Andrew Wiggins sits at the center of a No. 1 debate for the Washington Wizards, who are weighing AJ Dybantsa against Darryn Peterson in the 2026 NBA Draft. The choice is not about fit around a finished roster; it is about which player can become the franchise cornerstone.
AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson for
Sam Vecenie classifies both prospects as Tier 1 players, and he leans into Dybantsa’s ceiling with a blunt line: “First and foremost, he’s a prolific scorer.” He also said, “Elite tools for a wing; could easily become a top-10 NBA player.”
The discussion came in a one-on-one exchange with Josh Robbins, who opened by saying, “Sam, you and I have held many discussions before previous drafts, but we’ve never discussed a scenario in which the Wizards held the top pick.” That is the frame now: Washington, D.C., holds the top selection and has two names at the front of the board.
Describing AJ Dybantsa
Vecenie’s case for Dybantsa starts with production. He averaged 25.5 points as a teenage college freshman, shot 51 percent from the field, 33 percent from 3 and 77.4 percent from the line, and got to the line 8.5 times per game. He also took more free throws than anyone else in the country.
The rest of the profile points to a wing who scores in multiple ways. Dybantsa averaged over five attempts per game at the rim in half-court settings and hit 50.7 percent of his midrange jumpers between 10 and 18 feet this season. Vecenie described him as a dynamic athlete at 6 feet 9, with superstar qualities that should allow Washington, D.C., to get behind him.
Richie Saunders and the ACL
The sharper part of the evaluation came when Dybantsa had to create more for others. After Richie Saunders went down with an ACL tear, Dybantsa averaged nearly five assists per game over his final 10 games of the year. That stretch showed he could handle more than a scoring burden when the offense had to bend around him.
It also exposed the edge in the scouting report. Vecenie said Dybantsa’s handle can be a bit loose and that he needs to get stronger on the ball. That is the tradeoff at the top of the board: a potential franchise cornerstone with All-NBA upside, but one who still has to tighten the parts of his game that break under pressure.
Washington Wizards at No. 1
For the Washington Wizards, the decision is simple to state and hard to execute. AJ Dybantsa offers the bigger wing profile and the louder scoring numbers; Darryn Peterson gives them another Tier 1 path at No. 1. Which of AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson the Washington Wizards choose in the 2026 NBA Draft will define how they build around the top pick.
