AJ Dybantsa To Visit Wizards In Coming Days
Potential No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa will travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with Wizards officials at some point within the next few days, multiple league sources tell David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic. According to Aldridge and Robbins, Dybantsa’s visit with the team could happen as early as Thursday.
The Wizards hold the first overall pick in the 2026 draft and have been widely projected to use that pick to select Dybantsa, who showed star potential during his first and only college season at BYU. The 6’9″ wing led the nation with 25.5 points per game while also contributing 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest and shooting 51.0% from the floor.
Still, while Dybantsa is viewed as the favorite to be Washington’s pick, that’s not a lock. The Wizards have played their cards close to the vest and there’s no consensus top prospect in the 2026 class, with Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, and UNC forward Caleb Wilson also vying for the No. 1 spot. A league source tells The Athletic that Wilson has already met with Wizards team officials.
In a separate story for The Athletic, Robbins cites a team source who says the “prevailing opinion” among Wizards officials is that a pair of prospects are in a tier of their own at the top of the draft class. While he doesn’t specify which two prospects Washington likes most, Robbins notes that the general consensus among scouts and executives around the league is that Dybantsa and Peterson have separated themselves from the rest of the class.
According to Robbins, it’s possible the Wizards haven’t yet made a decision on which prospect they prefer at No. 1. If that’s the case, Dybantsa’s visit will be an opportunity for the front office to get a better sense of his personality and character and determine whether he’d be an ideal cultural fit for the organization.
Generally, for players at the very top of the draft, these visits with teams consist primarily of conversations and dinners rather than full-fledged workouts. When Wilson visited the Wizards, for instance, he didn’t work out for the team, per Aldridge and Robbins.
NBA Invites 14 Prospects To Draft Green Room
A total of 14 draft-eligible players have been invited to the NBA’s green room for the 2026 draft so far, according to Jeremy Woo of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the first round of invitations was sent out on Tuesday.
The 14 prospects who have been invited to the green room are as follows, sorted by their rank on ESPN’s big board:
AJ Dybantsa (BYU)- Darryn Peterson (Kansas)
- Cameron Boozer (Duke)
- Caleb Wilson (UNC)
- Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
- Darius Acuff (Arkansas)
- Mikel Brown (Louisville)
- Kingston Flemings (Houston)
- Nate Ament (Tennessee)
- Aday Mara (Michigan)
- Brayden Burries (Arizona)
- Karim Lopez (Mexico)
- Labaron Philon (Alabama)
- Christian Anderson (Texas Tech)
A pair of Mara’s former Wolverines teammates, Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 12) and Morez Johnson (No. 14), are the only players ranked in the lottery on ESPN’s board who have yet to be invited to the green room. However, it seems safe to assume their invitations are still coming — the league typically sends out those invites in two or three waves.
The players invited to the green room can typically feel pretty confident about their chances to be first-round picks, since the league only decides who to invite after asking teams to vote on the 25 prospects whom they expect to come off the board first. Still, it’s not always a lock. In 2024, for instance, green room invitees Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy had to wait until the second day of the draft to hear their names called.
In 2025, all 24 prospects who were invited to the green room by the NBA for the first day of the draft were among the 30 first-round picks. The league subsequently invited 12 more players to be in the green room for the second round a day later.
Draft Rumors: Wizards, Dybantsa, Ament, Burries, Johnson, More
While the Wizards continue to evaluate their options with the first overall pick and have not yet decided who they’ll select, sources around the NBA continue to think BYU wing AJ Dybantsa is their “most likely target,” according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.
Regardless of where he ends up, Dybantsa believes his new team could make a quick rise up the standings, similar to what’s happened with the Spurs the past couple seasons, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
“It won’t take that long, especially with my adaptability and my work ethic,” Dybantsa said Monday. “I think that will be, I’m not going to say easy, but pretty similar to what these guys do in terms of the forecast.”
Vecenie’s mock draft features several other bits of sourced intel and speculation. He writes that there’s a good deal of intrigue about what the Clippers (fifth) and Nets (sixth) will do right after the top four.
Both teams have been linked to the several guards projected to go in that range, Vecenie notes, and there have been rumors about both clubs exploring the possibility of moving down as well. Los Angeles and Brooklyn have also been connected to Michigan center Aday Mara, Vecenie adds, though it’s not clear if that would be in a trade-down scenario.
Here are a few more rumors ahead of the draft, which will take place June 23-24:
- Both Vecenie and Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints have heard rumblings about the Nets potentially being interested in Nate Ament. As Vecenie writes, last year’s draft showed that Brooklyn’s front office is less concerned with position and more interested in adding players it has highest on its board. With that in mind, Vecenie has the Nets selecting Darius Acuff, though Vecenie acknowledges that’s more based on him viewing the Arkansas star as the best available player at that spot rather than any inside knowledge of the way Brooklyn might be leaning.
- The Hawks (eighth) have explored trade-down scenarios, Vecenie writes, and while they could use a long-term replacement for Trae Young, Vecenie has them selecting Mara.
- Vecenie and Siegel both have the Mavericks taking Brayden Burries with the ninth pick. Siegel cites speculation that Burries’ agents at Klutch Sports are trying to angle their client to Dallas, while Vecenie says other lottery clubs are trying to figure out why the Arizona guard hasn’t worked out for many teams. Either way, Burries is expected to draw interest from teams trying to win next season, according to Vecenie, who hears the Mavericks are exploring a number of possibilities at No. 9.
- Vecenie has gotten the impression that Yaxel Lendeborg might fall out of the lottery, possibly because he’s the oldest player projected to go in that range. Siegel has heard similar speculation, writing that the Michigan forward’s floor appears to be either Oklahoma City (No. 17) or Charlotte (No. 18).
- On the other hand, both Vecenie and Siegel suggest Lendeborg’s teammate Morez Johnson is a player on the rise, with sources telling ClutchPoints some teams view the Wolverines forward/center as a lottery lock. Vecenie thinks Johnson is unlikely to fall past 15th, which is one spot outside of the lottery. For what it’s worth, both authors have the Hornets selecting Johnson 14th overall.
- Ament, Karim Lopez, Chris Cenac, Jayden Quaintance and Ebuka Okorie are among the prospects who appear to have a wide draft range, according to Vecenie. Lopez, for instance, could be in play anywhere from No. 11 to around No. 25.
Draft Notes: Bulls, Cenac, Spurs, Mavericks, Hall
Houston big man Chris Cenac worked out for the Bulls on Monday, a source tells Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 6’11” big man, who spent his freshman season with the Cougars before declaring for the 2026 draft as an early entrant, is ranked 21st on ESPN’s big board.
Donovan Atwell (Texas Tech), Tobe Awaka (Arizona), Josh Dix (Creighton), Nate Johnson (Kansas State) and Xaivian Lee (Florida) also participated in Monday’s workout with the Bulls, Lorenzi reports. Awaka (No. 49) is considered a potential second-round pick, while the other four players are projected to go undrafted.
Chicago controls the fourth, 15th, 38th and 56th picks.
Here are few more notes on June’s draft:
- The Spurs (20th, 35th, 42nd, 44th) also control four draft picks. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints hears Cenac is a “real possibility” for San Antonio at No. 20, assuming he’s still available (Twitter link).
- The Mavericks conducted a pre-draft workout on Monday featuring Sam Alexis (Indiana), DJ Armstrong (UMBC), Quincy Ballard (Mississippi State), Kylan Boswell (Illinois), David Dixon (Duquesne) and Mark Mitchell (Missouri), reports Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). Dallas currently has two first-round picks (ninth and 30th) and one second-rounder (48th). Boswell (55th on ESPN’s board) is considered the most likely player to be selected later this month.
- Former Virginia point guard Dallin Hall worked out for the Wizards last week and had a workout with the Magic on Sunday, agent Jake Cohen tells Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Hall, a senior this past season, spent three years at BYU prior to transferring to Virginia.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Acuff, Flemings, Kerr, Suns, Morant
The Kings control the seventh, 34th and 45th picks in the 2026 NBA draft. They’ve been active in working out prospects and that will continue on Tuesday morning, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link).
Sacramento will be hosting six players tomorrow: Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville), Jevon Porter (Missouri), Giovanni Emejuru (East Carolina) and Ernest Udeh (Miami). Gillespie is viewed as the top prospect among that group by some outlets, ranking No. 44 on ESPN’s big board.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Several mock drafts last month had the Kings selecting Darius Acuff with the seventh overall pick, but that has changed of late, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. That’s not because the Kings aren’t interested in Acuff — the mocks have him coming off the board at No. 5 or No. 6. Instead, those mocks have the Kings drafting Kingston Flemings, another guard who’s a projected lottery pick. A current NBA agent and former scout who spoke to Anderson had Acuff ranked higher than Flemings, calling the latter a “10-year starter” but “not an All-Star.”
- Jerry Stackhouse spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr‘s staff before parting ways with the Warriors when his contract expired. He talked about what he learned from Kerr on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back Show (YouTube link), as Will Simonds of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “I saw how how Steve, you know, he wants conversation,” Stackhouse said in part. “He wants to make sure that you understand — even the coaching staff — just constantly confirming with everybody to make sure that you know where you stand and and you know what we’re trying to get accomplished.”
- The Suns have no interest in trading for Ja Morant, a source reiterated to Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark (Twitter link). Bourguet reported about a month ago that Phoenix wasn’t intrigued by the possibility of acquiring Morant, but speculation about the possibility has persisted.
Thunder GM Talks Holmgren, Team Options, Draft, More
While Thunder big man Chet Holmgren drew plenty of criticism for his lackluster performance in the Western Conference finals, particularly the Game 7 loss in which he finished with just four points (on 1-of-2 shooting) and four rebounds in 33 minutes, general manager Sam Presti publicly backed the former No. 2 overall pick on Monday, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman.
According to Presti, Holmgren’s “underdog” mentality will serve him well going forward.
“Chet’s one of our guys,” Presti said. “He’s been so impactful. He drives winning on so many different levels for us. We were sweeping our way to the Western Conference Finals primarily because of his efforts in the [Suns and Lakers] series. All that to say, he didn’t have a great series in the last series.
“… This is a guy who’s intrinsically motivated. He doesn’t need people questioning him or things on the internet to drive his improvement. The best example of that is we won the Finals last year, and he was dominant in Game 7 defensively and through a lot of the playoffs.
“I’m not really that concerned about him. The good thing is you get to confront those things again and continue to improve, and I’m confident that he’ll be ready to go.”
Here’s more from Presti’s end-of-season press conference:
- The Thunder project to be well over the second tax apron in 2026/27 if they exercise their team options on Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort and Kenrich Williams. They could also be facing a roster crunch, with two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 17) and one second-rounder (No. 37) on top of having most of the roster signed to guaranteed contracts for next season. However, Presti reiterated ownership is willing to spend to contend for championships if the front office deems it necessary, as Anthony Slater of ESPN relays. “Is it possible that we just pick up the options for everybody and roll into next season when we have a bigger financial jump for the team?” Presti said. “That’s certainly possible. … The process itself to get to those potential options, it could take a little while. I could see it going a little deeper into the summer than we’re used to.”
- Oklahoma City will explore a number of possibilities with those three selections in this month’s draft, Presti told reporters, including Martinez. “Everybody knows we try to move up every year,” Presti said. “We try to get a price for what it would take for us to move out entirely, and then we also have contingencies to move back in the draft. It’s all about creating value. That’s how we see each one of these picks. Sometimes, the best value is to take the best player on the board and figure it out later. … But we’ll look at all these different options.”
- Presti spoke highly of Thomas Sorber, the team’s 2025 first-round pick who tore his ACL this past September and missed his entire rookie season, Martinez writes. However, Presti doesn’t think Sorber will play in Summer League next month.
- The longtime executive also praised mid-season acquisition Jared McCain, Martinez adds. “I’ve always felt like he’s a guy that contributes to winning,” Presti said. ” … There aren’t many people that I would choose to try to assimilate into our particular team in the middle of the year. … But he had the right mindset to walk into a team like ours and in the right game. I think, going forward, there’s a more balanced player in there and not just a guy that’s going to come off and be able to hit shots like that. He really understands the game. He understands winning. He’ll put his body out there. I’m looking forward to a full summer with him, a full training camp and really seeing how he accents our full team.”
Scout Discusses Building Around Cooper Flagg
The Mavericks are entering an important offseason as they look to build their team around star rookie Cooper Flagg. They have the ninth, 30th, and 48th overall picks in the 2026 draft, along with a new front office headlined by new president Masai Ujiri and first-time general manager Mike Schmitz.
NBA draft scout James Barlowe spoke recently about the options facing Dallas this summer as they look to add another cornerstone alongside Flagg, per Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal.
Barlowe points to more consistent outside shooting as a need for the team moving forward. He highlights Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville), Kingston Flemings (Houston), Brayden Burries (Arizona), and Nate Ament (Tennessee) as likely top options when the Mavs are on the board, and calls Brown the top long-term guard prospect, given his ceiling as a shooter and play-maker. Brown is seventh on ESPN’s big board by Jeremy Woo, with Flemings ranked one spot lower at No. 8.
As teams like the Knicks, Spurs, and Thunder have shown, having as many players as possible with positional size who can dribble, pass, and shoot can make a huge difference in terms of injecting versatility and unpredictability in a team’s offense, which is why Barlowe says the team shouldn’t hesitate if Brown is available when they’re at the podium.
While Ujiri has a reputation for valuing positional size above all things, due largely to the team he built in Toronto, Barlowe calls that an oversimplification, saying, “He’s a rule changer instead of a rule follower.”
The Mavs also face a decision on Kyrie Irving, who is expected to be healthy after missing this season with an ACL tear. They could value Irving as a scorer and play-maker alongside Flagg, in which case it would behoove them to draft a guard who could play alongside Irving until it’s time to inherit more responsibility. However, Barlowe also believes that a smart front office would at least explore what Irving could return in trade if it helps continue to build a young foundation around Flagg.
Another option for Dallas would be to look into moving down in the draft, either with pick No. 9 or 30, to continue compiling future assets — the Mavs have very limited access to future draft picks after this summer.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Have Worked Out For Thunder
Michigan big men Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. are among the prospects who have had individual pre-draft workouts with the Thunder, according to Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscription required).
Lendeborg ranks 12th on ESPN’s big board, while Johnson comes two spots behind at 14th. The Thunder currently control two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 17) and one second-rounder (No. 37) in this month’s draft, which will take place on June 23 and June 24.
Projected lottery pick Nate Ament, who previously confirmed he worked out for Oklahoma City, is also on Martinez’s list, as are Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance. Graves and Quaintance are considered likely first-round picks, ranking 17th and 22nd on ESPN’s board, respectively.
The Thunder have also hosted several other players during the pre-draft process, per Martinez, including Alex Karaban (No. 30 on ESPN’s board), Emanuel Sharp (No. 45), Izaiyah Nelson (No. 47), Tamin Lipsey (No. 69) and Rafael Castro (No. 73).
Draft Notes: Dybantsa, Acuff, Ament, Alexis, Hoosiers
In a one-on-one interview with Ari Alexander of 7News Boston (Twitter video link), AJ Dybantsa praised both the Wizards and the Jazz and said he was confident he’ll end up being the No. 1 overall pick in a few weeks, as Jackson Payne of The Deseret News relays. Washington controls the first pick and Utah holds the second.
The former BYU star, who’s widely projected to be a top-two pick, pointed out that trades are always a possibility and said he’ll be content no matter where he ends up.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Dybantsa told Alexander. “Anyone can trade up, anyone can trade down, but I’m going to be happy with anybody.”
Here’s more on the 2026 NBA draft:
- Darius Acuff, a projected mid-lottery pick, was in Chicago on Friday for a workout with the Bulls, reports Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). The ex-Arkansas guard also worked out for the Nets on Wednesday and has upcoming sessions with the Jazz and Bucks, according to Wasserman. Acuff is coming off one of the most productive seasons for a freshman guard in NCAA history, though there are question marks about his defense. Chicago, which held a workout on Tuesday featuring four other possible lottery picks, controls the fourth and 15th selections in the first round, while Brooklyn holds the sixth pick and Milwaukee has the 10th.
- While there has been chatter about the Nets being high on Nate Ament, the projected lottery pick hasn’t worked out for Brooklyn to this point, sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). The 6’10” forward is another one-and-done prospect, having spent his freshman season at Tennessee.
- Indiana forward Sam Alexis said he’s in regular communication with former Hoosiers teammates Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson, who are also regulars in the pre-draft workout circuit, per Tony East of Forbes and Circle City Spin (Twitter video link). Alexis, a senior in 2025/26, worked out for the Pacers on Friday. He said the ex-Hoosiers are helping one another prepare by sending tips about what each team likes to do during the sessions. “It’s helpful,” Alexis said. “It’s a lot. (It helps) you mentally prepare for (the workout).” When asked by East if he wanted to be the first player to attend a team’s workout to help DeVries and Wilkerson, Alexis smirked. “Nah, I want to be the last one,” he said with a laugh.
Central Notes: Bulls, Pacers, Cavaliers’ Offseason
The Bulls hosted a pre-draft workout on Tuesday featuring Keaton Wagler (Illinois), Kingston Flemings (Houston), Nate Ament (Tennessee) and Morez Johnson (Michigan), league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports.
Chicago currently controls the fourth, 15th, 38th and 56th picks in this year’s draft, which will take place on June 23 and June 24. Wagler, Flemings and Ament are all projected lottery picks, while Johnson has been moving up draft boards and could go in the top 14 as well.
Since none of those prospects are expected to go in the top four, rival teams are curious whether the Bulls might be open to moving down from No. 4 or possibly move up from No. 15 to add a second lottery pick, O’Connor writes.
We have more from around the Central:
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times examines the forwards who are under currently under contract with the Bulls, including the impending free agents, writing that Leonard Miller deserves to have his $2.4MM team option exercised after he flashed some intriguing tools down the stretch last season. While Chicago would probably be happy to part Patrick Williams, the $54MM he’s owed over the next three seasons makes his contact “unmovable,” in Cowley’s view.
- The Pacers were originally planning to host Purdue point guard Braden Smith and California forward Chris Bell as part of Friday’s group workout, but they will be replaced by UMBC guard DJ Armstrong and Kansas guard Tre White, the team announced (via Twitter). No reason for the change was given. The Pacers don’t currently control a draft pick, though it’s possible the team could acquire one (or more). Smith, an Indiana native, was a consensus All-America selection each of the past two seasons and is ranked No. 38 on ESPN’s big board.
- The Cavaliers have some difficult decisions to make this summer after a somewhat disappointing 2025/26 campaign, Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron (Substack link) writes in his offseason preview. Cleveland was the only team to finish over the second tax apron in ’25/26, Gozlan observes, which means the team’s 2033 first-round pick will be “frozen” (unable to be traded) for multiple seasons. Moving below the second apron figures to be a high priority for the Cavaliers, likely with the assistance of a lower cap hit for James Harden, Gozlan adds. Operating over the first but under the second apron would allow Cleveland to aggregate salaries in trades, among other eased restrictions.