Welcome to the District, Anicet Dybantsa Jr.

[payitforward]

...I also see an exceptional drive and desire to be great. It’s part of what makes me feel like he will actually wind up a really good defender and 3 point shooter. ...

Absolutely....

...College AJ, plus defense and a really good 3 point shot could be a HOF player.

...But let's not put too much on him....

[TheBlackCzar]

Including the **1996 draft**, my rankings shift a little because I think Allen Iverson deserves to be in the discussion as a truly elite prospect. He wasn't as physically overwhelming as some others, but he was viewed as a transformational talent coming out of Georgetown University and was the clear No. 1 pick. ([The Washington Post][1])

Here's how I'd rank the **top 10 NBA prospects from the 1996–2026 drafts**, based solely on how they were viewed *before* playing an NBA game:

| Rank | Prospect | Why |
| -----: | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **1** | LeBron James (2003) | Gold standard. Greatest high school prospect ever. |
| **2** | Victor Wembanyama (2023) | The most unique physical prospect in NBA history. |
| **3** | Tim Duncan (1997) | Safest superstar prospect of the modern era. |
| **4** | Zion Williamson (2019) | Historic athlete with MVP-level upside despite size concerns. |
| **5** | Cooper Flagg (2025) | Elite two-way wing with one of the strongest scouting profiles of the last decade. |
| **6** | Anthony Davis (2012) | Defensive unicorn with franchise-player projection. |
| **7** | AJ Dybantsa (2026) | Prototype modern scoring wing with MVP upside. Recent evaluators have him among the very best prospects they've ever graded. ([Reuters][2]) |
| **8** | Greg Oden (2007) | Before injuries, many thought he was the next dominant franchise center. |
| **9** | Kevin Durant (2007) | One of the greatest scoring prospects ever despite concerns about his frame. |
| **10** | Allen Iverson (1996) | Electrifying scorer, elite competitor, consensus No. 1 despite being 6 feet tall. |

### Just missed

These guys could reasonably make someone else's top 10:

* Ben Simmons
* Cade Cunningham
* Karl-Anthony Towns
* Blake Griffin
* John Wall
* Dwight Howard
* Kyrie Irving
* Yao Ming

One interesting thing is that **Kevin Durant is often underrated as a prospect because of how incredible his NBA career became**. Before the draft, there were genuine concerns about his strength (including his infamous bench press at the combine), and many scouts viewed Oden as the safer franchise player. In hindsight that seems unbelievable, but it accurately reflects how they were evaluated in 2007.

I also think AJ Dybantsa's placement at **No. 7** is about right. Some scouts would put him as high as **No. 5**, while others would slot him around **No. 9**. That's why I think he's firmly in that **historic prospect** tier, just below the truly generational names like LeBron, Wembanyama, and Duncan.

[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/06/23/top-prospects-for-1996-nba-draft/f5cc7106-0711-49aa-8ad2-8da23b06c889/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "TOP PROSPECTS FOR 1996 NBA DRAFT - The Washington Post"
[2]: https://www.reuters.com/sports/get-know-aj-dybantsa-byu--flm-2026-06-23/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Get to Know: AJ Dybantsa, BYU"

[doclinkin]

I think Dwight Howard was viewed more highly as a truly unique blend of physical power and athleticism at his size.

I’d drop AJ a bit given he wasn’t the no question consensus top player but in the discussion of a top 2-3.

I’d have Yao ahead of him too. AJ’s in the discussion with Blake Griffin and Kyrie.

[TheBlackCzar]

I think Dwight Howard was viewed more highly as a truly unique blend of physical power and athleticism at his size.

I’d drop AJ a bit given he wasn’t the no question consensus top player but in the discussion of a top 2-3.

I’d have Yao ahead of him too. AJ’s in the discussion with Blake Griffin and Kyrie.

When Dwight came out Okafor was in the discussion since he'd won the natty and was national player of the year......

Yao was a highly coveted player but it wasn't solely because of basketball.....
Yao was a treasure trove of money to whatever team was going to get him because that team automatically became China's favorite NBA team...
Amare Stoudemire was actually the highest rated prep prospect, for his last 2 years in HS......
But the NBA wasn't fully bought into HS kids until Bron came out......

So as a prospect AJ is actually rated correctly above them......



I'm more or less looking to define AJ's highest possible ceiling in this exercise, and also how he matched up to the top prospects since Kobe's draft.....
I went even further comparing him against Bron, Len, Mike and Kobe.....

Interesting that Bron is considered tier 1, Mike and Len tier 2, and Kobe and AJ tier 3.......

[FAH1223]

https://youtu.be/kKYoTie10ds?is=HHVI8xe9fOGklqbs

Watch on YouTube

[MVPofDC]

Read on Twitter

[TheBlackCzar]

Read on Twitter

I wanna see what he looks like being guarded by Bilal, Jamir and Kyshawn......

[DCZards]

Read on Twitter

I wanna see what he looks like being guarded by Bilal, Jamir and Kyshawn......

That day will come. Right now, it’s about skill development…like 3pt shooting.

[Hibachi_0]

Looking forward to the Summer League, in this 1min clip his shot looks less flat than in college.

[BearlyBallin]

Read on Twitter

/video/1?s=46

Please make this real…

[Frichuela]

Read on Twitter

/video/1?s=46

Please make this real…

Looking good. Man, so exciting!

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[WizarDynasty]

There are alot of problems with this video but also remove for improvement.





Right knee is caving in due to excessive knee ligament bend because he can't arch is lower back fluidity from three point range.

Knees in front on his toes, poor shoes, kobe lowes, and can't protect knees from contact during drive.


Rising into shot with his elbow well below his chin, no arch in back from 3 point line. Pay attention to lebron James shot form. Remember, AJ is pretty much an exact duplica of Lebron James.

HIs hand should be meeting the ball before it gets into his body and his elbow should already be pointing at rim even before he catches the ball

This gather time would be unnecessary if he was able to arch his back before ever catching the ball with his feet close together. His hands should be large enough to catch the ball with one hand and one grip it to the other right hand that is already high elbow. instead we see his elbow pointing directly into the ground. Lack of fluidness in his lower back and knee ligament damage built up in his right knee from poor landing mechanics. Also inabilty to control his left hip and adjust his feet quickly because his back is locked and unable to arch. Major physical therapy is needed here. But that's why owner makes millions in profit adn GM gets paid handsomely. To see and fix these problem because they stop them before they blossom into serious injuries.


He rarely lands backward after driving to rim, shortening his knee life. Lebron was able to master this landing pattern early in career which is why he lasted so long. Look at how AJ land forward facing after a layup versus how lebron twist his hip on the shot attempts and lands backwards, saving his knees.
Pay attention how AJ lands forward after layup instead of twisting his hips mid air and landing backwards and not immediately absorbing stopping force using his knees like AJ does.




now watch how lebron lands backwards after layoup, preserving his knees for 2 decades using strategy.



These are the topics pretend GMs should talk about with their generational talents!

The final effect is that AJ already has serious wear on his right knee. In the picture you can see that AJ is unable to quickly adjust his right knee mid bounce and it only gets worse if he keeps repeating what he is doing. It is up to Lebron's Trainers to impart wisdom Lebron has learned over 3 decades to save AJ's knees.


Lebron 12 elites allow for nearly 260 lbs of explosion of one foot. Unbelievable of force required. Kobe Low are not build for this type of power. This is what AJ needs.
TEd and General Manager should insist on AJ wearing lebron elites 12 and provide him a bonus because it increases team value by extending AJ's career for an extra decade. Without Lebron 12 elites, AJ will have a shorten career like John Wall and serious revenue loss for organization because of super short career.
Wihtout Elite shoes to handle force that AJ bring each night, his knees will be gone in no time. He is too young to understand this but we do. In fact I was posting on this board when he was still inside his mother's uterus as an egg back in 2001. But this is what FBA ..Foundation Black American culture does, we share without expecting anything back and we do it for progression of humanity...in this case basketball. I get no profits from spending this time sharing, i just know it leads to millions of people enjoying a supreme talent for same time Lebron has played ball.
Lebron elite 12's are the answer for AJ. not regular lebron's 12's because they don't provide the lateral support for allen iverson lateral dribble movement. Elite Lebron 12s are lebron's shoes in his prime. Get them on Aj's feet please.
You are doing the next generation of basketball players a huge service by keeping their icon from injuring himself before it is too late.

This is the shoe Wizards Management must promote for player health. Even if you have to go online and get a used version from back in 2016. These shoes give a driving...superstar a 20 year career.

[AFM]

Great high effort post. WIZNASTY THE GOAT!!!!

[BMagic]

We need to throw Wizardynasty's post into an LLM to turn it into a tone that AJ's folks can handle without triggering their egos, so this information can make it to AJ. Hope he has folks in his corner who lurk RealGM.

[payitforward]

Great high effort post. WIZNASTY THE GOAT!!!!

Hear hear!!

[queridiculo]

Great high effort post. WIZNASTY THE GOAT!!!!

HoF.

[penbeast0]

Wow!

[gambitx777]

Nice

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[montestewart]

Great high effort post. WIZNASTY THE GOAT!!!!

HoF.

Seconded and posted here.