CHICAGO — AJ Dybantsa arrived at the NBA Draft Combine on Wednesday in a gray plaid suit, a dark blue dress shirt and a tie with notes of blue, then spent the day making the case that he belongs at the very top of the draft. The explosive wing from BYU said he wants to be picked No. 1, and he backed that up with a 42-inch max vertical leap test that ranked as the fourth-highest score at the combine.
Dybantsa said he had already met with the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks as of noon Wednesday, turning a routine combine stop into the closest thing a teenager can have to a first day on the job. He said he had never had a job interview before, then explained that his father pushed him to dress the part. “So my dad’s kind of like, ‘You know, this is your job interview. So come professional, come in a suit,’” Dybantsa said.
The 18-year-old said he started taking basketball seriously at 13, and his comments Wednesday sounded like someone trying to convince teams he can fit just about any offensive and defensive look they want. “I’m super versatile as a player,” he said. “I think I can guard one through four, play one through four.” He added that he can handle some combo guard duties if needed and described himself as a jumbo wing when the matchup calls for it. “I play the game the right way,” Dybantsa said. “So I try to play to win, try to make my teammates better.” He also offered the simplest sales pitch of the day: “But I’m super exciting as a player, super explosive. I fill seats.”
The push for Dybantsa comes with real stakes at the top of the board. The Wizards won the draft lottery and hold the No. 1 pick, followed by the Jazz at No. 2, the Grizzlies at No. 3 and the Bulls at No. 4. Dybantsa is facing competition for the top spot from Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, and each of them has a different argument to make in Chicago.
Peterson said he had interviewed with approximately 10 teams by midday Wednesday, including the Wizards, Jazz and Grizzlies, and said he can work with any roster because he can play both on and off the ball. He also made clear he would not shut down interest from teams that view him as a two-guard. “Nah, no, sir,” Peterson said when asked if he would cross a team off his list over that label. “At the end of the day, whoever wants to pick you is probably going to pick you,” he added. “So if they come in and say I’m a two-guard, I’m familiar with it now, so I’ll just make a way.”
Boozer said the parts of his game he trusts most are the ones that tend to travel. “I think my mind, for sure,” he said. “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.” Wilson, meanwhile, is trying to answer evaluators after hand injuries limited him to 24 games at North Carolina. For now, the combine has become less about workouts than about identity, and Dybantsa made it plain that he sees himself as the kind of player a team can build around if it wants a wing who can do a little of everything and draw a crowd while doing it.
