Kendrick Perkins questions AJ Dybantsa's upside, potentially disrupting Kings' draft aspirations for the highly-touted freshman.
Full-on tank mode is in motion for the Sacramento Kings amidst a historic 14-game losing streak.
Zach LaVine has been ruled out for the rest of the season, buyout rumors concerning DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook have spread like wildfire, and Domantas Sabonis has continued to miss games to manage back and knee injuries.
All of this will hopefully end with the introduction of a franchise-altering selection in the 2026 NBA Draft, but the Kings will still be depending on the luck of the draw come lottery day to land either Darryn Peterson (University of Kansas), Cam Boozer (Duke University) or AJ Dybantsa (BYU).
Any of the three prospects joining the Kings would be a momentous occasion, but some water has been poured on the latter's fire in recent days, as former NBA champion center and 14-year veteran Kendrick Perkins made his thoughts known on the top prospect.
Perkins' opinion on Dybantsa may hold no weight whatsoever with Kings general manager Scott Perry, but his scathing analysis of the 6-foot-9 freshman forward speaks for itself.
"AJ Dybantsa is not *expletive* like that, bro," Perkins told fellow NBA champions Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye during a Road Trippin' podcast appearance Friday.
"Do they have a generational talent in this draft? *Expletive* no. AJ Dybantsa is not doing anything different than what Brandon Miller was doing when he was at Alabama."
The Kings are not guaranteed to have the chance of landing any of the three aforementioned names, but questions surrounding Dybantsa might still fuel some concern from Perry if the franchise were given a chance to select the versatile freshman.
From Perkins' perspective, Dybantsa is not a 'generational' type of talent that so many teams should risk punishment from the NBA to tank for. That might be true, but that doesn't mean he can't be referred to as a worthy potential No. 1 overall draft choice in a stacked class.
Still, he's proven to be everything he was thought to be and more prior to suiting up for the BYU Cougars this season. Dybantsa is leading Division I in scoring with 24.5 points to go along with 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals on an impressive 63.4% true shooting percentage.
He's done everything necessary on both sides of the ball to earn status as a virtual lock to be taken within the top three picks of the 2026 NBA Draft, but Perkins is not sold.
From the perspective of Sacramento's front office, however, there's not much to dislike regarding Dybantsa's potential fit with the group. The Kings would be gaining an extremely athletic, yet controlled shot-creator with unbelievable physical attributes for a 19-year-old.
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