AJ Dybantsa

[Charsace]

Well the guy certainly looks incredible in the highlights. He has passing skills Melo never had, in fact his whole game looks more fluid than Melo. Not the comp I'd use.

Melo has one of the best first steps ever and is one of the best ball handling sf we have seen. Dybantsa has the physical tools but his skills and coordination aren't on Melo's level.

[One_and_Done]

Well the guy certainly looks incredible in the highlights. He has passing skills Melo never had, in fact his whole game looks more fluid than Melo. Not the comp I'd use.

Melo has one of the best first steps ever and is one of the best ball handling sf we have seen. Dybantsa has the physical tools but his skills and coordination aren't on Melo's level.

You are free to argue about who is 'more skilled', bur the bolded is just objectively wrong.

[atlantabbq99]

The Carmelo comparison is spot on.

TMac had Penny PG skills coming out of high school and early days in TOR.

When you look at Dybantsa, he is a pure SF like Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins. Both Carmelo and AJ are just pure scores who play bully ball like Dominique but minus the highlight dunks.

AJ is having a great freshmen year but nothing on the same level as Carmelo, Michael Beasley, and KD had in their freshmen year

[SeattleJazzFan]

The Carmelo comparison is spot on.

TMac had Penny PG skills coming out of high school and early days in TOR.

When you look at Dybantsa, he is a pure SF like Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins. Both Carmelo and AJ are just pure scores who play bully ball like Dominique but minus the highlight dunks.

AJ is having a great freshmen year but nothing on the same level as Carmelo, Michael Beasley, and KD had in their freshmen year

Carmelo: 22 and 10 on 45/34/70 splits, TS% 53.7%, 2.2 assists
Dybantsa: 21 and 7 on 55/35/74 splits, TS% 62.1%, 3.4 assists

aj plays an average of 30 mpg, anthony played 36 mpg - so go per 40 numbers, AJ has an even bigger edge.

a lot closer than you think and i'd probably give dybantsa the overall edge due to the much better efficiency. he's a better ballhandler, facilitator and ball mover than anthony ever was as well.

Beasley and KD's freshman seasons were on an entirely different level.

[ezhkw8u69e]

I don't see Dybantsa having a better handle than Melo did.

[Cammo101]

I don't really see the Melo comparison. Both are SFs who could really score, but they do it in different ways. Melo was more a 3/4 who played a lot stronger than Dybansta. AJ reminds me more on an Alex English/Bernard King/Paul George type.

[BigGargamel]

I think Dybantsa can be what people were hoping RJ Barrett would have been...or, at the least, current Barrett.

[SeattleJazzFan]

AJ is shooting 72.1% at the rim with only 22.7% of his shots assisted. If that were to hold up, it would be the best out of every wing drafted in the top 5 since 2014.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1pncfxr/aj_dybantsa_might_be_the_best_slashing_wing/?captcha=1

[FrodoBaggins]

AJ is shooting 72.1% at the rim with only 22.7% of his shots assisted. If that were to hold up, it would be the best out of every wing drafted in the top 5 since 2014.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1pncfxr/aj_dybantsa_might_be_the_best_slashing_wing/?captcha=1

I'd call him the best slashing wing prospect since LeBron if Cooper wasn't killing it at the rim/on drives in the NBA right now.

[FrodoBaggins]

McGrady/Siakam/Butler vibes.

Doesn't have Jimmy's basketball IQ, awareness, and decision-making, though. Much more of a classic iso wing scorer, in line with McGrady. Likes to back down guys in the mid-post and shoot fadeaways from the short mid-range, or crafty footwork and pivots to get inside, like Siakam. Plays with a physicality and loves to incorporate jump stop two-foot finishes and pump-fakes to draw fouls, which is where the Butler likeness shows.

[The-Power]

I still see a wing version of SGA. Bigger and more conventionally athletic but less skilled (especially as a ball handler) and without the plus defense. Now, it is a valid question to ask what SGA would look like if he was only 80% the player he is and not allowed to play this style of basketball because it's not worth it from a team-perspective. Still, right now I wouldn't want to be the one who picked someone else with the #1 pick.

[The Master]

The Carmelo comparison is spot on.

TMac had Penny PG skills coming out of high school and early days in TOR.

When you look at Dybantsa, he is a pure SF like Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins. Both Carmelo and AJ are just pure scores who play bully ball like Dominique but minus the highlight dunks.

AJ is having a great freshmen year but nothing on the same level as Carmelo, Michael Beasley, and KD had in their freshmen year

I don't think so -- Dybantsa lately looks very promising as a secondary creator, and in general a willing passer, and that's something we've never seen from Carmelo. Their scoring style of play is also completely different, AJ fits so well into this archetype of slasher-creator so valuable in the contemporary game with modern spacing, Melo was a one-trick pony even in his glory days.

Watch on YouTube

Several great reads as a ballhandler there, hard to compare him to guys like Melo, Wilkins, or Siakam, besides similarities here and there.

I'll say this about AJ - lately, in several cases of the best NBA perimeter players from college (Edwards, SGA, Haliburton, Tatum, Maxey, Mitchell, Brown etc.) we've seen that they reached a 90/95-percentile of pre-draft shooting projection - and that's pretty scary with Dybantsa shooting mechanics. He's a better shooter than his stats suggest (Edwards case?), and I can easily imagine him going the same route. And on top of that:

- he's one of the best slashing wings that we've seen on collegiate level,
- his free throw rate and motor is pretty crazy - 0.577 free throw rate, dude is a menace, almost 8 FTA per game for a freshman in college is crazy considering how the NBA games are officiated these days

Shooting coaching (and emphasis on shooting in general) is so advanced these days that if this is something a talented shooter like AJ has to work on - I truly don't think this is any concern. And if this talented shooter is also A/A+ in terms of functional athleticism and size for his position, this is ridiculous.

Right now: I don't think that you can take anyone else with a 1st pick, man. Not saying Dybantsa is a perfect player, he probably won't maintain his crazy splits at rim against better opponents considering the way BYU plays, and his defensive effort is something to work on, but he definitely has met with his pre-season hype thus far.

[SeattleJazzFan]

There might be some similarities in their games, but at no point in Melo’s career could he dream of doing this:

Watch on YouTube

[The Master]

- his free throw rate and motor is pretty crazy - 0.577 free throw rate, dude is a menace, almost 8 FTA per game for a freshman in college is crazy considering how the NBA games are officiated these days

Read on Twitter

Dybantsa looks like a 9-10 FTA per game type of guy if he goes to the SGA's or Trae's masterclass at one point. His scoring upside is pretty ridiculous.

[Eatgreenz]

Anybody else see a 6'9 Jimmy butler

[The Master]

Anybody else see a 6'9 Jimmy butler

In terms of footwork, rim pressure, or shiftiness, yeah - but Jimmy isn't as good as a 'vertical' athlete and I'm pretty sure Dybantsa will be a much better long distance shooter. It's questionable whether Dybantsa becomes as potent defender, especially considering his potential offensive volume.

T-Mac is still the closest one in terms of Dybantsa's profile if he reaches his ceiling (talented, but inconsistent defender - three-level scorer - secondary playmaker - astonishing combination of size, athleticism and skillset).

[ezhkw8u69e]

Man, as a Warriors fan, I wish Kuminga was half the player that Dybantsa already is.

[tontoz]

I have AJ penciled in at number 1 now. Peterson will have to show out the rest of the season to take that spot in my book. Boozer has no shot i like Caleb more than Boozer.

[ezhkw8u69e]

I have AJ penciled in at number 1 now. Peterson will have to show out the rest of the season to take that spot in my book. Boozer has no shot i like Caleb more than Boozer.

I thought DP shut it down?

[tontoz]

I have AJ penciled in at number 1 now. Peterson will have to show out the rest of the season to take that spot in my book. Boozer has no shot i like Caleb more than Boozer.

I thought DP shut it down?

That report was fake. He pulled out of the last game with a cramp lol.