Wizards rumors: 3 teams contact Washington about No. 1 overall pick trade

The 2026 NBA Draft Combine is now over, but the Washington Wizards will continue to do their due diligence on star prospects AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson. One of those players will likely become a Wizard when the NBA Draft starts on June 23, as the organization owns the No. 1 overall pick.

Given that each of them has All-NBA upside, fans and media members alike have speculated about the possibility of Washington trading down to accumulate more assets before picking one of them. Additionally, the Utah Jazz have reached out to the Wizards about swapping the Nos. 1 and 2 picks.

ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel reported on Monday that at least three teams have shown interest, including the Jazz and Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have the Nos. 8 and 23 picks.

However, Siegel also explained why Washington will probably keep the No. 1 selection.

“At the end of the day, do not expect the Wizards to trade this pick, as it represents their future to finally take a step forward from mediocrity and become a real playoff threat in the Eastern Conference,” he wrote. “Very rarely is the top pick ever dealt, and the last time it happened was in 2017, when the Philadelphia 76ers took Markelle Fultz first and swapped the No. 3 pick with the Boston Celtics, who took Jayson Tatum.”

Wizards must keep it simple 

It’s one thing for a front office to field calls, and it’s another to trade the asset that it’s tried to get for the entirety of its tenure. Wizards president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins took over in the spring of 2023 with the intent of tearing the team down and building it back up with young talent, all while tanking to maximize draft lottery odds. That’s exactly what they’ve done, and they finally got the No. 1 pick this year after getting No. 2 in 2024 and No. 6 in 2025.

Washington didn’t tank in the 2022-23 season despite the possibility of getting superstar big man Victor Wembanyama out of France, who was a generational prospect in the 2023 class. The team tied for the NBA’s seventh-worst regular-season record at 35-47, which didn’t give it the highest possible odds of winning the lottery. However, it still almost struck gold, finishing just one ping-pong ball away from doing so on May 16, 2023, per The Washington Post.

That was in between the firing of former president/general manager Tommy Sheppard and the hirings of Winger and Dawkins, per The Athletic. Instead of getting a free ticket to draft Wembanyama at the start of their tenures, the latter two executives were dealt the No. 8 pick. They then swapped that selection with the Indiana Pacers at No. 7 for guard Bilal Coulibaly out of France on draft night, who has since established himself as a defensive role player.

That began Winger and Dawkins’ quest for a star. Unfortunately, there were no star prospects in the 2024 class, so getting the No. 2 pick that year was less valuable than in others. Despite that, the Wizards still landed big man Alex Sarr out of Australia, who is a foundational piece in their rebuild after averaging 16.3 points on 48.2% shooting (33.3% 3-point) with 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and two blocks over 27.2 minutes last season.

On the other hand, the 2025 class was loaded with top-end talent and headlined by another generational prospect in Duke forward Cooper Flagg. But Washington fell four spots in the lottery after finishing second-worst at 18-64, later missing out on Flagg, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, and Duke guard Kon Knueppel, who each excelled this past season. Additionally, Harper is still playing for the San Antonio Spurs, who are facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The 20-year-old is averaging 13.7 points on 56.6% shooting (37.5% 3-point) with 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists over 25.2 minutes in the playoffs entering Monday’s Game 1.

Regardless, the Wizards once again landed on their feet despite the heartbreak. They took Texas guard Tre Johnson at No. 6, who shot 35.8% from deep on 5.4 average attempts this past season and has limitless shooting upside. Plus, they traded for veteran stars in guard Trae Young and big man Anthony Davis, setting them up for a more competitive 2026-27 campaign after finishing 17-65 this past season.

All of that led to May 10, which was when Washington won the draft lottery for the first time since 2010, the year it selected star Kentucky guard John Wall. The North Carolina native is still the franchise’s best player of the 21st century to date, but whoever the franchise selects this year could eventually surpass him.

Dybantsa is first on ClutchPoints’ big board, and no one will be surprised if the Wizards draft him at No. 1. The 6-foot-10 (in shoes), 217-pounder led the country as a freshman at BYU and possesses elite three-level scoring talent. He also doesn’t have health questions, unlike Peterson.

The latter player missed 11 games for Kansas last season due to a hamstring injury, full-body cramps, and an illness, per The Salt Lake Tribune. The freshman also pulled himself out of games several times and didn’t fully explain why until he revealed to ESPN on May 8 that it was because of cramping, which was caused by high doses of creatine.

Peterson, who averaged 20.2 points on 43.8% shooting (38.2% 3-point) with 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 29 minutes for the Jayhawks, is on a similar talent level to Dybantsa. The same can be argued about Boozer and Wilson, as the former is a high-IQ playmaker while the latter is an explosive slasher and switchable defender. However, Washington is spoiled for choice, and Dybantsa is the safest pick.

The Massachusetts native’s only major flaws are his defense and three-point shooting (33.1% on 4.2 average attempts last season), but he could improve in both of those areas over time. Conversely, Wilson had no three-point presence at UNC (25.1% on 1.1 attempts), while Boozer is less athletic and quick than his peers.

That’s no slight on Boozer’s ability, as he averaged 22.5 points on 55.8% shooting (39.1% 3-point) with 10.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals over 33.5 minutes for Duke last season. But the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder’s lack of speed and explosiveness could make it difficult for him to become the offensive “alpha” that the Wizards need. He could become a more all-around and efficient player, but a Tatum-like forward is staring them in the face. Tatum, of course, helped the Celtics win the 2024 championship and is a five-time All-NBA honoree.

Meanwhile, Peterson is also smaller than Dybantsa at 6-foot-6, 205 pounds. Although the Ohio native could become one of the NBA’s better scorers in his prime, it’s less risky to pick the player with more size and a cleaner health record.

It doesn’t hurt Washington to listen to offers for the No. 1 pick, but it likely won’t receive a trade package as valuable as Dybantsa, who is the safest bet in this class to eventually lead the franchise to its first title since 1978. That’s why it makes the most sense to select the 2026 first-team All-American at the top of the draft on June 23.

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