AJ Dybantsa walked into the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night with something to prove. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft left with a record that has held up for 17 years.
Dybantsa dropped 27 points in his Summer League debut, leading the Washington Wizards past the Utah Jazz 92-88. That total ties Blake Griffin’s 2009 mark for the most points by a No. 1 pick in a Summer League opener. Griffin did it in 2009. Dybantsa did it Thursday. The company is legit.
But the more interesting part of the night might have been who was on the other side.
Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick, went for 24 points of his own. The two have history. They faced off once in college, back in January, when Peterson’s Kansas squad beat Dybantsa’s BYU team. That was the third time Peterson had gotten the better of him. Dybantsa made sure that streak ended in Vegas.
“Every time I play against him it’s a battle,” Dybantsa told ESPN after the game. “He beat me three times previous, so this was my first win. I was glad to come out on top.”
Dybantsa attacked the rim like he was still in Provo. He got to the free-throw line eight times, powered through traffic for a first-quarter dunk that sent the crowd into a fist-pumping frenzy, and finished with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in 26 minutes. He was 7-of-18 from the field, which is fine for a debut. What’s not fine: he went 0-for-5 from three. That’s going to be a talking point as Summer League rolls on.
He also left the game with just over a minute left, grabbing at his leg. He told reporters afterward it was just soreness and nothing serious. We’ll see if he suits up for the next one.
He wasn’t carrying the Wizards alone. Tre Johnson poured in 26, and Will Riley added 18. That trio helped Washington weather a second-half surge from Utah, which outscored them 51-38 after halftime. The Jazz made it close in the fourth but couldn’t finish.
For Washington, this is the first time they’ve had the No. 1 pick since they took John Wall in 2010. That’s a long time. Dybantsa’s debut gave fans a glimpse of the kind of player the front office is betting on to turn a rebuild into something real. It’s one game in July. But it was a hell of a first impression.
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