The Wizards won the top prize in Sunday’s lottery, but it’s premature to assume that pick will be AJ Dybantsa, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. The BYU star has topped nearly every prominent mock draft for several months, but Washington officials plan to sift through all their options for the next six weeks before making a decision.
Mannix reports that the Wizards aren’t ruling out the possibility of trading down, as insiders view this as a “top-heavy” draft without a consensus No. 1 pick. General manager Will Dawkins will review the scouting reports of all the top prospects, and if a player stands out who could be available later in the draft, sources tell Mannix that the team would be willing to deal.
Mannix suggests the Jazz, who drew the No. 2 spot, might have some interest in moving up to land Dybantsa. Utah’s front line is set after trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. in February, so there’s not a pressing need for another big man like Cameron Boozer. Keyonte George, who represented the team at the podium for Sunday’s lottery, appears to be the point guard of the future, so Darryn Peterson is less attractive than he might be to other teams. Dybantsa is the best fit, but the Jazz would likely have to pay a high price to move up.
There’s more on the draft lottery:
- Winger confirmed to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (subscription required) that he’s willing to listen to offers for the No. 1 pick. Winger said winning the lottery is “not a savior moment” and he views this year’s selection as another piece to the puzzle on top of several years of productive draft picks and the mid-season trades that brought in Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Jazz president Austin Ainge also expressed a willingness to deal, telling Fischer, “We’re open. We’ll always listen.”
- There’s a chance that the No. 3 pick held by the Grizzlies could be on the move as well, Fischer adds. Sources tell him that Memphis is receiving “no shortage of trade interest,” with an agent in Chicago suggesting that it could be sent out as part of a Ja Morant deal. Fischer is doubtful that the Grizzlies will part with that asset just to unload Morant, noting that team president Zach Kleiman has a history of trading up or into the draft, as he did last year when he moved up to No. 11 to snag Cedric Coward.
- Fischer tabs the Nets as the biggest loser in the lottery as they fell from third to sixth and likely have no path to land one of the elite four prospects. Brooklyn has a lot of future draft assets to offer in a trade, and general manager Sean Marks promised “to look at everything” in an effort to move up, but team officials throughout the league are skeptical that anyone would be willing to trade all the way down to No. 6. Any movement, Fischer adds, will probably be a “shuffling” of the top four teams.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic hears the same message, with one high-ranking team official telling him, “A team in the top four would be stupid to trade out.” Several team executives tell Vorkunov that Peterson isn’t a lock for the second pick, assuming Dybantsa is the first name off the board. Some teams would consider taking Boozer or Caleb Wilson ahead of the Kansas guard.
I know it’s risky to do this but unless they get a Chris Webber style offer for Dybantsa then they should try out at least one season of him and young and Davis
Dybantsa is a better fit in DC than Utah. SF is a position of need and is considered the best player available. Peterson is a better fit in Washington. He can slide right into the SG spot. The teams that are considering trading down are trying to establish leverage to get a huge offer. Utah is not dumb enough to trade up for #1. I have AJ going #1, DP going #2, Boozer going #3, and Wilson going #4. The fits for each of these guys is perfect
This is basketball. You take the player you believe will have the best future and can take your team somewhere. Not the best fit with what you have.
I don’t follow other American sports and don’t know how they pick in football and baseball. But in basketball, you always take the best player with the highest ceiling, not the fit.
Certainly high in the lottery. If you’re picking at #23 and you need a big, okay, sure.
But you don’t do that with a pick #1 or #2. Nobody among young players in DC has proven themselves or even shown things to warrant the team skipping on the best player in the draft because they might not work out together or smth.
All the rest of this talk is nonsense. You’re not going to overthink it and AJ is the number one overall pic and going to go to Washington. Utah would pick Patterson next. They have no shooting guard and he plays both ways on defense and offense. You can slide him right next to kg. The small Ford will be Bailey and they will eventually move Kessler or Lori in a year or two from now. Memphis, there’s no way you’re trading the third overall pick, especially when you just started tanking again. Articles like this are just creating a bunch of unnecessary drama. The top three teams are not making any trades.
Now what four and five do? I have no idea but I doubt they would trade out of their pics either
looking at the draft spots most of the teams are in a rebuild mode so why would you trade a top pick? This is a deep draft so unless you are b getting way over paid for a pick it is not happening.
I think it comes down to next year. 2027 is regarded as a weaker draft than most years and not many GM’s are excited for it. I can see a lot of trades happening before draft night for teams that want to improve and mortgaging the future. Possibly a team like Dallas who has no future picks until 2031 of their own (others are pick swaps). I can see Dallas moving to 3 or something.
This is such a deep draft having a top ten is like having a top 5 in other drafts. There is 15 players that are solid picks. Even 2nd round picks are valuable because its like having a late first round pick in most drafts. i do expect some players will opt out of the draft after seeing how much competition and wait out till next year. Already 1 good prospect decided to go back and wiat for next year.
The Grizz package would be intriguing. I guess they need to decide how deep of a rebuild are we shooting for? They also have the 16th pick. Maybe Ja and the 16th pick for assets in future drafts. They currently dont have a franchise guy to build around so I’m not sure trading the 3rd pick is the move. Boozer or Wilson would be a good building block. The current Griz bigs cant be relied on to stay healthy.
The price to move up in the lottery was very steep last year. It would take a big offer to get that #1 pick. And it’s very seldom that the #1 pick gets traded anyway. I don’t think it’ll happen.
I can see Brooklyn being desperate and moving up. They need to hit a home run in this draft. Can’t traded the 2027 pick though, it goes to Houston.