​’First-Team All-Defensive’: Wizards’ AJ Dybantsa makes bold NBA future prediction about himself originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The learning curve in the NBA can be quite steep; not many top prospects immediately find their identity in the league after being drafted. AJ Dybantsa might just be a different breed of top-end talent. After a few games in the NBA Summer League with the help of Anthony Davis and Trae Young, among others, he seems to know what skill sets will define his career in the long run. The first overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft out of the BYU Cougars system even made a wild proclamation about future individual accolades.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRookies do not have their ‘welcome to the league’ moment until their first official game in the 82-game regular season. It is only when that moment comes that they begin to climb and refine their playbooks to thrive in the NBA. AJ Dybantsa did not have to wait that long.The Wizards rookie has played two games in the NBA Summer League so far, and each outing was a revelation. He looked like a man among boys on both ends of the floor, but the 19-year-old out of the BYU Cougars system posits that he thrives in one area more than the other. Dybantsa even thinks he is well on his way to becoming a member of an NBA First-Team All-Defensive squad, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic.”I think I can be a first-team All-Defensive team guy. That’s just where I’m trying to make an impact, on the defensive end. In college, I was being really lazy on the defensive end, just letting guys blow by me and not being a help-side defender. But I definitely want to bring it to the next level,” Dybantsa declared.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo far, the Wizards rookie’s numbers suggest this could very well be his trajectory. Throughout two NBA Summer League games, he has averaged seven rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks. Offensively, Dybantsa has also been a menace, averaging 25 points per game on 39.4% field goal shooting. What stands out the most? It’s nothing, just his 91% three-point percentage.Despite having a fairly impressive output on both ends of the floor at the NBA Summer League, Wizards coaches agree that Dybantsa will be a defensive thorn against all squads in the association.Coach TJ Sorrentine even echoed the same sentiment about the Wizards’ first overall pick in 2026.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”I think he should be All-Defense. He’s one of those … two-way players. You just see the size, the length, and the way he moves. Once he nails down the way the NBA is played — he’s a sponge, so it’s going to happen quick — the sky’s the limit,” the Wizards NBA Summer League coach said.Dybantsa has such a solid support system throughout these past two games. Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Khris Middleton, Alex Sarr, and nearly all of the Wizards’ regular rotation players a