By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK — The Washington Wizards selected forward AJ Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring in his one season at BYU, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday night.
Dybantsa averaged 25.5 points, highlighted by a 43-point effort that broke BYU’s freshman scoring record. He was the first of eight straight college freshman taken to begin the draft.
At 6-foot-9 and 217 pounds, Dybantsa has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, who happens to be his favorite player. Durant grew up in the Washington area, and Wizards fans can only hope Dybantsa can live up to the comparisons.
They certainly hope he will be better than center Kwame Brown, the pick Washington made in 2001, the first time it had the No. 1 selection after the NBA changed draft formats to eliminate territorial picks in 1966. The Wizards took John Wall in 2010 the other time, and he did turn into an All-Star.
He appeared to say a quick prayer after his name was announced, then went on stage to greet Commissioner Adam Silver and slipped on a black Wizards hat that matched nicely with his black suit.
Dybantsa beat out fellow freshman Darryn Peterson of Kansas, who was taken at the No. 2 pick by Utah. While some thought Peterson had the most talent in the class, the guard missed 11 games during the season because of injuries and illness, potentially creating some questions that Dybantsa didn’t have.
Cameron Boozer, the national college player of the year in his one season at Duke, was taken at No. 3 by Memphis. Caleb Wilson, another freshman forward from rival North Carolina, went to Chicago with the next pick.
Those players were the expected top four throughout the pre-draft process, though there was certainly a case for Peterson to go first with his promise. Or for Boozer, with his body of work after he put up 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game for Duke, where his father, Carlos, also played before becoming a two-time NBA All-Star.
The uncertainty was expected to begin at No. 5. The Clippers acquired the rights to it after a trade with the Indiana Pacers and used it on Illinois guard Keaton Wagler. The host Brooklyn Nets then went with Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr.
Darius Acuff Jr. to Sacramento at No. 7 and Kingston Flemings to Atlanta at No. 8 continued the run of scoring guards before Dallas went back to the bigs – and created a reunion in the process – by taking Morez Johnson Jr. from Michigan. Johnson was congratulated by national champion Michigan teammates Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara, who were also in the green room, and then hugged his old and new coach. Dusty May left the Wolverines to coach the Mavericks on the eve of the draft.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected Arizona guard Brayden Burries at No. 10, adding the former Eastvale Roosevelt High star to their revamped roster following Monday night’s trade of franchise icon Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami.
The two other Wolverines didn’t have to wait long to hear their names called, with the Golden State Warriors selecting Lendeborg at No. 11 and Oklahoma City grabbing Mara at No. 12.
Miami, in a pick that was traded to Milwaukee as part of the Antetokounmpo deal, selected Tennessee forward Nate Ament with the 13th overall pick. Charlotte then took Washington forward/center Hannes Steinbach at No. 14. Chicago selected Texas guard Dailyn Swain with the 15th pick.
The draft is always a celebration, when all teams have hope, but the cheers seemed even more frequent than usual. They began when Silver opened his remarks by hailing the NBA champion Knicks and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, with a number of fans in Barclays Center wearing Knicks jerseys. Nets fans, who endured a miserable season watching the home team in the arena, applauded the selection of Brown, who had a 45-point performance to highlight his season that was cut short by a back injury.
More to come on this story.