The Washington Wizards‘ years of tanking finally paid off as the franchise secured the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery in what’s been considered one of the best draft classes in a long time.
The fact that this happened a few months after the Wizards acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis as star pieces for next season is even more notable. The presence of Young and Davis means the Wizards likely won’t need to select top prospects such as Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson due to those positional needs already being fulfilled, leaving one top prospect as a natural pick for the Wizards: AJ Dybantsa.
However, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line is reporting that Wizards President Michael Winger has directly told him that the franchise is looking at options to potentially trade down in the draft as they don’t view the No. 1 pick as a ‘savior moment’ for Washington.
“Winger told me directly that the Wizards will at least consider trading down. He insisted that this is ‘not a savior moment’ for Washington, given that the franchise just traded for two former All-Stars in Trae Young and Anthony Davis.”
Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in his NCAA season with the BYU Cougars, and is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the Draft.
If Washington keeps control of their pick, it’d be harder to find a way to work Boozer or Wilson into a frontcourt rotation, which will already heavily feature Alexandre Sarr alongside Davis.
The same goes for the potential selection of Peterson when the Wizards already have multiple rotation-caliber guards like Young, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, and more.
The best wing player on the roster is Bilal Coulibaly, who’s a defensive menace, but might be the most replaceable right now. This is why Dybantsa would naturally fit as the team’s starting small forward, with Coulibaly potentially starting in the backcourt to make up for Young’s defensive shortcomings.
The top-end talent of the 2026 Draft class has been lauded for years leading up to the draft, and now the Wizards will have ultimate discretion on whoever they want to pick from this year’s stacked class. If they choose to trade down with a team like the Brooklyn Nets, they could still walk away with a lottery pick outside the top four while also accumulating more draft assets for the future.
Winger’s comment about this not being a ‘franchise savior’ moment clearly wasn’t meant as disrespect to Dybantsa, but a reflection of the Wizards’ reality. Even if the 2026 Draft Lottery dropped them outside the top five, they’d be ready to push for wins from next season with the veteran duo of Young and Davis.
Young averaged 17.9 points and 8.0 assists in 15 games last season before being traded and rested by the Wizards, while Davis averaged 20.2 points and 10.8 rebounds over his entire tenure with the Dallas Mavericks (29 games) before being salary-dumped to Washington in February 2026.
Now, they can do the same, but with either another generational prospect next to them or the additional assets they’d get from trading the selection.
