If I had made a pitch to the NBA draft lottery teams before the lottery, it might have gone something like this:
Dear teams,
Congratulations on being part of the NBA draft lottery. I thought about giving you my condolences because the reason you’re in it is because you missed the playoffs, but in a league where everyone’s trying to lose, losing can be harder than winning, and you guys have excelled at it, so good job. As for the Heat and the Thunder, who won too many games but got here anyway because they had a pick traded to them from a team who was better at losing, hang in there. You’ll figure out how to lose someday.
As you all know, the three main candidates for the number one pick are BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, and Duke’s Cameron Boozer. As a BYU fan, I would like to make a pitch for why Dybantsa should be the number-one pick.
First off, let’s look at the stats from the 2025-26 college basketball season. When you compare Dybantsa’s stats with Peterson’s, there is no comparison. Dybantsa averaged 5.3 more points per game, 2.6 more rebounds per game, and 2.1 more assists per game than Peterson. He also outshot Peterson 51% to 44% from the field. Now, Boozer’s stats are a lot more comparable to Dybantsa’s, but he did it against much weaker competition. (The Big 12 was 14-10 against the ACC, and they got three teams into the Sweet 16 while Duke was the only ACC team to make it.)
Now, let’s look at something more objective: the NBA draft combine. (Let’s ignore the fact that this happened after the draft lottery, meaning I wouldn’t have had this data at the time I would’ve written this.) Of the three players, AJ had the fastest 3-quarter sprint and the highest leap both standing and with a head start. He also tied with Boozer for the fastest lane agility time. The only event where Peterson did better than Dybantsa was the shuttle run, and he only beat him by 0.04 seconds.
Also, Darryn Peterson does have a history of injuries, and while it might be a little unfair to the players to take that into account, there is a study that showed that having injuries in the past does in fact make you more likely to have injuries in the future.
Historically, if you’re the best player at Duke or at Kansas, you’re going to be seen as a big time NBA prospect no matter what. But there’s no way that someone who went to Utah Prep and BYU would be seen as the number one prospect unless they actually are the best player. So whoever is lucky enough to get the number one pick, AJ is your guy. Whichever team he ends up with will be my new favorite NBA team.
-Sincerely, Spencer Higinbotham. Go Cougs!
Why the Washington Wizards should not pick AJ Dybantsa with the number-one pick
However, now that I know that the Washington Wizards are getting the number one pick and that the Utah Jazz are getting the second pick, here’s my pitch to the Wizards.
Dear Washington Wizards,
Congratulations on getting the number one pick in the NBA draft. It seems that all the work you did to make sure your opponents scored more points than you really paid off.
Remember that pitch I sent out to all the draft lottery teams arguing that AJ should be the number one pick? Well, um, I’ve been thinking, and, um, I may have been a little biased. Maybe AJ isn’t the best pick after all. And no, I’m not just saying that because I think it would be the best thing ever if he ended up with the Jazz instead and got to stay in Utah. Nope. That’s definitely not the reason I’m saying this. I’m definitely doing this because I have your best interest at heart. (Nervously laughing and hoping they don’t see my fingers crossed behind my back.)
I know I said there was no comparison between Dybantsa and Peterson statistically, but come to think of it, that probably has something to do with Peterson’s struggle with injuries. I know I said that was a reason not to take him, but I take it back. It’s not his fault he was hurt, and if he was able to perform this well with all these injuries, imagine how well he’ll perform at full health. Besides, it is an objectively correct fact that when you have a season ending injury, it makes you less likely to have another injury later in the season. (Trying to move on to the next point before they notice the logical loophole in what I just said.)
And then there’s Cam Boozer. Do you remember Carlos Boozer? Oh wait, no you don’t, because you’re the Wizards, not the Jazz. Well, he was a really good player, and he's Cam’s father. Also, do you remember in last year’s draft when there were teams that wanted to draft Bronny James in hopes that LeBron would want to come play with his son? Well, it kind of worked. LeBron did stay with the Lakers to play with his son. Who knows? Maybe if you draft Cam, Carlos will come out of retirement and play for you. He’s 44 years old, which is only three years older than LeBron. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time a really good player who played for the Bulls came out of retirement to play for you guys, am I right buddy?
Or you could take a dark horse. Remember when I talked about how AJ did better than Darryn and Cam in most of the NBA combine events? Well, I was just looking at those three players. Billy Richmond had the best lane agility time, Aaron Nkrumah had the best shuttle run time, Darius Acuff had the best three quarter sprint, and Tobi Lawall had the best standing vertical leap and max vertical leap. And yes, I have definitely heard of all those players. To quote the Pixar movie Onward, “The most obvious path is never the right one.”
Now, maybe I can’t convince you to draft a player besides Dybantsa. But what about trading your pick? If you trade with the Jazz, you’ll only be trading down one spot, and if you want something in return, I hear Danny Ainge makes a mean piece of toast. I mean, it might be so good, you might even be willing to just give your pick to the Jazz and not take theirs. Or you can trade your pick to someone else, like I don’t know, the Bulls, the Nets, the Thunder, or the Heat. And no, I’m definitely not just listing the teams from my last article that ChatGPT said would draft someone other than Dybantsa if they had the number one pick.
Also, remember what I said about how whoever drafts Dybantsa will be my new favorite team? Well, I still mean that, but maybe you don’t want me. I may not be as big a Jazz fan as I am a BYU fan, but look at what my rooting for them has done for them? They haven’t won a single NBA championship. Besides, like you said, you don’t need a savior. You won 17 whole games without even trying, albeit against teams who also weren’t trying. If you start trying, you’ll at least have a better record than those who aren’t, and that should be good enough to get you to the playoffs with homecourt advantage in the first round.
Whatever you do, I’m sure you can make some magic happen.
Sincerely, the guy who may or may not become your newest fan, Spencer Higinbotham.
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