Throughout the college basketball season, the debate between who should be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft between BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, has captured the minds of draft experts. But the choice between the two freshman stars could boil down to which team actually wins the 2026 NBA Draft lottery, as per Jeremy Woo of ESPN.
During Woo’s latest NBA mock draft and lottery simulation, he has the Sacramento Kings landing the top pick and selecting Darryn Peterson. He has the Washington Wizards coming in at No. 2 and selecting Darryn Peterson in the NBA Draft.
Those selections make sense when looking at the current rosters of both teams. The Kings’ need for a long-term solution at point guard is no surprise, and Peterson would give them a potential franchise cornerstone at the one. The Wizards pulled off a blockbuster trade at the deadline for a star point guard in Trae Young, and a young wing like Dybantsa who Young can feed the ball is probably more of a necessity.
As Woo reports, “The battle for No. 1 is close enough between Peterson and AJ Dybantsa to the point where league sources broadly view this as a matter of which team ultimately makes the pick. Cameron Boozer’s dominant season has also kept him in the debate.”
A couple of days ago, there was a scenario floated around where the Thunder ended up with the No. 1 pick. That would ensure Cameron Boozer would be in play, supplanting both Dybantsa and Peterson.
In any case, this is shaping up to be a very deep and talented draft class, and a prime time to have a lottery pick even if the NBA is threatening to crack down on ‘tanking’ in the near future.
