For a long stretch of his high school career, now-BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa was widely seen as the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft until now-Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson overtook him in many minds, and some have even put now-Duke freshman Cameron Boozer ahead of him as well.
With all three players now a month into what will all but surely be their only seasons in college basketball, two notable outlets on Thursday released updated 2026 mock drafts, and they each have Dybantsa in a different spot.
First, Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman has Dybantsa at No. 2 behind Peterson (with Boozer all the way down at 5 behind Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Tennessee’s Nate Ament), while The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has him at No. 3 behind both Peterson and Boozer.
Goodman’s mock draft has anonymous quotes from NBA executives about each player listed. The anonymous quote about Dybantsa reads, “Love his length and athleticism, and his toughness. He’s got high, high upside and I don’t see him falling beyond 2 or 3, but the questions with him are his decision-making and also his shot. He’s streaky, but he’ll make some plays that leave your jaw dropping.”
Meanwhile, Vecenie wrote of the Cougar freshman, “Dybantsa is certainly still being talked about at No. 1 by some scouts...He might have better physical tools entering his pre-draft year than any wing I’ve seen in a while. His ability to play with serious bend mixed with explosiveness allows him to consistently get into the teeth of the defense as a straight-line driver. In transition, he’s a menace. NBA scouts see a serious blend of production already mixed with upside as he continues to improve his skill set in the coming years.”
That said, Vecenie wrote that “Dybantsa is a flawed player right now.” Vecenie opined that the freshman “has been unimpressive on defense, missing off-ball rotations and box-outs too often while also not producing much in the steal or block columns despite his immense athleticism and length. Offensively, his handle leaves something to be desired, and teams are starting to blitz his ball screens to make him uncomfortable. His passing is not all that advanced, either.”
Vecenie concluded, “How Dybantsa finds answers to coaches adjusting to his game will play the biggest role in where he gets picked. I don’t think he’s at risk of falling below third — his tools are immense — but he does feel like the third guy in the conversation right now."
Also on Thursday, the DraftExpress Instagram account made two posts with highlights and analysis of Dybantsa from BYU’s 91-60 win over Cal Baptist on Wednesday night.
In that game, Dybantsa scored 22 points and added five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in just 17 minutes of play.
Finally, in a YouTube Short, Dybantsa announced that he will soon be giving away 10 pairs of the new Nike G.T. Future shoe that is set to be released on Dec. 20, and the video has information on how an entry for the drawing can be made.