After years of turbulence, playoff droughts and lottery ball cruelty, the Washington Wizards selected 19-year-old BYU star AJ Dybantsa, widely considered a potential franchise cornerstone, with the first pick of the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday.
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The 6-foot-9 wing, whose 25.5 points per game led the nation in his sole college season, immediately transforms Washington’s outlook from a lottery contender to a team closer to contention — and potentially reinvigorates NBA basketball in the nation’s capital.
“It just means a lot,” Dybantsa said after the selection, sitting beside his sisters as his father looked on. “It’s a testament to my hard work.”
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement, Dybantsa opted to be recognized by his given name, Anicet, which he shares with his father. The pair immediately embraced, and his dad proudly filmed as Dybantsa spoke after the pick.
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson went No. 2 to the Utah Jazz, and the Memphis Grizzlies selected Duke forward Cameron Boozer at No. 3. The Wizards reportedly weighed both as well, but Dybantsa’s size and skill were ultimately too hard to turn down.
He brings what the Wizards have dearly missed during their current five-season playoff rut: a three-level offensive touchpoint. He can attack the rim as well as any prospect, attempting 35.6 percent of his shots within five feet of the basket in his lone college season. He averaged 8.5 free throws, which led the country. His physicality, at 217 pounds, was probably also a selling point for the Wizards, who attempted the fifth-fewest free throws in the league last season.
After the selection, he pointed toward his improving defense when asked where he can make a difference immediately. “My best quality: I think my ability to be versatile, just to play multiple positions, guard multiple positions and be super adaptable,” Dybantsa continued. Above all, he said, is doing whatever he can to change Washington’s current rap.
In the quest to be the top pick, Dybantsa edged out Peterson, the lights-out shooter who faced scrutiny for cramping issues that forced him to miss portions of the Jayhawks’ season this year. The pair had been linked for nearly four years, consistently regarded as the top options in their class, and Peterson’s perimeter scoring abilities even seemed to push him above his counterpart on most boards entering the fall. But after Dybantsa’s consensus all-American campaign as a freshman, all while Peterson’s situation became a sort of spectacle, the BYU star seemed the safer choice.
“I was just super confident,” Dybantsa said. “Since about ninth grade I’d been No. 1, so I didn’t really plan on dropping in the draft.”
He didn’t hurt his cause by testing well at the NBA combine in May, simultaneously maintaining a mature presence during interviews. He remained much the same throughout draft festivities this week.
“They’ve got a good young core,” Dybantsa said of the Wizards during predraft interviews Monday. “So if I went there, I could fit in, be a real dynamic player, a dynamic wing there, make an offensive impact and a defensive impact.”
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All of that will be necessary.
Washington hasn’t advanced to the conference finals since 1979 — 28 years before Dybantsa was born — and the franchise won its lone NBA title a season earlier. The Wizards have missed the playoffs each of the past five years and haven’t had a winning record since 2018.
Amid those struggles, Monumental Basketball hired Michael Winger as its president in 2023. Will Dawkins joined him as general manager a couple of weeks later, and the pair set out for a full rebuild, with an emphasis on acquiring talent through the draft. With 15- and 17-win seasons in 2024 and 2025 that didn’t yield the No. 1 pick, the Wizards added center Alex Sarr and guard Tre Johnson, the former having shown considerable promise in his first two seasons. But Dybantsa could provide the slingshot toward contention.
Managed by his father and playing far from the limelight in Provo, Utah, Dybantsa has consistently been a captivating yet sensible figure in the youth basketball landscape. His poise and demeanor suggest he may continue to grow and be equipped to handle the attention he will encounter as the face of an evolving franchise.
That could prove crucial on a young team without a distinct central figure. The Wizards reportedly re-signed Trae Young, 27, to a four-year, $212 million deal Monday, and Anthony Davis, 33, should play his first game for them this year. Yet the rest of Washington’s expected rotation is younger than 26 and unproven.
After an injury to BYU wing Richie Saunders, the Cougars’ elder statesman, Dybantsa was forced to step into a similar leadership role last year.
“Being one of the younger guys in the team and still using my voice and still directing traffic put me in an uncomfortable position,” Dybantsa said. The catch? “I got used to it.”
Dybantsa joins a crowded group of shooting guards and wings, as Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Will Riley and Justin Champagnie each averaged at least 20 minutes per game last year and play along the wing. He also will take some ballhandling pressure off Young and Bub Carrington, and he should help free space for Davis and Sarr to fit together inside the arc by spreading opposing defenses out.
With Dybantsa, the Wizards appear to have enough talent to shed their playoff disappearing act, possibly behind a blossoming offense. This is why he went No. 1 on Tuesday night. There was no trade and limited fuss, to the bliss of a D.C. fan base yearning for a star to raise their basketball team back to life.
“I’m just trying to focus on winning,” Dybantsa said. “I just know they’re super hungry, obviously they have a young core, and the potential is there.”
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His final verdict: “I think I can help them a little bit.”
