NBA Players Vote Wembanyama No. 1 to Draft if Building a Roster; LeBron, Embiid 7th

Victor Wembanyama lived up to the hype during his rookie season, and his fellow players are taking notice.

The Athletic surveyed 136 NBA players who voted Wembanyama as the player they'd most want to build a team around. Wembanyama received 27.9 percent of the vote, narrowly edging Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (27.2 percent).

"The upside and at 20 years old, you can see that if he stays healthy and continues to get better, he can be a truly great player. I don't want to put a ceiling on him," one player said.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (10.3 percent) and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić (8.8 percent) also received a significant vote share. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo Paolo Banchero and Stephen Curry also received at least two votes.

Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.6 blocks per game, emerging as the overwhelming favorite for Rookie of the Year and a Defensive Player of the Year finalist in his first NBA season.

It's been nothing short of a brilliant first season for the Spurs star, who came into the league as the most hyped prospect since LeBron James.

Ironically enough, James is by far the oldest player still receiving votes on this list at age 39. While it's likely he has only one or two more years left in the tank, James has built a legacy strong enough that his peers would take him over players 15-20 years his junior.

We'll have to wait another two decades to see if Wembanyama lived up to the hype enough to get votes on a similar list in 2044.