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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: First and Second Round Combinations
Last Updated on October 17, 2026 5:40 am by Keston Paul | Published: October 17, 2026
This isn’t a unique idea, but it also isn’t something we had covered in the past. The purpose of this article is not to tell you that X player has to go with Y or Z player. I don’t believe in concrete “combinations” or “pairings” for fantasy basketball. However, with some knowledge of Categorical Scarcity, we can discuss the potential direction of your team based on the foundational statistical structure of your first two picks. How easy is it to draft after those picks? Are you leaning toward certain strengths?
This article will cover:
- First-Rounder Strength Comparisons: How each of the top-12 players by overall ADP rank against each other in each 9-cat stat of points, threes, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, FG%, FT% and turnovers. That comes with a discussion of strengths and weaknesses to build around.
- Second-Rounder Strength Comparisons: How the next 12 players in the ADP range of 13 to 24 rank against each other in each 9-cat stat of points, threes, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, FG%, FT% and turnovers. That comes with a discussion of strengths and weaknesses to build around.
- First and Second Round Combinations: How the stats of each of the 12 first-round players combine with the stats of various players near the ADP of where you would be picking in the second round. That results in discussions about strengths, weaknesses and the potential future direction for your team.
All of the statistics provided are derived from our projections.
You can also use CTRL + F to find specific names more quickly (I recommend searching the first name or full name).
First-Rounder Strength Comparisons
Note that a Green-Yellow-Red color scale is being used to provide an easier visual cue to assess where a particular player ranks against their peers in the first round for each stat. For turnovers, fewer is better, of course.
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA
The huge blocks from Wembanyama are a given, while the rebounds are also a notable strength. While the remaining stats may or may not impress you at first glance, it is an advantage that your center spot is competing with other first-round players in points, threes and FT%. Wemby providing the fewest assists per game might be concerning if you want to be good in that category, since assists are the most scarce statistic in each passing round of a draft, but Wemby’s stat profile could allow you to focus on playmaking over the next few picks if you want to — however, you can try to dominate points, threes or rebounds as well.
While the start in blocks is massive, I think it is worth emphasizing that no player is winning you a single category on their own. Wemby is just the ultimate foundation of any particular category with his blocks, but another team with two players averaging two-plus blocks per game would obviously surpass him if you pay no attention to the category — and obviously that disregards any lower-volume complementary blocks you or that other team may draft as well. Blocks should only be a secondary consideration for you with his production in the category, but it cannot be ignored.
NIKOLA JOKIC
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Keston majored in Biology and minored in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), St. Augustine. Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, Kes grew up loving cricket, then football (soccer, not NFL) & never missed a Barça game in the 2010s. Later on, he grew obsessed with basketball/fantasy basketball & unfortunately claims to be a Sixers fan for some reason.