Andrew Wiggins on AJ Dybantsa's No. 1 pitch at combine

andrew wiggins is not the story here, but AJ Dybantsa made the No. 1-pick push impossible to ignore at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. The BYU wing said he wants the top selection, then backed it with a 42-inch max vertical leap and a blunt sales pitch: "I fill seats."

Dybantsa in Chicago

Dybantsa treated the week-long combine like an extended audition and met with the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks by noon Wednesday. The Wizards won the draft lottery and hold the No. 1 pick, with the Jazz at No. 2, the Grizzlies at No. 3 and the Bulls at No. 4.

He wore a gray plaid suit, a dark blue dress shirt and a tie with notes of blue for his media session, matching the message he said came from his father: "You know, this is your job interview. So come professional, come in a suit." Dybantsa also said, "I had interviews this morning with different teams, and I mean, I never had a job before."

Dybantsa's roster case

The 20-minute question-and-answer session gave him a chance to spell out how he views himself on the floor. "I’m super versatile as a player," he said, adding, "I think I can guard one through four, play one through four." He also said, "I think that I can play a little bit of combo guard if you need me to," and, "I can be that jumbo wing if you need me to."

That message lands in a draft race where the top slot is being weighed among a small group of prospects. Dybantsa said he started taking basketball seriously when he was 13, while Kansas guard Darryn Peterson said he had interviewed with approximately 10 teams and would not cross a team off his list if it viewed him as a two-guard. Peterson had spoken with the Wizards, Jazz and Grizzlies, and said, "I think I can fit with any team just because I think I can play both off and on the ball and help my team wherever I go."

Boozer, Wilson and the chase

Cameron Boozer said the part of his game that will transfer immediately is "my mind, for sure," and added, "I just think my feel for the game is elite. My competitiveness, my will to win, I think those are the biggest things that are going to translate." Caleb Wilson played only 24 games at North Carolina after breaking a bone in his left hand on Feb. 10, another reminder that the group chasing the top pick is not all being judged on the same clean sample.

Dybantsa’s mix of athletic testing, team interviews and a public push for No. 1 puts pressure on the Wizards’ evaluation as the draft picture tightens around the top four picks. If his combine week was about anything, it was making sure Washington and the rest of the front office room know he does not want to blend into the class.