Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins talked about BYU star and top projected pick AJ Dybantsa on day one of the 2026 NBA Draft Combine
The Washington Wizards will have a decision to make in next month's draft, but as general manager Will Dawkins noted in the immediate aftermath of the NBA Draft Lottery, the front office enters the draft evaluation process with the "power of choice" with the top overall selection.
The luck finally going Washington's way marked the first time in the current lottery format that the team with the worst regular season landed the top overall pick in the subsequent draft. Yet the lottery luck gives Washington a chance to add another star piece to the roster in tandem with a blend of veteran experience and young talent to give the organization arguably its most talented depth since maybe even before the John Wall era.
The question is who Washington will turn to with the Wizards expected to meet with several top prospects, though the early consensus has pointed to BYU star AJ Dybantsa.
Scouting him through his freshman season was just the latest chapter in Dawkins' evaluation given the pair of Massachusetts natives are plenty familiar with each other as Dawkins noted in his ESPN interview on Tuesday that he "knows AJ and his family pretty well." After becoming the NCAA scoring leader and consensus All American in his lone season, the question has turned to whether Dybantsa is the best fit for the Wizards.
Interviews through the week will give Dawkins, president Michael Winger and the front office a chance to learn more about exactly that as Dybantsa noted the Wizards were among the ten teams he met with at the scouting combine. Yet Dawkins noted Dybantsa's impact ability on both ends of the court.
“This guy has a charisma to him," Dawkins said of Dybantsa. "He's got a confidence to him. He's been able to do it at every level that he's stepped at, increased his play. And when you talk about basketball, he can score it, he can defend, he's long, he can make plays for others. He's a high level talent.”
With scrimmages set for Wednesday afternoon, Dybantsa drew eyeballs with his combine measurements after posting a 7-foot-0.5 wingspan and 8-foot-10 standing reach as a 6-foot-8.5, 217 pound wing. That also included a 42-inch vertical to lead all prospects, along with five inches better than Cooper Flagg, who was first to come off the board in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Whether the conversation around the top overall pick narrows on Dybantsa or broadens as Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson and Cam Boozer will be among the biggest storylines through the week.
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