AJ Dybantsa wants the pressure of being the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft: ‘I’ve been No. 1 my whole life’
AJ Dybantsa’s childhood dreams of being an NBA star have been documented since elementary school. By middle school, the path to the league had become clear to him. By high school, it wasn’t a matter of whether he would reach the NBA, but when.
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And for the past two years, there has been little doubt he would be one of the top picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
But with just 24 hours left before the day Dybantsa spent a lifetime working toward, one question remains: How high will he go?
Depending on the mock draft, Dybantsa is the favorite to be selected No. 1 overall by the Wizards. But there’s also a scenario in which the Wizards choose Kansas guard Darryn Peterson or Duke forward Cameron Boozer instead, leaving Dybantsa to fall to the Jazz at No. 2.
As much as Dybantsa wants to wear the crown as this year’s No. 1 overall pick, he wouldn’t have the final hours of his draft process any other way.
“This is supposed to be like one of the most exciting days of your life,” Dybantsa said. “So I kind of want it to be a surprise, and it is going to be a surprise. So whenever my name gets called, I’m going to be super excited.”
If the Wizards select Dybantsa at the top of the draft, he would become the first Massachusetts-born player since Patrick Ewing in 1985 to be chosen No. 1 overall.
The prestige of being the top pick also comes with the pressure of lifting a franchise. The Wizards have made one playoff appearance since 2018 and haven’t won a title since 1978. But Dybantsa said he has embraced those expectations since he was a child.
“Obviously it’s going to be a little more pressure, a target on my back,” he said. “But I’ve been No. 1 my whole life and people have been gunning after me, so it’ll just be a bigger motivation for me going into the league.”
When Dybantsa posted a Father’s Day photo of himself as a toddler being held by his father, Ace, in front of the White House, some interpreted it as a hint that the Wizards’ decision had already been made.
Dybantsa said otherwise.
“Actually, it was a random photo that I found,” he said. “I was going to do one [from when] I was a baby, but I was naked. So the next one to the right just happened to be in front of the White House.”
Still, Dybantsa likes what he sees in Washington.
“I think they’ve got a good young core,” he said. “So I think I could fit in there, be a dynamic player, a dynamic wing, make an offensive impact and a defensive impact.”
Unlike last — in which New Hampshire native Cooper Flagg was viewed as the clear-cut No. 1 pick — this year has developed into a three-man race. Dybantsa said he was comfortable with that.
“We’re all trying to get to one spot,” Dybantsa said. “So if only one person can win, it’s definitely a competition. But I think we’re definitely going to be playing against each other for a long time.”
Longtime ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said teams could convince themselves that any of the top prospects — including North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson — are worthy of the top selection.
“If you look at the top, say, four prospects, I think Darryn Peterson is the most talented prospect,” Bilas said. “AJ Dybantsa looks like he was made in a lab to play in the NBA. Cameron Boozer is the best pure basketball player with his processing ability, how productive he is and how ridiculously consistent he is. And Caleb Wilson is the most explosive athlete of the group. So you could make a legitimate case for any of them to go No. 1. It’s just a question of what do you like?”
But his colleague Fran Fraschilla said none of the other prospects is as prepared for the NBA as Dybantsa.
“I think to put your head on a pillow at night, if you’re Michael Winger and Will Dawkins, you take AJ Dybantsa,” Fraschilla said. “The thing about AJ that impressed me all year — and I saw him play quite often — is that he got good NIL money to go to BYU, but he also had an NBA head coach, NBA assistant coaches, an NBA strength coach, an NBA nutritionist, NBA analytics, played in a great league with 15 draft picks and played in four different NBA arenas. I think everything is set up for him to comfortably fit into Washington’s situation.”
As recently as last week, Peterson reportedly visited with the Wizards and said he had no plans to meet with any other teams. But on Monday, he acknowledged meeting with the Jazz over the weekend.
While he still expects to be selected first, he appeared more open to the possibility of landing in Utah.
“I’m just blessed to be in this position and have this opportunity,” Peterson said.
No matter how the chips fall, Dybantsa said he agrees with the popular opinion that, with himself, Peterson and Boozer leading the way, this year’s draft class has the potential to make the kind of impact associated with the 2003 and 1996 classes.
“I think there’s some hidden gems,” he said. “Down the road, when we see ourselves in 15 years, I think a lot of us will still be in the league and we’ll be one of the best draft classes.”
For now, he’s enjoying the final stretch of a journey he started as a child.
Over the past three months, that journey has taken him from Los Angeles to Boston to Paris to Budapest to Nantes to New York. And even after the draft, he still has a trip to China on the itinerary.
“It’s been a lot,” he said. “It’s been a whirlwind for sure. That’s probably the word to use. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. They said this pre-draft process would be long and I didn’t believe it until I actually started it. I feel like the season blew by and then this process has been super long. But it’s been great getting to go to the Finals and getting to do a whole bunch of stuff.”
Draft night, he said, will remain a mystery.
“I’m going to find out when you find out,” he said.
The only guarantee he could offer was the promise he made to his father once the night is over.
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He said, I told him he could get the last hug.”
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