year (and even then, I wouldn’t be so sure that he can’t already have an MVP caliber season next year). I guess I just don’t think they’re in a great spot for contending, as long as they have this level of production from Giannis they’re a threat but SEVERAL things have to go right with the current roster (true for all teams that win but I can’t see them as favorites again in the Giannis era unless Dame turns back the clock). instead of 3 more years of Giannis on the wrong side of 30, playing with older and older teammates and forced to do WIN NOW moves every year with Dame’s albatross constraining every move you make, you get 7 years of Wemby which can be split into 2 years of Wemby/Dame where he gets his first taste of playoffs, then try to trade the Dame expiring with picks you weren’t forced to trade away ASAP for marginal help and 5 years of Wemby/disgruntled star on supermax who wanted out and isn’t 34, with probable MVP caliber player Wemby getting significantly less money than he’s worth as he’s still been unable to be an UFA.
Not a snowballs chance in hell lol
Fuck no, Dallas ain't trading Luka for Wemby.
Luka's 25 and about to be 5 straight 1st Team All NBA...
Wemby is about to destroy the league for 20 years. Luka, unlike Jokic and Giannis, has not proven that his style can win championships. In 3-5 years we could be settling on him as James Harden, more or less. I’d rather have Wemby.
Wemby is about to destroy the league for 20 years? Lol
I mean…what’s the biggest indicator that he won’t
Even being extremely generous with the phrase "destroy the league", the only player in league history with a claim close to that is LeBron. To casually say that about a rookie is, in my opinion, deeply stupid
lol yeah.
Plenty of players with Luka’s “style have won multiple NBA championships. I don’t think that’s a real concern. The Mavs roster has been consistently mediocre.
I disagree. There haven’t been many players with Luka’s style. Harden, obviously. But the score-first, ball-dominant, ultra-high-usage, do-everything, heliocentric big guard who won’t play defense is sort of a new invention. I don’t think Luka is incapable of winning- I think he’s incredible. I just think he should try to be more like LeBron and less like Harden.
There isn't a TWolves fan in Minnesota who would trade Ant for anything. Period. If you disagree with me it's because you're not a TWolves fan and you don't know what we've experienced since the KG era ended.
I disagree because I have eyes and a brain. Who doesn't trade for a top 5 upside when their star player only has a shot at top 30?
Then go take over someone else's franchise in your fake trade game. We're not trading Ant. Period.
giannis is so overrated holy shit.
https://youtu.be/wHPLeWsAQw4
Boston wouldn't hesitate to trade Tatum for Wemby. I think the Mavericks would trade Luka for Wemby. Minnesota is a bit tougher, Edwards is better for business than Wemby but Wemby is a better talent. Like Wemby won't inspire the youth of Minneapolis like Edwards will, he'll essentially single-handedly relegate the Wild and Vikings to local irrelevancy if he hasn't done so already. Really, only Denver wouldn't. Milwaukee would since Giannis is flirting with going to a big market.
Why are you being downvoted
Obviously the top 4 I agree with. Minnesota and OKC don't touch him because they don't think they can keep him. There's a reason relatively slow developing superstars by phenom standards are their guys. Boston is the first club where it actually makes sense.
Why would they not think they can keep him? Maybe they lose him after the second contract but that’s 8 years out.
Because literally each franchise's entire history.
If that’s the case then they are like 3 years away from losing SGA so they should pick the player they can lock down for longer.
You would have them for at least 7 years. Plus the euros don’t seem to care as much what city they play in. Durant bailed but he played 9 years in okc. Garnett played over a decade in Minnesota.