AJ Dybantsa Cements Status as Wizards’ Top Pick After Dominant Performance at NBA Combine
AJ Dybantsa went to the NBA Draft Combine with a No. 1 ranking and walked out with the math behind it. The Washington Wizards now have to actually take him.
The BYU freshman measured 6-foot-8.5 and 217 pounds with a 7-foot-0.5 wingspan and an 8-foot-10 standing reach at the combine in Chicago. He also recorded a max vertical leap of 42 inches, which was the highest mark of the week. These are not normal numbers for a wing prospect. They are the kind of measurements that turn good draft pieces into franchise-changing ones.
Dybantsa is the consensus No. 1 pick on most public big boards. The Wizards won the lottery a few weeks ago and have the first overall selection in the June 23-24 draft at Barclays Center. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has Dybantsa going to Washington. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has Dybantsa going to Washington. The math says Dybantsa to Washington.
The college production backs up the projection. Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals as a freshman at BYU. He turned a program that had been good into a program that was a real Big 12 threat. He scored efficiently from all three levels. He defended on the perimeter. He played through contact in a way you do not usually see from teenagers.
The combine added the data scouts wanted. Dybantsa came in already projected as a top-three pick, but his measurements were the missing piece. Some scouts had questioned whether his wingspan would be long enough for him to defend at the NBA level. Seven feet exactly answers that. Some scouts wanted to see his vertical translate to NBA athleticism. Forty-two inches answers that too.
Rival teams have pushed back on the lock narrative. There has been no true consensus No. 1 among NBA scouts all season. Some teams have Darryn Peterson at the top. Others have Cameron Boozer. Caleb Wilson has a small but real group of believers. The 2026 draft is being called a top-heavy class, with a real argument that any of the top four could go first.
For the Wizards, though, Dybantsa is the cleanest fit. Washington has been rebuilding for years, and the franchise needs a true wing star to anchor the next era. Dybantsa is that profile exactly. He can score, he can defend, he can grow into a primary option. He also has the kind of marketable personality that a franchise like the Wizards needs to sell tickets and build a brand.
The other names on the Wizards’ board are real. Peterson is a small but explosive guard who measured 6-foot-4.5 with a 6-foot-9.75 wingspan and a 37.5-inch vertical. Boozer is a 6-foot-8.25 forward with a 7-foot-1.5 wingspan who comes from the elite high school program everyone has heard of. Wilson is a sleeper who has been climbing. But none of them have the package that Dybantsa offers.
The Wizards’ general manager has been studying all of it. He has said publicly that the team will take the best player available, which is GM-speak that does not commit to anything. Privately, the front office has reportedly been zeroed in on Dybantsa for months. The combine just confirmed what they already believed.
The early-entry deadline has passed. Seventy-one players filed. The next deadline is June 13, when prospects can withdraw their names. Dybantsa is not withdrawing. He is taking the No. 1 pick and the contract and the spotlight that comes with going first overall.
The Wizards have until June 23 to make it official. Everyone else has until then to keep pretending there is any real suspense. Washington is taking AJ Dybantsa. The only question is whether he will be a star, a superstar, or the franchise cornerstone the Wizards have been searching for since John Wall.
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.
