Washington Wizards Guard Confesses About the Team’s Mandate to Tank for AJ Dybantsa Last Season

After registering the league’s worst record last season (17-65), the Washington Wizards used the top overall pick in this summer’s NBA Draft to select BYU product AJ Dybantsa. However, this may have been all part of a plan.

In a recent interview with WUSA9, Bub Carrington may have inadvertently admitted that the Washington Wizards intentionally tanked last season to get the first overall pick, which certainly raised eyebrows among fans and the media.

Jun 25, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards first-round draft pick and number one overall pick AJ Dybantsa speaks to the media during a press conference at InterContinental Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images

“This season, I don’t think it would take anything that we’re not already saying. Being ourselves, like we’re nice, we’re talented, we’re gifted individuals, all of us. We’re very talented. We just haven’t been told yet to go be the best version of ourselves,” Carrington said. “We’re like, we’ve all, in a way, been held back just because, as you said, we were trying to get AJ Dybantsa. That’s no secret. But now it’s no, no one has handcuffs. Everyone’s shackles free.”

“So that alone is already a conversation starter, but then you put that on top of the coaching, on top of the vets that we have. That’s a playoff team, and that’s gonna happen. That’s gonna happen; if not now, then when it does happen, it’ll happen for a long time,” he continued.

Jun 25, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards first-round draft pick and number one overall pick AJ Dybantsa poses for a photo with his jersey during a press conference at InterContinental Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Before joining the Washington Wizards late last season, Anthony Davis spent time with Cooper Flagg during his brief stint with the Dallas Mavericks, and the one-time NBA champion thinks that AJ Dybantsa is on a similar trajectory to Flagg’s.

“I think the ones that are special like Coop and obviously A.J., they want it. They want to learn, they want to get better, they ask questions, the right questions. I’ve been able to give A.J. a little bit as far as how it’s going to be coming into the league. He’ll have a target on his back, everyone’s going to want to come after him. It’s the same thing I was doing with Coop last year,” Davis told Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network.

“He’s a very quick jumper. He reminds me of when I was younger… Some of the guys when we’ve played have said ‘Man, I forgot how quick of a jumper he is.’ He’s very athletic, more athletic than I thought. That kind of surprised me a little bit,” he added.