Wizards opt for BYU's AJ Dybantsa with top pick of NBA draft - ESPN

After losing nearly 200 games over the past three seasons, the Washington Wizards ushered in a new era by drafting BYU freshman forward AJ Dybantsa with the first pick Tuesday.

The Wizards selected Dybantsa over Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson to help turn the franchise around. Entering the draft, Dybantsa and Peterson were widely considered to be the top two prospects.

«Being the No. 1 pick meant a lot to me,» Dybantsa said. «Obviously me being No. 1 throughout all my high school career, I definitely wanted to be a staple to be No. 1 in the NBA draft and be in the same conversation with LeBron James and Cooper Flagg, Allen Iverson and guys like that.»

For the franchise and the city of Washington, D.C., the selection of Dybantsa is a significant moment. The Wizards haven't made the playoffs since 2021 and have not been past the second round since 1979, when the then-Bullets lost in the NBA Finals.

Dybantsa joins John Wall (2010) and Kwame Brown (2001) as Washington's only No. 1 picks.

«I just know they're super hungry,» Dybantsa said of D.C.'s love for basketball in a conference call with reporters shortly after his selection. «Obviously they have a great young core and the potential is there, obviously. So them adding me, I think I can help them a little bit. Them re-signing Trae Young, them having A.D. [Anthony Davis] and having good vets along with our young core, I think [the Wizards] can do big things.»

After finishing 17-65 last season — their third straight season with 64 or more losses — the Wizards enter a new stage of the four-phase plan that Michael Winger, president of Monumental Basketball, and general manager Will Dawkins created to reshape the franchise.

The deconstruction phase is over, and