BYU star and the projected number-one overall pick, AJ Dybantsa, just spilled the beans on the worst-kept secret in the entire basketball world. He let the cat out of a transparent plastic bag with the words "Utah" and "Jazz" painted on either end. Everyone and their grandmother knew that the hooper who played both his high school and college ball in the Beehive State would be partial to Utah's flagship basketball team, but the word is officially out now.
AJ Dybantsa wanted to play for the Utah Jazz, and Adam Finkelstein with CBS has finally confirmed as much.
Dybantsa made it clear on Lottery Night that he had no plans of working out with just one organizationduring the pre-draft period. In fact, the team immediately behind Washington in the order -- Utah, of course -- would be more than happy to make the feeling mutual should the Wizards opt to shake up the universally agreed-upon order of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, and Wilson.
"That comment by Dybantsa [at the lottery] was also consistent with one of the most repeated pieces of intel floating around Chicago this week: that Dybantsa was reportedly hoping to stay in Utah," Finkelstein reported. "He’s been in Utah now for two years (one season at Utah Prep and one season in Provo at BYU). His family is now with him in Utah, and they’ve grown to like the state and were hoping to stay."
"Now that has led some to wonder whether we could see some “workout shenanigans” where Dybantsa could potentially refuse to work out for Washington in hopes of forcing his way to Utah... Dybantsa’s camp had reportedly indicated to some they weren’t interested in playing that game, despite their preference to end up in Utah."
AJ Dybantsa was hoping to remain in Utah and prefers to be drafted by the Jazz, per @AdamFinkelstein
“That comment by Dybantsa was also consistent with one of the most repeated pieces of intel floating around Chicago this week: that Dybantsa was reportedly hoping to stay in… pic.twitter.com/l2tlPqeSmZ
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 13, 2026
Finding AJ Dybantsa doing any quote-unquote "workout shenanigans" during the combine and pre-draft workouts circuit would be... shocking. In an attempt to dissuade the Wizards from burning their first-overall pick on an apparent paper tiger prospect like himself, Dybantsa could theoretically go on a campaign of public self-sabotage much like Ace Bailey did a year ago. Ironically, Bailey's representation's desperate attempt to keep the Rutgers star out of Salt Lake City and into D.C. didn't quite work out as expected, and has been flipped on its head a year later.
Traditionally, prospects of Dybantsa's talents don't view Utah as the ideal destination to begin their NBA career. The Beehive State has never had the PR or allure of a Los Angeles, Miami, New York, etc. But since AJ has lived in Utah and gotten comfortable under the shadow of the Wasatch Mountain Range, he's not the traditional number-one pick stereotype.
But he's shown too much of a pattern of respect and level-headedness to turn heel now. Simply put, it doesn't seem to be in Dybantsa's character to burn bridges.
Still, there's a mutual infatuation between the Utah Jazz, whose management has practically financed his high school and college development programs, and Dybantsa. Don't be surprised when you see that tie saturate the news cycle in the coming weeks.
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