AJ Dybantsa is going to Washington. The Wizards have not announced it. They do not have to. Every signal coming out of the predraft process tells the story.
Dybantsa met with the Wizards’ front office last week. He reportedly left the meeting with the kind of confidence that only comes when both sides know how the night is going. The 2026 NBA Draft is on June 23. He is the heavy favorite to go No. 1, and Washington is the team picking there.
The Wizards earned the top pick the hard way. They lost 26 of their final 27 games last season. The tank worked. The lottery cooperated. Now they get to build around a generational athlete at the wing position.
Dybantsa’s case at the top is overwhelming. He led Division I in scoring as a BYU freshman last season. He averaged 22 points a game. He flashed every skill scouts wanted to see, including pull-up shooting from deep, defensive playmaking on the wing, and the kind of secondary creation that translates to a modern NBA role.
The Polymarket odds on Dybantsa as the No. 1 pick now sit at 80 percent. Kalshi has him at 79 percent. Those are betting market numbers that effectively call this a done deal.
This is a different draft than 2025. Cooper Flagg ran away with the No. 1 conversation that year. The Mavericks took him after the Doncic trade reshuffled everything. Flagg won Rookie of the Year. Dallas built around him fast.
Dybantsa does not have Flagg’s polished playmaking. What he has is a higher ceiling as a scoring wing and the kind of shot-making touch that separates good NBA prospects from great ones.
For the Wizards, this is the franchise reset they have needed since the John Wall era ended. The roster is full of young pieces. Bub Carrington. Bilal Coulibaly. Alex Sarr. Kyshawn George. Adding Dybantsa to that core gives them a real foundation to build around.
The Wizards also have the No. 7 pick from the Phoenix Suns swap. They could grab another lottery talent at the wing or in the backcourt. Hansen Yang has been linked. So has Tre Johnson. The front office has options.
Darryn Peterson is expected to go second to the Utah Jazz. Cameron Boozer is in the mix at three. Derik Queen at four. The top five looks settled. The interesting stuff starts at six.
Washington’s general manager Will Dawkins has built credibility for being patient. He has the cap room to extend young players. He has the picks to keep adding. The infrastructure is there.
The Wizards have not been a real story in years. AJ Dybantsa changes that overnight. He is the kind of prospect who instantly puts a franchise back on national TV.
The countdown is on. June 23. Brooklyn. Wizards on the clock at No. 1. AJ Dybantsa walking up to shake the commissioner’s hand. The rebuild has its centerpiece.
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.
