Wizards trade – With the first night of the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23, the Wizards’ biggest internal debate is whether they’ll trade down from the No. 1 pick—or stay put and draft their preferred player, with AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson at the top.
On June 23, with the first night of the 2026 NBA Draft coming just 13 days after today, the Washington Wizards have one question that keeps surfacing in different corners of the franchise: what are the chances they slide back from the No. 1 pick?
It’s the kind of decision that can change the shape of a rebuild in one motion. That’s why it became the most widely mentioned topic when fans submitted questions for a Wizards mailbag—and it’s the first issue the answers return to.
The draft question. put plainly. is about extraction: could Washington trade down from the top spot and still land a player like Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson for AJ Dybantsa?. The logic for considering a trade down isn’t far-fetched. This is, after all, a top-heavy draft. But the argument that comes with it is sharp: the pieces teams need to sweeten those deals are things Washington already has—future picks/swaps. promising young players with genuine potential. and notable veterans. What would make a difference. in the view expressed by the mailbag questioner. is a prospect who has already proven he is quite likely to be a star. “hello. Ace Bailey”—and the question is whether any team would give up that kind of player.
From there, the discussion turns toward how Washington’s own leadership is thinking. Wizards officials believe the class contains more than one foundational player. though the front office’s internal number—two. three. or four—hasn’t been shared. Still. one team source says that within the organization the prevailing opinion is that two prospects have separated themselves from everyone else.
If that belief holds, the path to trading down past the No. 2 pick—owned by the Utah Jazz—gets narrower. Washington’s plan for the multiyear roster teardown. which Wizards general manager Will Dawkins labeled the “deconstruction phase. ” was built around ensuring the team had the opportunity to select a foundational player. After bottoming out in the league standings for three consecutive years. officials would be gambling with the payoff if they stepped outside the top two.
The front office preference itself is also being kept quiet. Even with extensive research into all potential targets, the mailbag response says team officials might not make a final decision on their preferred draft pick until several days before the draft at the earliest.
The most likely names on the board, based on the way executives and scouts around the league view the top tier, are AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. The order is not necessarily fixed.
One of the more revealing points is how Dawkins has previously handled the process. In his prior two drafts as the Wizards’ general manager. Dawkins has valued in-depth conversations with draft targets that take place between the draft combine and draft night. His approach, the mailbag response suggests, is unlikely to change.
The conclusion in the current debate is cautious but direct: Washington is unlikely to make any trade that would prevent it from drafting its final preferred candidate. A trade with the Jazz would only be plausible if Washington could ensure its preferred choice would still be available at No. 2. Even then. the deal would almost certainly need significant additional value attached to the Jazz’s incoming pick—most likely Ace Bailey and some future draft capital. Whether Utah’s front office would be willing to include Bailey in such a deal is described as an open question.
With the draft 13 days away, the expectation offered is that the Wizards keep the No. 1 pick.
The reasoning that follows is about what the playoffs have shown: to be a perpetual challenger, a team needs size and athleticism. One question in the mailbag pushes back on the idea that Washington would prioritize anyone other than Dybantsa.
The reply agrees with the underlying emphasis. but shifts it slightly: positional size and athleticism are crucial characteristics of perennial contenders. Washington already has players with excellent or good positional size. including Alex Sarr. Anthony Davis. Kyshawn George. Bilal Coulibaly. and Tre Johnson.
Dybantsa, the response says, offers strong positional size and athleticism for a wing. At the combine, he measured 6-8 1/2 without shoes and recorded a wingspan of 7-0 1/2, with excellent results on physical tests. He can also score and create.
Peterson is evaluated as a similarly capable prospect. just with a different question attached: whether he projects as a lead guard. His measurement is 6-4 1/2 without shoes, with a 6-9 3/4 wingspan. As a comparison. San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle—already established as one of the league’s top perimeter defenders—measured 6-5 1/2 without shoes and had a 6-9 wingspan at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine.
The key fork is this: if Peterson projects as a lead guard, then he has a positional size advantage. If he does not, then he wouldn’t have that same advantage.
The mailbag doesn’t stop at the draft. It moves into what Washington would do after—if it drafts Dybantsa, what holes remain, and what the front office is likely to target in free agency.
One theme is interior presence and rebounding. The response points to a lack of interior presence and rebounding witnessed in the previous year. tying it to strategy as much as personnel. Washington ranked 29th during the 2025-26 regular season in defensive-rebounding percentage. and the mailbag response says a lot of that was by design given the imperative to hold onto the protected first-round pick. It also notes that Sarr improved as a defensive rebounder last season. finishing in the 63rd percentile among all bigs in defensive-rebounding percentage. according to the advanced analytics database Cleaning the Glass.
Anthony Davis is described as an elite defensive rebounder over the last four seasons, so he should help. But Washington still wants to add another big who can slot into the rotation ahead of Tristan Vukčević. who improved his block percentage and physicality last year but still has a ways to go to develop as a defensive rebounder and rim protector.
The roster math is part of the timing. Washington projects to have the non-tax midlevel exception available this offseason, worth approximately $15 million. Phoenix Suns’ Mark Williams is mentioned as a possible fit. but because Williams will be a restricted free agent. the Suns would have the right to match any offer Washington would make.
Washington could also attempt to trade for a backup big, drawing from the fringes of its pool of young players. Another uncertainty is the backup point guard behind Trae Young. Bub Carrington is described as the most likely candidate based on who is on the roster and the possibility of parting with D’Angelo Russell.
Beyond adding a big—and perhaps addressing depth at point guard—it wouldn’t surprise the response if Washington also targets another veteran who could serve as a ninth or 10th man. The idea is that experience can help, so long as it doesn’t slow down the development curves of the younger players.
The picture that emerges is consistent even as the questions vary. At No. 1. the Wizards seem bound to the logic of their own rebuild: build around a foundational player. don’t risk losing the preferred candidate. and avoid sliding into the unknown at a time when the organization has already sacrificed years to reach this moment. And once that decision is made. the next pressure point looks clear: bigs. rebounding. and defensive presence—then the supporting pieces around a young core.
Washington Wizards 2026 NBA Draft No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa Darryn Peterson Ace Bailey Will Dawkins Utah Jazz Trae Young Anthony Davis Alex Sarr defensive-rebounding percentage