AJ Dybantsa vs. Darryn Peterson: Why the Race for the No. 1 Pick Is Not Settled
The Washington Wizards have the No. 1 pick. They do not yet know who they’re going to use it on.
That’s how loaded the top of the 2026 NBA Draft is. A.J. Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson are both legitimate cases to go first, and the gap between them is small enough that you can find executives leaning either way depending on the day. Add in Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, and the Wizards have a real decision to make over the next month.
Dybantsa is the surface-level favorite. The BYU forward led the nation in scoring as a freshman, has the prototypical NBA wing build, and finished the season as the consensus top prospect on every major board. ESPN has him at No. 1. NBC has him at No. 1. A combine survey of 13 NBA executives, scouts, and front-office officials pointed to Dybantsa as the player most teams would draft first if they had the pick.
The case for Dybantsa is the case for upside. He’s 6-foot-9 with guard skills. He can score from all three levels. He has the kind of pull-up jumper that translates immediately to the NBA. He has a real handle for his size. He is the easiest projection in the class. You can see him being a 25-point scorer in the league within two years.
He’s also confident in a way that NBA decision-makers love. Dybantsa has said publicly that he believes he should be the No. 1 pick. He says it without arrogance. He says it the way Kevin Durant used to talk about being the best, which is the only way to say something like that and get away with it.
The case for Darryn Peterson is more layered. He was the No. 1 player in his high school class. He chose Kansas over BYU in the recruiting battle that defined the 2025 freshman class. He has the highest defensive ceiling of any guard in the draft. And, most importantly, he has beaten Dybantsa head-to-head before.
Peterson and Dybantsa have crossed paths multiple times in grassroots ball and in college this season. Peterson has come out on top more often than not when they’ve gone head-to-head. That kind of competitive history is the part NBA front offices think about long after they stop watching film. Players who beat their peers in real games tend to be better pros than the ones with prettier highlight reels.
Some executives worry about Peterson’s availability. He missed time in college with various small injuries. He is also slightly smaller than Dybantsa and projects more cleanly as an off-ball guard at the next level. None of those are deal-breakers, but they’re the things you weigh when deciding between two top prospects.
Then there are the wildcards. Cameron Boozer at Duke might be the most polished prospect in the class. Caleb Wilson at North Carolina is a 6-foot-10 wing with three-level scoring. Either could theoretically jump up the board if the Wizards have a private workout that blows them away. The class is deep enough that No. 4 might still produce an All-Star.
What the Wizards have to decide is whether they want the safer floor or the higher ceiling. Dybantsa is the cleanest projection. He’s almost certainly going to be a high-volume scorer in the NBA. Peterson has more two-way potential but a slightly bumpier road getting there. The Wizards are in a position where either pick could work, which is exactly the position every front office dreams about.
The draft is June 23-24. The Wizards have time to do their homework. The race for No. 1 might not be over until that envelope opens.
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.
