{"id":931234,"date":"2026-07-13T04:19:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T04:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/931234\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T04:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T04:19:23","slug":"dybantsa-leads-wizards-to-win-in-potential-summer-swan-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/931234\/","title":{"rendered":"Dybantsa leads Wizards to win in potential summer swan song"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS — In what could be his last game of summer league, No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa<\/a> had 23 points and seven rebounds to help the Washington Wizards<\/a> remain undefeated.<\/p>\n

The Wizards improved to 2-0 with a 104-85 win<\/a> over Sacramento. Dybantsa played 24 minutes and finished 6-for-15 from the field but missed 5-of-6 shot from behind the arc.<\/p>\n

Considering how many teams often shut down their lottery picks after two games in summer league for precautionary reasons, Dybantsa could’ve played his last game here in Las Vegas on Sunday. If so, he finishes averaging 25 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks.<\/p>\n

“It was kind of just testing grounds for me,” Dybantsa told ESPN of how these first two games went for him. “Just trying to get used to the game speed, to the plays, to the players and my teammates and the physicality of the game.”<\/p>\n

Dybantsa, who had 27 points in his summer league debut on Thursday in a win over Utah and No. 2 overall pick Darryn Peterson<\/a>, came to Las Vegas looking to prove that he can defend better than what he showed in college at BYU.<\/p>\n

He picked up Nique Clifford<\/a> over halfcourt one time, forcing the ball out of bounds before creating enough havoc on defense with his 7-foot wingspan to create a steal on the ensuing play early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Dybantsa had three steals and two blocks against the Kings.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been telling my trainers I think I could be a first team All-Defensive team guy,” Dybantsa said when asked what his defensive ceiling can be. “So, I mean, that’s just what I’m trying to make, an impact on the defensive end. In college, I was being lazy a lot on the defensive end. Just letting guys blow by me, not being a help side. But definitely want to bring it to the next level.”<\/p>\n

Summer league is the first action Dybantsa has had since he had 35 points and 10 rebounds in a 79-71 loss to Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 19.<\/p>\n

Dybantsa shot 13-for-33 (39.3%) but just 1-for-11 from 3 in his two games. He had three turnovers against Sacramento.<\/p>\n

“I [got] tired,” Dybantsa said. “I’m drinking my electrolytes. I mean, obviously it’s hot out here, so just trying to drink a lot of water, but definitely getting my legs back.”<\/p>\n

Dybantsa displayed versatility with the ability to handle, drive with either hand, score with physicality and shot creation and rebound. On the defensive end, he even guarded Sacramento’s 7-1 center Maxime Reynaud at one point.<\/p>\n

Reynaud finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings. Darius Acuff Jr<\/a>., the seventh overall pick, finished with 12 points and 4-for-14 shooting.<\/p>\n

For Washington, Dybantsa wasn’t the only young prospect to show flashes. Will Riley<\/a>, the No. 21 overall pick in the 2025 draft, scored 32 points.<\/p>\n

If Dybantsa’s is done playing in Las Vegas, the Wizards saw plenty to be excited about for a season in which they hope to contend for a playoff spot with a young core led by veterans in Trae Young<\/a> and Anthony Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dybantsa will only get stronger and in better condition.<\/p>\n

“I think he got tired, right?” Wizards coach T.J. Sorrentine said of Dybantsa’s second game. “He’s running around doing all types of stuff and that’s part of being the guy in the number one pick. That ball got a little sticky. But you look at the stats, he ends up at 23 and he’s a heck of a player.”<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS — In what could be his last game of summer league, No. 1 overall pick AJ…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":931235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[375522,5723,1260,50,3143,62,67,132,68,3117],"class_list":["post-931234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-375522","tag-espn","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-washington-wizards"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116910749680792934","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}