AJ Dybantsa spent the NBA Finals studying the team most likely to mirror his own arrival. Watching San Antonio's young core push the Knicks, the projected No. 1 pick made it clear he expects to contribute right away.
"It won't take that long, especially with my adaptability and my work ethic," Dybantsa said Monday at the Finals. "I think that will be, I'm not going to say easy, but pretty similar to what these guys do in terms of the forecast."
The Washington Wizards, who hold the top selection, will get a closer look soon. They will host Dybantsa "in the next few days, perhaps as soon as Thursday," according to David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The trip is built around conversations and dinners rather than a full workout, a chance to gauge personality and fit. North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson has already met with the team.
What Washington does with the pick is the offseason's first big decision. The Athletic surveyed 10 league executives, and seven favored simply taking Dybantsa. "Don't complicate it," one advised.
The case for him is the scoring. The 6-foot-9 BYU freshman led college basketball at 25.5 points per game, adding 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 51 percent from the field. ESPN's Tim Bontemps put it plainly: "It's very hard to see a world in which he is not a very good NBA player." Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman wrote that Dybantsa "may be too rare of a scoring prospect to pass on," and noted his size on the wing could slot in alongside Washington's young pieces in Tre Johnson and Alex Sarr.
There is a counterargument. Some evaluators prefer Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, a three-level scorer who hit 38.2 percent from deep as a freshman. Bontemps suggested Peterson carries "a higher ceiling" as a pure scorer, and draft analyst Jonathan Givony called him "on another level talent-wise." The Wizards could, in theory, slide back one spot to a Jazz team reportedly partial to Dybantsa and still land Peterson.
Others in the class have backers too. Duke forward Cam Boozer drew praise from ESPN's John Hollinger, who described him as "basically college basketball Nikola Jokic."
The boldest scenario is the least likely. Marc J. Spears floated the idea of Washington exploring a trade for Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, though insiders consider it improbable and doubt the No. 1 pick would headline any such package.
For now the smart money stays on Dybantsa, a prospect who, after a week courtside at the Finals, sounds in no mood to wait his turn.
