The 2026 NBA Draft is in the books. We graded each pick of the first round and second round; now, here’s a look at the team grades for the Washington Wizards ahead of Thursday’s showdown with the Jazz:
Washington Wizards: A
The Wizards finally land their star. Dybantsa could become one of the NBA’s most unstoppable shot-creators. At 6-foot-9, he has a special blend of athletic tools the way he bends, shifts, and explodes with the ball in his hands. Dybantsa led the nation with 25.5 points per game while breaking Danny Ainge’s 48-year-old BYU freshman scoring record with a 43-point eruption. He gets to the rim at will, cooks in the midrange, draws fouls at a high rate, and displays point forward potential. After weeks of deliberating between Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Dybantsa likely got the nod because he’s significantly taller and comes with less baggage.
In Washington, the pressure will be alleviated off AJ early in his career, now that he’s teammates with two veterans in an All-Star-caliber big man in Anthony Davis and point guard Trae Young, who agreed to re-sign. The Wizards could even be quite competitive early on in Dybantsa’s career, especially if their existing young players get even better: Alex Sarr already looks like an effective two-way big, while guards and wings like Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, Will Riley, and Bilal Coulibaly have all shown flashes at one time or another. But none of them project to be a superstar like Dybantsa, whose upside will be determined by whether he can become a knockdown 3-point shooter, as well as a more impactful defender to take full advantage of his physical tools. But the native of Brockton, Mass., has a tremendously high floor with his scoring skill alone that gives the Wizards a face of the franchise to build around and the ceiling to be a future MVP.
With Davis and Sarr leading Washington’s frontcourt, the Wizards still need some depth behind them. And Okpara knows his role as a player who protects the paint, runs the floor, finishes lobs, sets screens, and doesn’t try to be more than that. One thing Okpara, Sarr, and Davis all have in common is their switchability, which could enable Washington to switch screens across positions. The issue is that none of them are reliable perimeter shooters, and Okpara hasn’t shown much potential to ever become one.
Check out the rest of the team’s draft grades here.
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