As we slide down the hill, funneling the NBA community nearer and nearer to draft season, increased intel makes for increasingly accurate mock drafts. And in Yahoo Sports' most recent mock, BYU's freshman star AJ Dybantsa is unsurprisingly first off the board.
KOC’s newest mock draft is HERE after the NBA Draft Combine last week 📝🏀 pic.twitter.com/dVzmI1QP5D
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 18, 2026
Kevin O'Connor dove into Dybantsa's fit with the Wizards, citing Dybantsa's overarching draft profile and surface-level appeal to reassure the owners of the top pick that jumping out of line wouldn't be wise this year.
"The most likely scenario is staying at the first pick and taking Dybantsa, who could become one of the NBA’s most unstoppable shot-creators," noted O'Connor. "At 6-foot-9, he has a special blend of athletic tools with the way he bends, shifts, and explodes with the ball in his hands. He gets to the rim at will, cooks in the midrange, draws fouls at a high rate, and displays point-forward potential."
He went on to describe each of those positive attributes in depth, along with his defensive drawbacks and poor catch-and-shoot numbers as a freshman at BYU (30% on catch-and-shoot looks is not pretty for a primary offensive option), but things got interesting when O'Connor listed Dybantsa's NBA player comps: teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Dybantsa, a Brockton, Massachusetts, native and lifelong fan of the nearby Boston Celtics, has closely followed the careers of these two Celtics veterans.
Two players who have developed into All-Stars and NBA champions in Boston, this duo out on the wings has drawn criticism for having similar play styles, ball-dominant tendencies, and a poor fit alongside one another on a team hoping to contend for a championship. As a skill set comparison for AJ Dybantsa, however, you can't hope for much better than a Finals MVP like Jaylen Brown, or a 5-time All-NBA inclusion like Jayson Tatum.
For a wing like Dybantsa, hearing his name alongside his childhood heroes must be a surreal feeling, though I believe his shooting ability will need to take a significant bump outside the close-to-midrange areas before this comparison becomes more apt.
As a lanky, herky-jerky finisher and creator, Tatum fits the bill. As a smooth offensive initiator who does the majority of his damage downhill, Brown is a solid comparison. For Dybantsa to become the best version of himself, perhaps the best place to look is the intersection between his favorite team's superstars.
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