AJ Dybantsa walked into Las Vegas on July 9 with the weight of a franchise on his shoulders, and he walked out looking like a top overall pick who was worth every bit of the hype. The Washington Wizards took him No. 1, and after one summer league game, they look like a team that finally got the pick right.
Washington front office folks were saying quietly for weeks that Dybantsa produced the most impressive pre-draft testing numbers they had seen in five years. That is not the kind of thing a team leaks unless they believe it. And once he stepped on the floor at Thomas and Mack, the numbers made sense.
The Wizards have swung and missed at the top of the draft too many times to count. John Wall was the last real hit, and that was more than a decade ago. There is no version of this rebuild that works without Dybantsa becoming a star, and everything about opening night in Vegas said he is on that path.
He moved like a veteran. He created his own shot at will. He got to the rim through contact and finished with either hand. He also showed a real feel as a passer, which is the piece that separates the actual cornerstones from the guys who just put up numbers in July.
The most important part of the night was who he shared the floor with. Utah’s Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 overall pick, made his debut on the same court on the same night, live on ESPN. The league scheduled that on purpose. They know what they have.
Dybantsa versus Peterson is going to be the rivalry that shapes the next decade of the NBA. LeBron and Wade had this moment. Duncan and Garnett had it. Curry and Durant had a version of it. This is the next one. And it started July 9 in Vegas with the whole basketball world watching.
This class is already historic. A record-tying eight freshmen went in the first nine picks, and Dybantsa is the guy who set the tone for the whole cycle. Washington built the rest of the offseason around him. Everything runs through the No. 1 pick from day one.
There is going to be some rookie noise. There always is. He is going to have games where the shot is not falling and games where the veterans on the other bench try to test him. That is fine. The Wizards did not draft him for October. They drafted him for the next fifteen years.
Summer league is not the NBA. Guys who dominate in Vegas do not always dominate in November, and guys who look overwhelmed in Vegas do not always stay overwhelmed. But Dybantsa did not look overwhelmed. He looked like a player who already belongs.
Washington fans have been waiting a long time for a night like this. The tank was ugly. The lottery odds felt cursed. The pick could have been Peterson, and there is a real argument for it. But the Wizards took Dybantsa, and one game in, he looks like the answer.
Franchise cornerstone is a heavy phrase to hang on a 19 year old after one summer league game. That is what this looks like anyway. The Wizards finally hit on a No. 1, and the rest of the league should be paying very close attention.
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.
