AJ Dybantsa Named No. 1 Pick by Wizards: Washington Bets Its Future on the BYU Star
The Washington Wizards have their franchise cornerstone.
The Wizards selected AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, choosing the BYU wing over Kansas guard Darryn Peterson. His rookie contract will pay him $67.1 million over four years, with his first-year salary set at $14.8 million.
Dybantsa is the type of prospect franchises tank for. He is 6-foot-9 with real length. He can score at all three levels. He averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game on 51 percent shooting in 25 games at BYU. Those are elite college numbers for a first-year player, and the tape shows a young star who plays with confidence and creativity.
His comparison to Cooper Flagg is the story that will define the early narrative. Flagg went No. 1 to the Mavericks in 2025 and just won Rookie of the Year. Dybantsa is being compared to him as the next great scorer at the top of the draft, and both were originally in the same high school class before Flagg reclassified up a year.
Offensively, Dybantsa has the edge. He is a more polished scorer and shows more variety in the way he creates his own shot. Flagg is the better passer and rebounder. Both project as top-tier NBA players for the next decade.
The Wizards’ plan is fascinating. They already have Trae Young on a fresh extension. They still have Anthony Davis on the books at $54 million for two more years. Adding Dybantsa to a lineup that includes both is a wild balance of timelines. Young is 27 and in his prime. Davis is 33. Dybantsa is 18 and needs several years to fully develop into a star.
Washington general manager Will Dawkins has signaled that the front office is comfortable with the mixed timeline. The plan seems to be to compete now with Young and Davis while giving Dybantsa developmental runway on a competitive roster. That is a difficult tightrope to walk, but it is not impossible.
The immediate NBA fit for Dybantsa is going to be at the wing spot. He needs shots to grow. Washington has a coaching staff that has been open to letting young players play through mistakes, and Dybantsa is going to make some mistakes early. That is fine. Every top pick does.
His summer league debut will be one of the most watched storylines in July. Every scout, every executive, and every fan is going to be tuned in to see if he can back up the hype. Based on his college tape, he should. Based on his physical tools, he definitely can.
Washington has not had a franchise centerpiece since John Wall in his prime. Bradley Beal was the face of the team for years but never quite got the roster around him to match his talent. Dybantsa now enters the same environment with a much better supporting cast and much more organizational stability.
The bigger picture for the Wizards is patience. Dybantsa is 18. He has years to develop into what everyone thinks he will be. Washington got the right pick. Now the front office has to prove it can also build the right roster around him. That job starts today.
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.
