Washington’s AJ Dybantsa is stepping into Summer League with the kind of spotlight that comes with being the No. 1 pick, and Thursday’s matchup against Darryn Peterson only turns up the heat.
The Wizards selected Dybantsa first overall, and now the expectation is simple: show they made the right call. That test arrives Thursday evening at the Thomas & Mack Center, where Washington faces Peterson and the Utah Jazz. The game will air on ESPN.
Kevin O’Connor, senior NBA analyst for Yahoo Sports, said Dybantsa enters the night with plenty to prove, and he suggested some Wizards fans might already be uneasy after seeing the buzz around Peterson.
“Dybantsa could become one of the NBA's most unstoppable shot-creators, but he's already under pressure entering his Summer League debut on Thursday with a matchup against Darryn Peterson, who is looking like a superstar for Utah, and with the third pick, Grizzlies forward Cameron Boozer, resembling a veteran All-Star,” he notes in a feature about the NBA Summer League.
O’Connor also pointed to the upside that has Wizards supporters holding onto belief, saying that for those “feeling panicked,” Dybantsa is a 6-foot-9 player who “bends, shifts, and explodes with the ball in his hands.”
That’s the part that keeps the faith alive. Dybantsa has the kind of game that can manufacture points out of nowhere, and there’s no real reason to question the pick yet.
Thursday is simply the first chance to back it up. And with Peterson on the other side, it also feels like the start of a rivalry that’s already beginning to take shape.
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