AJ Dybantsa says he didn’t work out for any NBA teams: “I didn’t work out for none, I just visited the cities. Take me to the facility, take me to dinner, talk. I don’t gotta workout. They know what I can do.”
I feel like this guy will be Andrew Wiggins 2.0 or RJ Barrett. High pick who wasn’t a bust but just not what you envisioned
Agreed but not because of his attitude.
That jumpshot of his needs a ton of work
doesn’t seem to be a great defender nor does he make up for it some with blocks or steals for his size and athleticism … Peterson seems like he’s gonna be a very good defender
His defense is more effort than any actual issue. Sometimes effort in college is concerning and sometimes it doesn’t matter but that’s also decided retroactively
I remember reading in one of the articles full of snippets from college coaches and scouts that basically said ‘Im always skeptical of players who were great college defenders because it often just meant they sucked on offense and that was their only way to play.’ lol. Still not sure how I feel about that…
If their defense is good enough to get them drafted in the lottery, then their defense might be good enough to get them to stick in the NBA.
Yeah considering defensive minded players are going outta style you either gotta be real nice on defense or your offense looked pro enough for there to be a team willing to see potential
If the only positive thing a scout had to say was, he can defend in college, then i’d be wary. Of course, defend in college means he can likely defend in nba,
But there are plenty of players who used one calling card to hold a place while growing other capabilities..
That’s where attitude, hard work , other things to build on start to matter
As long as he wants to be a good defender he will. He’s tall, long, athletic, and mobile. Maybe not year 1 but he’ll develop.
the jumpshot is miles ahead of rj barrets at this stage lol, its just a jumpshot built for a midrange
We really forgot how good RJ was in college
No where near as good as AJ in college
I saw both play their senior year of HS and AJ was significantly more polished and well-rounded. Don’t think it’s a great comp.
AJ didn’t have Prime (lol) Zion on his team though, he was the go-to guy on his team
I mean his attitude kind of goes hand-in-hand with his jump shot.
Probably doesn’t feel like he needs to work on anything.
Maybe he’s just trying to be confident, or it’s genuine conceit/entitlement, I guess we’ll see come October.
This years draft screams 2018. The first pick will be a disappointment while the next few picks chosen after him will be franchise altering
Yeah that would be in line with the Wizards drafting history wouldn’t it
Our history in the lottery really is 50⁄50 with high picks. Wall and Beal were home runs Jan and Porter were whiffs and meh but Sarr looks good. And that’s with an atrocious FO making those first four picks.
Given the draft class Porter was actually one of the better picks to be fair.
Yeah, if he stayed healthy, he would have been clearly the best of the players Wiz would have been considering. On basketball ability, he was actually underdrafted among the lottery picks that season
Bruh its bad when I don’t even know who Jan is
Sarr should have been #1 for that draft tbh. I think you guys got a steal with him.
Genuinely don’t understand how it is such a given that AJ will go 1. Peterson’s peak is far and away the best of anyone this draft, amd Boozer’s floor is probably the highest. AJ is a valid number 1, but it being a foregone conclusion was always odd to me.
i just feel like the 2nd pick will win ROTY cuz he’ll have an actual chip on his shoulder for being picked 2nd, and he’ll also have less pressure due to not being 1st
Y’all just be saying shit. That top 1% commenter is the most telling thing of all. These are the kind of people I see spouting bs in this sub everywhere
It’s funny how Reddit decided to Scarlet Letter their Top 1% most annoying users. It’s made the site so much better to know who to block.
I am always so confused by people talking about new Reddit features. Old Reddit for life.
Top 1% is based on upvotes not on activity.
If you comment terrible takes and good takes alike all the time, you’re bound to eventually get enough upvotes.
People like this comment literally all the time lol they are chronically online
so someone extremely good at posting lowest common denominator material that everyone will agree with
exactly. populist stuff that sounds like bold opinions.
Top 1 % poster is wild 😭
Amen brother.
AJ is gunna be a stud. I can’t wait to watch him blossom in the pros.
People were telling me Cade was going to bust too because he didn’t have the “explosive” athleticism (whatever that means) and didnt have a great 3p% didn’t have a great handle, etc.
I remember when Reddit declared this about Ant
Why you gotta pick on the Canadians?
He’s going to be way better than them
I don’t think he’s the superstar people want him to be; he’s relatively inefficient compared to the other top prospects, not a great three point shooter, seems to be a bit cocky, not a defender, passer or a rebounder despite his size, takes bad shots (although he hits them)
When BYU got some injuries and had to rely more on him they started to struggle although he did well.
The more I read into this draft the more perplexed I am into the idea this is a guaranteed future all-NBA prospect.
“Relatively inefficient compared to the other top prospects.”
Dawg he had a 60% ts and shot 51% from the field. Peterson had a 57.8% ts btw.
he’s relatively inefficient compared to the other top prospects
He’s literally the only freshman in NCAA history to average 25 PPG, average 3 APG, and had an efficiency of 60 percent TS. Not even Kevin Durant achieved that. That combination of volume scoring, playmaking, and efficiency is why he’s considered a really good prospect. Yes he has flaws on defense, but those are amazing freshman numbers. The guy is efficient on high volume while also playmaking for his teammates to an extent that’s much better than most college wings (his assist rate is way better than that of KD, Beasley, Wiggins, whoever else).
The only other prospect on this draft who has close to his combination of volume and efficiency is Cameron Boozer, who has a little bit less volume but better efficiency and better playmaking. AJ has better volume and efficiency than Darryn Peterson while also being the better playmaker.
not a passer
Find me a wing player of AJ’s scoring volume and efficiency who ever came close to AJ’s assist numbers as a freshman. I’ll wait. Feel free to take as long as you like to find me one.
I always remember the Andrew Wiggins quote that went something like ‘he didn’t know rebounding was so beneficial’. He said that after he got traded to Golden State. Dude coasted by on pure athletic ability his whole life, but had no BBall IQ.
What he said was that he ‘didn’t know it was so easy,’ not beneficial. He just thought it was hard and wanted to save energy for defence and scoring. If anything, that speaks more to his athleticism.
I’m glad AJ at least went to Utah to have dinner with Austin Ainge to experience Utah for the first time
He soaked in the culture
nice
Damn near blinded him with all that bright white Utah culture
Great city /s
SLC is a great city if you don’t care about alcohol, or diverse culture, or business opportunity or…
it’s a great city if you like the outdoors!!
Edit I really do think SLC is awesome to visit but I wouldn’t live there. Or join a team there. But then again for 10m-60m a year and the chance to travel the US/world maybe I would.
My buddy who moved there for work was getting really annoyed at the dating scene cus everyone wanted to settle down and get married lmao
The horror
I mean my buddy is 23 so it is kind of a horror for someone that age lmao
I’m guessing your buddy doesn’t want be married by 24, with a family of 10 by 30
right lol
Picked the wrong state for that!
Has he tried soaking yet? Heard that was big out there
Soaking and having your buddy lay under the bed to shake it while you soak. Thats a great Friday night.
There’s nothing wrong with settling down, but plenty of people don’t want to settle down young. Nothing wrong with that either.
Wild response lmfao. Have your preferences I guess, but your average person is not going to be thrilled at most dates early on trying to timeline getting proposed to before year 1.
My steak is too juicy and my lobster too buttery
Utah has become a huge tech hub so I don’t know about the business opportunity part
Every single city in the country claims this nowadays lol
Utah has the 8th highest median household income in the nation. There is plenty of business opportunity.
That just means there are data centres, vast power stations, and little regulation on industrial water use.
Data centers aren’t households
It’s like how every single city thinks they’re the only one with a “brewery” scene.
Ive read that specific demographics are far more likely to be promoted than others
I was thinking more about business opportunities rather than ad deals. But no wonder Walker Kessler wants to stay
5 of the best national parks in the US, insanely beautiful state
I care about Alcohol and it’s just okay. Not as bad as people who have never been here think it is.
They have plenty of booze in the city, they just cant sell it as late at night like other places
which is precisely when I need a drink.
Not the grizzies fan talking shit 😂😂😂
The /s is that it’s a state, there was a whole conversation between AJ and Gilbert Arenas
It’s a state…AJ had to correct Gilbert Arenas on it in another interview last week
I’ve gone to Salt Lake City and Houston this year, and I would choose SLC in a second.
that says more about Houston than it does SLC imo lol
Dude’s from Cleveland, he wouldn’t know a good city if you put it in his lap.
This is either a big red flag or at the beginning of a documentary lmao
let’s wait to criticize till we at least see him perform first in the NBA.
i feel like this could be the start of a documentary either way
I hope it is lol that would be funny
Is everybody new to the draft process? The top prospects usually don’t work out for the teams
I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or
Cmon man don’t keep us hanging
Or onions
My money’s on onions
Peterson didn’t workout with the Wizards when he was there. pretty normal
Yea, pretty normal to not workout with the Wizads
For example, I didn’t work out with the wizards.
workout with the wizards doesnt even make the top hundred for tourist activities in DC
AD didn’t workout or play.
it’s not that. it’s that he comes off as arrogant like I don’t need to prove anything.
pride cometh before the fall. as they say.
also everything a prospect says in public is scrutinized. some teams don’t like to draft dickheads.
He literally does not have anything to prove. He’s getting picked 1st overall.
Right but all the additional stuff like demanding Traes number is a little different
There’s no reason to criticize…nothing he said in this headline/clip has any bearing on how good he’ll be lol. It’s so dumb that a bunch of Redditors are getting butthurt over this.
Reddit hates when someone has confidence in their own ability.
They’ll rather someone be a bad player and walk around with their head down saying “I am a shitty player” than a good player who acknowledges that he’s good. Half the people that hate LeBron do so because he’s made some reference to himself being one of the two best players in history a couple of times
Y’all talk about this website like it’s a person, not hating but don’t think it’s good for you brain to aggregate strangers and bots opinions and then act like that combo has any kind of intent or agency.
Really? You cant see how a lack of humility could be an issue?
I mean … I don’t think humility is one of the traits most top NBA players are known for, lol. The thing is, he has to be able to back it up. We don’t know if he can yet, so that’s something he’ll have to prove with his game. But I wouldn’t write him off just from this.
Thinking you are above the hard work and grind is absolutely an issue. Having insane faith in yourself is a good trait. Thinking you have nothing to learn or prove is bad
I mean a 2 hour workout isn’t really “hard work” or “grind” for a guy who will be at worst the 3rd pick in the nba draft soon. Nothing him DP or Boozer does in a workout should impact their draft status for any serious organization over literal hundreds of hours of film in actual basketball games.
Not there yet, but creeping into “worrying personality” territory for AJ. Some questionable clips in a row and seems very spotlight hungry (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
This will be the new normal because NIL has essentially made these kids millionaires already.
The flip side of this is when kids like Flemings or Ament show high character, you know they’re actually real ones because they still act hungry.
Now all Ament needs to do is find a basketball skill he’s good at lol
Don’t remind me 🥲
don’t worry, masai seems to love him according to all recording so your FO won’t have the chance to make this egregious mistake
AJ is different from all the big ego high schoolers though, hes been in like the Lebron/KD inner circle and being pushed as Nikes big star for the next generation. He is basically already in all of the inner circles and also was paid the biggest NIL CBB has ever seen so far.
He has some of the most money/influential power that a 19 year old has ever had in the US thats not a nepo baby. Hes gonna have the biggest ego ever.
Like Darryn Peterson and him were top dogs both in high school but AJ has 700k more Instagram followers because of how hard he is being pushed by Lebron/Nike inner circle.
He and Peterson both. Non-zero chance Boozer becomes the one we look back as who should have been 1.
To be fair, no matter who of the top 3 ends up the best, everyone is going to be saying that they called it
Fine, I’m calling Peterson as the clear #1 prospect that was so obvious in hindsight
Fine, I’m leaving 3 separate comments saying Dybantsa, Boozer, and Peterson each is the clear #1 prospect, and, in a year from now, I’m deleting the two that are wrong
I’m with you, we can come back to this when we’re right or ignore it if we are completely wrong.
To this day, I still think Michael Jordan should’ve been drafted ahead of Sam Bowie.
Boozer has the most fans I think among people who watched college basketball. He is loved as a college basketball player but no one knows if his skills will actually translate
That’d be wild if it’s another Tatum situation. Another 6’9” PF from Duke
Boozer could also end up being Sabonis
to be fair if I were a top 3 guaranteed pick I don’t think I’d work out either… at this point personality, location and other non basketball related things matter way more.
a workout may help someone fall in love with you but it’s not moving the needle much. he could’ve answered it in a more eloquent way but I get the reasoning.
It’s general practice for all these super high lottery locks not to workout for teams. Guys talk about this on various pods constantly.
People have decided AJ is an attitude issue guy and they’ve run with it. Let’s see how it goes on the court first.
I don’t think this is true. I remember Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and Jayson Tatum had workouts. VJ Edgecombe had a workout. I think Ace Bailey had workouts but I could be misremembering. They just don’t workout at the combine or for many teams but they usually workout for the teams in their projected draft range
Yeah I was gonna say, Tatum’s talked about how he actually wasn’t planning on coming to workout in Boston until Coach K talked him into it. Before that he was really hoping to get drafted to Phoenix.
I don’t know if Ainge has talked about if that affected his decision to trade out of the number 1 pick that year and draft Tatum at 3, but I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if it was a factor. It’s easy to say that Tatum’s going to get picked high no matter what, but I feel like exactly where he ends up can definitely be affected by a workout
Yup, if you’re a top 10 pick then the scouts have tape of every play you’ve ever done since High School. What the hell is a workout going to show? Any scout who values that more than the hours of in-game footage is dumb.
Now if you’re more of a fringe player, or you’re coming off an injury, or you played internationally, then it makes more sense to get that workout time.
Folks said the same thing about Ant too. Not that this guy is gonna be the next Ant, but the personality shit doesnt really matter that usually much.
people said the same sort of stuff about Ace before last year’s draft. most teams are smart enough to know what they’re getting themselves into, if the infrastructure around the player is good enough then there’s no reason those types of personalities can’t be successful
And that’s why players with better personalities and who were more ready to support winning in the nba were drafted first and will have better careers. There’s a pretty big drop from that top 4 to Ace.
it was a very good top 4 but you’re doing a little disservice to ace. outside of flagg who was the consensus 1st pick he was the only one who went to a team actively trying to lose. i’m not saying he’s as good as harper or kon, but acting like there’s a billion miles between edgecombe and ace is pretty crazy.
Ignoring the omittance of “declining,” the workouts, implying it was mutual.
Also bypassing a formality that is rather archaic for a consensus top 2 pick.
The NFL just saw a 1st Overall pick QB not throw at the Combine. When prospects know that they’re getting drafted high, they don’t need to go through the dog and pony show.
Nothing about this is questionable or spotlight hungry lol
These kids are already millionaires and have spent at least a year being catered to by everyone in college. The NBA provides more money but unless they piss it away, most of these kids already have generational wealth and can just coast with a run of the mill job.
He’s like 19. Not everyone is naturally media trained
Bro acting like a bad bitch using someone from trips & dinner
As you should 💅 energy right here
And would…
And he wants a bag too on top of it gtfo
People are gonna bash him but I get it. You have the tape and the scouting reports. If you’re interested in me then get to me as a person, not what my skill set is. You already know that.
This is like when the Top quarterback in the NFL draft class stopped throwing at the combine. There’s just really no need to
Also teams are more cautious about that after one throw from Zach Wilson at the combine fucked up the Jets
at least he’ll always have that one good game against the chiefs
that they lost
I get it, but I also can’t imagine a guy like KD, Kobe, LeBron, MJ, Wemby etc. giving that answer
KD still didn’t knowing he couldn’t bench 185 lmao
I know not every 1st pick is generational, and I know guys can not workout and still turn out great (Jokic didn’t workout for teams, but he did play a lot leading up to the draft), but it’s a mentality thing more than a practicality thing
This. All things being equal, you want a guy that loves basketball and doesn’t see a workout as a burden, but instead as an opportunity to show off how great they are.
Everyone knew that Flagg was the #1 pick last year and he still worked out for Dallas.
I know we all eye roll at corporate speak culture kind of stuff but yeah basically any company with a successful culture will tell you they care way more about the stuff you find out outside of a workout. Just like the general life, adult stuff like being dependable and on time and all that
Timelord in shambles
This subs next target.
Dude is doing this PR thing so wrong. For the media, us fans, try to be likeable/relatable and not some smug asshole. Even Anthony Edwards worked out and got humbled by Kerr. Is he better already?
Why risk it, he’s going 2 at minimum.
Risk shooting drills lol
Jalon Moore tore his Achilles in a pre draft workout last year. Why risk it if you’re a lock for top 3?
Probably more to that story and if shooting drills at 70 percent are a risk then he should be covered in bubble wrap.
If that’s literally you’re reasoning, you will not make it far in the league.
That’s like saying “Why risk crossing the street to go do this little work assignment my boss asked for? Someone died crossing the street in this city last year!”
Sure, anyone can get hurt at any time, but an elite athlete should really not be concerned about getting injured doing casual drills. It’s the minimum daily requirement of the profession, even in the offseason.
There is no correlation between worrying about injuries and making it far in the league, just so you know. You just don’t like his mentality and that’s fine.
That’s the point though. If he knows he is a top 3 pick guaranteed, why not secure the bag first? If he knows he has injury issues, all the more reason for him to not workout. Working out only can hurt his stock than help it at this point.
I’m so confused why people bashing this
How do they know teams just aren’t giving him workouts? They know he’s going top 2 regardless. I have no idea how 30 year olds are getting “cockiness” from this
Matter fact i literally don’t think NONE of the top 4 did any workouts at least not Aj or caleb
it’s less about the risk and more about how he went about explaining why
i mean he’s all but guaranteed to go 1 or at worst 2, don’t think this is something that needs to be read into much
This will age really well or really badly
Well those are the two options
This dude really needs to stop talking.
Between thinking he’s gonna stroll in and take Trae’s number and thinking he’s too good to work out, it’s starting to sound like his ego is out of control already.
Not what you want out of your high pick who needs to come in, learn, and work hard.
If you watch the full interviews, it’s honestly worse. He speaks about himself in a really weird way to me throughout his interviews
Ever since I saw him on the post game show on Prime he always gave me bad vibes
That’s kind of lame
Most top picks don’t workout or participate in the scrimmages.
Ant wasn’t too cool for it
Old head here i guess but for sure this what older players say that these dudes feel they are entitled to it. They wont be putting you trough brutal workouts lil bro
All these interview clips got me believing he’s destined to be either a superstar or the next Zion Williamson, no in-between
Zion’s hype was a different level tho. You had Obama attending his game. I get what you mean but in terms of being prospects, Zion’s higher than AJ if we’re talking about the hype factor alone.
Smells like a bust
Not sure why this guy decided to speedrun his way to being unlikable before even entering the league
Crazy hes not even all that he will be humbled
AJ has dipshit vibes. I wish the best for him but as a Utah resident fuck everything BYU related….except Jim McMahon.
The attitude of these modern players… Wow!!!! Good luck to you…
Many of the top prospects don’t work out. Caleb Wilson who’s projected to go 4th didn’t work out with a single team and has said in many interviews he’s the best player in the draft which you can find. Darryn Peterson worked out with the Wizards, then he thought he was the best player and would get chosen first, so he cancelled all his remaining workouts and didn’t even speak to the other teams like the Jazz.
It seems like no one does any basic research here. I would be more concerned if a top prospect worked out and question his logic. Wemby didn’t work out with the Spurs. All he did was what AJ did which was meet with the team, tour the facility, and have dinners with the legends of the team and so forth.
I got a feeling NIL is gonna made the lower 1st round more hungry and long term be more valuable as they didn’t get their millions in college.
Future bust.
I could be eating my words for this, but this attitude is giving off Deandre Ayton or Ben Simmons. High draft picks who coasted on by with their talent and athleticism who then get a reality check when playing in the NBA. He can still have a successful career but idk if he can develop into a #1 option.
I don’t like this, there’s something to be said about a humble star. Could never imagine Shai saying something like this in a million years.
People gotta remember that all these top 10 pick range dudes are 18 to 20 years old. They’re all full of themselves. They either get a wake up call and turn it around like Ant or they brush it off, pretend they know everything, and enter bust territory.
So it depends on who is helping him to develop. The Wizards being the dumpster fire they have been tells me that may not be the right place for him to reach that potential. The Jazz as well.
When did ant get a wake up call? Dudes still the same
His predraft feedback he got from Steve Kerr has been discussed and mentioned (by Ant himself) numerous times.
And of course he’s mostly the same, but he learned that he had to work even harder than he was used to in order to make it in the league.
I don’t think people realize that the talent difference between most NBA players is probably negligible. What makes the ones that make it and those that don’t is purely down to work ethic. And that goes for pretty much every professional sport. Dybantsa’s comments are normal. What will make or break his career is how hard he is willing to work
Redditors are crippling terrified of anyone whos direct and confident. He’s the top pick he does not have to workout. To say they already know what he can do is just the fact if the matter it’s not an over exaggeration it’s not him being arrogant this is just the truth of the situation they already know 100% of his skill set. Bare minimum he’s a #2 pick he’s not dropping below that if a team wants to pass him up because he didn’t workout (literally not gonna happen) the next team will take him because he is that good and has that upside.
lmao fr he didn’t say anything wrong these comments are insane
Take him to dinner and doesn’t even put out.
Why is it so hard to say the easy things in interviews.
That’s an awful attitude not going to lie
Bust-level talk. Would love to root against him because of this attitude.
That feels like a red flag but this happens alot in the NFL, it’s hard to say he is wrong
The ego on this guy
The range of quality of the overall #1 pick year to year is wild.
Sounds to me like he’s trying to hide an injury
Thats a reason he will not be #1. Seems to be very immature and have a bad personality.
That type of attitude ain’t going to serve him well in the big league.
Why do redditors think they know what it takes to be in the NBA
Excuse me, I have more MyPlayer seasons than AJ has years alive
What a bum of an attitude….like come on bro you gotta want it. He prolly idolizes some of these no defense playin bums like …. No time for it
Honesty 1 Tact 0
This guy’s attitude in general is the biggest red flag. Which means the wizards will absolutely take him.
That’s either elite confidence or a quote people are going to keep bringing up for years.
They don’t love the work, they love the lifestyle.
“theyve already seen me feign a drive then take a step back jumper from the elbow on a guy who wont play in the nba”
If it’s part of the job and he already not complying and believes he’s should get different treatment. Not a fan of the personality.
Is his head too small for his body or is it just me ?
I don’t like this guy at all
They also know what he can’t do, which is to shoot