NEW YORK (AP) — For anyone seeking clues in the final hours before the NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa's Father's Day message to his dad apparently wasn't one.
In the first of two pictures that went along with the posting on X
, Anicet Dybantsa Sr. (“Ace”) is holding young AJ in front of the White House. The White House, of course, is in Washington, the home of the team that has the No. 1 pick on Tuesday night.But Dybantsa wasn't revealing anything about the
Wizards' intentions. He was just trying to avoid revealing too much of himself.
“Actually, it was just a random photo that I found,” Dybantsa said Monday. “I was going to do one and I was a baby, but I was naked, so I didn’t want to do that one. So the next one to the right just happened to be in front of the White House.”
There's a strong possibility Dybantsa is indeed headed back to Washington. The 6-foot-9 forward from Boston led the nation with 25.5 points per game in his lone season at BYU and has drawn comparisons with his size and skills to Kevin Durant, who is Dybantsa's favorite player.
The Wizards also could consider other players from a strong group of one-and-done stars, including Darryn Peterson of Kansas, college player of the year Cameron Boozer of Duke or forward Caleb Wilson from North Carolina. Behind them are a number of talented scoring guards.
“I think this draft top to bottom is elite. I think you look at guys even outside of the top group, guys in the 16-to-20 range, those are all great players,” Boozer said. “I think our draft is really strong, stronger than a lot of classes that came before us. I guess we’ll see how strong we really are in a couple of years from now, but I am super excited for sure.”
The Utah Jazz have the No. 2 pick, followed by the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. Assuming the four forwards are all gone by then, the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 5 would have the first choice among the likes of Keaton Wagler of Illinois, Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas, Kingston Flemings of Houston or Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville.
Dybantsa, with his strong resume against top competition, is obviously hard to pass up. But the Wizards also have to weigh Peterson's potential against what he was able to deliver at Kansas.
A McDonald's All-American in high school, he averaged 20.2 points last season as one of the top recruits ever landed by the Jayhawks. But there are plenty of questions when it comes to his availability. Peterson dealt with full-body cramping issues before the season that led to a brief hospitalization, and other injuries and illnesses kept him from playing in 11 games while limiting him in several others.
The 6-5 guard said teams haven't shown any concerns about his health.
“Not at all," he said. "Every team's got my medicals and I’m cleared, so there’s no issues.”
He doesn't seem stressed about not knowing where he's headed after draft night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“Oh, it’s been my life for a while now,” Peterson said. “I went to three different high schools. I’ve been on the move my entire life, so no problem at all. That's part of the process and I’m embracing it.”
The host Nets have the No. 6 pick, hoping to generate some buzz in a city where they've never felt less significant after the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973.
Dybantsa was at Game 4 at Madison Square Garden — the other photo with his father was taken at the NBA Finals — when the Knicks made the biggest finals comeback on record by erasing a 29-point deficit.
“Craziest game I've ever watched in real life," he said. "Like, it was so loud in there.”
Now Dybantsa is looking forward to being the player creating the cheers. The Wizards' title drought is almost as long as the Knicks' was, having last won in 1978 when they were still known as the Bullets.
If they tab Dybantsa as the player who can turn them around, he's ready for the expectations.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a little bit more pressure probably, target on my back,” Dybantsa said. “I mean, I’ve been No. 1 my whole life and people gunning after me, so it’d be a bigger motivation for me going into the league.”
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AP Basketball Writer Dave Skretta in Lawrence, Kansas, contributed to this report.
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