NEW YORK — The Wizards have been rewarded for their tanking crimes.
On Tuesday, Washington selected BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft after amassing a league-worst 17–65 record. It marks the team’s highest draft selection since taking John Wall with the top pick in the 2010 draft.
As Adam Silver ceremonially shook hands with the 6-foot-9 forward, he simultaneously marked the end of an era; the commissioner’s new “3-2-1 lottery” system will debut next year to help combat the tanking practices the Wizards emphasized en route to landing the No. 1 selection.
Dybantsa joins a young team led by two star veterans in Trae Young and Anthony Davis. At 25.5 points per game, the Massachusetts native was the first freshman to lead the nation in scoring since Young did so at Oklahoma in 2019.
“I think I bring versatility. Obviously, them re-signing Trae, having AD, I think I can fit in as an off-ball guy that can just score in different ways. Score in transition. Score off the catch. Score off the dribble,” Dybantsa said shortly after he was selected. “They challenged me when they talked to me, saying, ‘If we pick you, we want you to play defense 94 feet and pick up.’ So I definitely bring that too.”
Wizards owner Ted Leonsis has been criticized in recent years for threatening to move the team to Virginia in addition to the franchise’s poor on-court product. The Wizards have been irrelevant since the Wall/Bradley Beal era ended in 2019 and they now insert the young star to a team that should be an immediate factor in a lighter Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Capital One Arena is currently undergoing millions of dollars in renovations.
On Monday, Young agreed to a four-year, $212 million deal with the Wizards, which will pay an average of more than $50 million annually. Many analysts have panned the deal as an overpay, but the Wizards’ young roster gave the team the flexibility to make such a move.
Dybantsa’s selection at No. 1 led to a predictable domino effect with the draft’s top-four picks. The Jazz selected Kansas guard Darryn Peterson with the second pick, despite a bizarre season in Lawrence, while the Grizzlies followed with Duke’s Cameron Boozer, whose dad, Carlos, was a two-time All-Star. The Bulls selected North Carolina star Caleb Wilson at No. 4.
This year’s draft is considered historically deep, and speculation as to who would go No. 1 ran rampant going into Tuesday night, with debates focusing on Dybantsa’s talent and Peterson’s handling of multiple soft tissue injuries at KU. Boozer was deemed a safe pick as the son of a former star, while Wilson was considered a great prize for a fourth pick.
May, Mavericks, and More Michigan
Dusty May wasted no time making his mark on the Mavericks roster. A day after being named the team’s new head coach, May was present at Barclays Center to support multiple Michigan players who were invited to the green room.
That included Morez Johnson Jr., who Dallas selected with the No. 9 overall pick. With the pick, May reunites with one of his key players from the Wolverines’ title run, as the 6-foot-9 big man averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 40 games at Michigan last season.
“It’s insane,” Johnson Jr. said to ESPN shortly after getting taken. “The Michigan Mavs now.”
It’s a mixed track record for college coaches who made the jump to the NBA and having Johnson might provide a boost to May. Celtics general manager Brad Stevens famously signed Gordon Hayward, his star player at Butler, when he was the head coach in Boston, while John Beilein had no Michigan players on the roster in his failed season with the Cavaliers.
Johnson gives May an ally in the locker room who can vouch for him as a coach, while the rookie has a familiar face to help him adjust to life in the NBA.
