Key Points
- Washington Wizards selected AJ Dybantsa No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23.
- The 6-foot-9, 19-year-old wing averaged 25.5 points in his one BYU season.
- Dybantsa was 2025 FIBA Under-19 World Cup MVP, leading the United States to gold.
- He is Washington's first No. 1 pick since John Wall in 2010.
The Washington Wizards ended a deliberately bleak rebuild with the most valuable pick in basketball. On June 23 they selected AJ Dybantsa first overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, taking the BYU wing ahead of Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (No. 2, Utah) and Duke forward Cameron Boozer (No. 3, Memphis).
Dybantsa is 19, stands 6-foot-9, and spent a single season in Provo, averaging 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists across 35 starts. Before college he was the top-ranked player in his high school class and the MVP of the 2025 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, where he led the United States to the title. "It means a lot," he said after the pick. "Obviously, it's just a stepping stone, and I have a lot more work to do."
The pick is the payoff on a tank Washington ran in the open: the franchise acquired veterans and sat them, won the draft lottery, and entered the night with the No. 1 slot. What's notable is the bet itself. ESPN's final board had flipped Peterson to the top spot despite Dybantsa leading college basketball in scoring — and Washington still took the wing. In a class scouts called the deepest top five in two decades, the Wizards chose positional size and a higher ceiling over the safer guard.
Dybantsa is Washington's first No. 1 pick since John Wall in 2010, and only the third in franchise history. The comp the front office is chasing is obvious: a year after Cooper Flagg went first and ran away with Rookie of the Year, the league's next presumptive franchise wing lands on a roster with nothing but minutes to give him.
Washington has since paired the draft haul with veteran voices on the bench — Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing joined Brian Keefe's staff as an assistant coach.
Update (July 9, 2026): Dybantsa has since debuted an unreleased Nike GT basketball model.
Source: Al Jazeera.
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