Washington Wizards rookie AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft, is not shy in admitting he has high expectations for his career.
Speaking to The Athletic’s David Aldridge, Dybantsa revealed a conversation he had with Dwyane Wade in which he spoke about what he wanted the goals for his NBA career to be:
“I was like, ‘I want to be a Hall of Famer. If I have a Hall of Fame speech, my career is set. I did all I needed to do.’ He was like, why not go bigger? I’m like, what is bigger than the Hall of Fame? He’s like, he had the same goal when he was playing basketball until the (NBA’s) 75th anniversary, and he was called up with all those guys, (with) Michael Jordan. He was like, that was the (new) goal. So he told me, I don’t know what it is, it’s like 19 years from now. It’ll be the 100th anniversary. So he’s like, ‘When they call the 100, you need to be in that top 100.'”
Dybantsa is entering the league with a tremendous amount of hype. He has been on the radar dating back to high school when he was a 5-star prospect and No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 college class.
During his lone season at BYU, Dybantsa lived up to that billing by leading Division I in scoring average with 25.5 points per game. He was a consensus All-American first-team selection, then went on to become the top pick in a loaded 2026 draft.
Scouting reports for Dybantsa emphasize how high his ceiling can be. B/R’s Jonathan Wasserman cited Jaylen Brown as his pro comp, while praising his “positional size, advanced footwork for creation, high-level shotmaking, 25.5 points per game and competitiveness” as strengths for him at the next level.
The Wizards are certainly betting on Dybantsa being the key to a turnaround for their franchise. They’ve constructed a fascinating roster for this season with Trae Young and Anthony Davis, but the most important thing is Dybantsa’s development.
If Dybantsa comes anywhere close to being on the NBA 100 team in celebration of the league’s 100th anniversary during the 2046-47 season, the Wizards might come out of the next decade or so with at least a Finals appearance, if not more.
Dybantsa’s preseason has shown there will be some of the usual growing pains for a young player. He’s only shooting 42.4 percent from the field (12.5 percent from three) in three games, but he is also getting to the free-throw line 5.7 times in just 24.0 minutes per contest.
The Wizards will get their first look at Dybantsa in a regular-season game on Oct. 21 when they host the Milwaukee Bucks.