AJ Dybantsa is going to be a problem. The Wizards saw enough to protect the asset.
The Athletic’s Josh Robbins reported Tuesday that Washington is shutting down its No. 1 overall pick, along with rookies Tre Johnson and Will Riley, for the rest of the Las Vegas Summer League schedule. Dybantsa played two games. That was plenty.
In those two outings, Dybantsa put up 50 points and 14 rebounds. He dropped 27 with 7 boards on the Utah Jazz in a 92-88 win on July 9. He came back Sunday with 23 points and 7 rebounds in a 104-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Efficient. Physical. Under control. The exact kind of pro-adjacent film every Wizards fan needed to see.
Dybantsa averaged 25 points and 7 rebounds through Washington’s 2-0 start. Summer League stat lines are not gospel. But when your No. 1 overall pick spends two games looking like a plus NBA player against a bunch of guys fighting for two-way contracts, that is not nothing.
Shutting him down now is smart. Every year some team plays their prized rookie one game too many and something breaks. A tweaked ankle in a summer game with no stakes is the kind of injury that leaks into training camp and delays the real evaluation window. The Wizards are not playing that game.
Tre Johnson also gets pulled. That is a bigger loss for viewership. Johnson was Washington’s No. 6 overall pick in 2025 and put up 26 in his lone Summer League appearance against the Jazz. Will Riley, the 21st overall pick from last year, was averaging 25 points and 4.5 rebounds in Summer League action. He is now done too.
The message is clear. Washington’s front office wants its young core in the gym for full-team practices, not on floors where the officiating is loose and rookies get dinged up for no reason. It is the right call.
Dybantsa came in from BYU where he played his lone college season after being the top-ranked recruit in his class. He was long expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, and that is exactly what happened. Kansas star Darryn Peterson went No. 2 to the Jazz. Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson followed at three and four.
The scouting profile on Dybantsa is exactly what showed up in Vegas. He is a big wing scorer with real handle, three-level scoring ability, and a defensive frame that could grow into something serious. What was less certain was how quickly he would adjust to NBA spacing. Two Summer League games later, that concern is looking overblown.
Now come the real questions. Does head coach Brian Keefe start Dybantsa on opening night? Does he play him on the ball or off it next to Johnson? How much does he lean on him defensively against wings who are three years older and thirty pounds heavier?
Those are training camp problems now. The Vegas evaluation is done. Dybantsa passed with flying colors.
The Wizards are not going to be good next year. That is fine. This organization is playing the long game and it just watched its No. 1 overall pick look like a top-of-the-lottery talent in his first two professional appearances. That is exactly what the tank was for.
The next time Washington fans see AJ Dybantsa in an official game, he will be a rookie in an NBA regular-season contest. Circle October. The Wizards have their guy.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
