{"id":639021,"date":"2026-03-04T15:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/639021\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:09:15","slug":"potential-1-pick-aj-dybantsa-may-be-off-the-board-for-the-pacers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/639021\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential #1 Pick AJ Dybantsa May be Off the Board for the Pacers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">The Indiana Pacers have an excellent chance at getting a top 4 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. They can add a piece that can push them back into title contention. There are two dynamic scorers at the top of the draft in Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">That could be down to one. Aj recently said, \u201cI might not leave college. My mom wants me to stay and get my degree. Those words echo\u2019d across the social media landscape and would have a ripple effect throughout the entire draft. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI might not leave college\u2026 my mom wants me to stay and get my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; AJ Dybantsa<\/p>\n<p>(Via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Deseret?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Deseret<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gGGRb27QMe\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/gGGRb27QMe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Fullcourtpass\/status\/2028965987727597925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">AJ as a Freshman is averaging 24.8 ppg, 6.7 rebs and 3.8 assists per game. This level of production is hard to replace. Yes, there are other extremely talented players throughout the class but finding a 6\u20199 210-pound scoring wing is card to find. You would have likely target another position or trade down if you were looking to grab another wing.<\/p>\n<p>Other optionsKeaton Wagler<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">Here are some of the other notable wing options. Wagler is more of a shooting guard but could play either spot in the NBA. He isn\u2019t very good defensively, but he is a legit scorer. He can finish at the cup using his 6\u20196 frame and craftiness. He is an excellent 3-point shooter at 42.3%. He also has an excellent feel for the game. He averages 5 reb, 4.3 assists, 6.3 free throws and shoots 81.4% from the free throw line.<\/p>\n<p>Brayden Burries<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">Burries is another scoring guard. He is only 6\u20194 but is dynamite on and off ball. He averages 15.5 ppg, 4.9 reb and 2.7 ast per game. He is a straight-line drive kind of guy with serious speed. He shots the three ball at 36.9% on 4.3 attempts per game. He is a well rounded defender who isn\u2019t afraid to stick his nose in there. <\/p>\n<p>Tounde Yessoufou<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">Tounde is a dynamic two talents. He is just as good offensively as he is defensively. He already has a grown man body as a freshman. He is 6\u20195 215lbs of solid muscle. He averages 17.6 ppg, 5.7 reb, and 1.9 stls per game. He excels in the open floor and the mid post. He has a nice turn around fadeaway over his left shoulder. He is one of the best offensive wings in the country. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">The issue with Tounde is his three-point shooting. He is only shooting 31.6% from deep on 5.3 attempts per game. He isn\u2019t shy about attempting the shot but his mechanics need some work. He is a tireless worker so I do believe this will improve with more training. <\/p>\n<p>Conclusion <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7j\">We have seen this movie before. Just last year Cooper Flagg teased in February that he would like to come back to Duke. We all know how that played out. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI want to come back next year\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cooper Flagg in an interview with the Athletic <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aK1wR8WpeL\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/aK1wR8WpeL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBKReport\/status\/1890577643562504370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">Ultimately it would be a tragedy for the Pacers to miss out on a talent like Aj but it isn\u2019t the end of the world. If they took best player available and it happened to be a big. That is a good thing. Jay Huff is a nice player, but you would want a higher upside guy to replace him. If the organization really wanted a wing. There are plenty of options and recouping a pick along the way is never bad either. <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Indiana Pacers have an excellent chance at getting a top 4 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,6,114],"class_list":["post-639021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indiana-pacers","tag-basketball","tag-indiana","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-indianapacers","tag-nba","tag-pacers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116171542785010195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}