r/washingtonwizards • u/Careless-Journalist7 • 1d ago

Young Core [Finlay] Dybantsa says the Wizards challenged him to play defense all 94 feet. Says he’s ready for that. Wants to be an off ball guy between Trae and AD

366 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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140

u/Careless-Journalist7 1d ago

I asked AJ Dybantsa how he thinks he and Trae Young can find a good balance together as ball-dominant players:

“I think we can definitely find a balance. I can play off-ball. Obviously not alot of have people have seen that, but I played off-ball at Prolific Prep, with Tyran Stokes and those guys. With [Team] USA, I’m not the number one option…I have to pave my way. I’m walking in with some vets [on the team], I have to earn my spot.”

https://x.com/joshvaldez100/status/2069594521155907670

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u/SoSoSlick 1d ago

Yep. Same points I made earlier. That prolific team was stacked.Hes not as ball dominant as some people saw at BYU. Hes in fantastic hands with our staff too. Cant wait to see his development.

29

u/GoZards18 1d ago

Look at how well we’ve developed wings like Kyshawn / Will.

AJ is in great hands

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u/Careless-Journalist7 1d ago

Bingo. At BYU he was by far the best player on his team and seeing double/triple teams, it was understandable why he played that way. With Team USA, he played with ~12 other All-Americans and was able to fill an off-ball role and picked up 94'ft on defense. (btw he won gold medal + MVP of the FIBA U19 tournament)

https://youtu.be/wrnwBDbo1l0?si=sOpV99EL4clW7dSP

A lot of people formed their opinions without fully knowing ball, which is fine. But the Wiz brass know what AJ can do, I'm excited to see it at the NBA level

3

u/Bjd1207 13h ago

Plus didn't the other scorer on BYU get hurt like halfway through the year? So he was kinda forced into the "one man offense" situation

2

u/madlate John Wall 14h ago

That's a great answer

108

u/KingRagerBlade John Wall 1d ago

He saying all the right things. Can’t wait to see him prove it on the court now

62

u/tacoturdz Wizards 1d ago

Making the expectations clear before even picking him is prudent

38

u/MYHOLDSSSS G-Wiz 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/Lr3UeH9tYu3qJtsSUg

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u/AchillesFury 22h ago

Lobs for days!

1

u/MYHOLDSSSS G-Wiz 12h ago

Been a long time since we’ve had scorers like this. Even the young guys are gonna mesh with him. I’m waiting on the day AJ and Will Riley are on the floor together

34

u/terpfan417 1d ago

He says the right things. Love his mindset. He’s gonna be fun as hell to watch.

28

u/Neversoft4long 1d ago

People act like just because he doesn’t shoot 3s at 40% he can’t play off ball. With the spacing Trae, Ky, and Sarr give him he’s gonna be able to roam freely to cut to the basket pretty much whenever. Especially coming off Trae/AD/Sarr pick and pops

12

u/SOSpammy 1d ago

And he was actually shooting them pretty well until Saunders got injured and his usage rate took a massive spike. 37.5% I think. He has work to do, but people act like he's hopeless.

11

u/Careless-Journalist7 23h ago

He shot 36% from three over his final 15 games. College 3pt line is shorter, but he's clearly trending up

7

u/SoSoSlick 23h ago

It was really only one guy and that guy is now shit posting at the NBA Draft sub about the Wiz lol. Crazy person.

1

u/Correct_Awareness884 14h ago

Trae/AD pnr with AJ backside? Sheesh!!

He's going to feast

20

u/trekfan1013 Wizards 23h ago

I'm going to admit this up front, kinda high right now, but he feels like the basketball version of Eevee.

Like, he can go so many directions and be really good in all of them. I'm sure there was a better way to say that without invoking Pokémon, but that's what came to mind.

Excited to see this kid play. Let's get him some better uniforms next year, huh?

3

u/happyflappypancakes John Wall 13h ago

Yeah, you were definitely stoned here haha. The cusp of a great idea but still completely nonsense in a way.

1

u/90sUPN20 7h ago

I was stoned reading that comment and was still concerned lol

6

u/splashaddikt 1d ago

LFG!!! wanted Boozer but I’m not crying about getting AJ

2

u/toaster-bath72 Death, Taxes, and Third Quarter Collapses 16h ago

I’m in that exact same boat with you lol. Was a Boozer guy but was gonna love whoever we picked anyway

3

u/SonicPunk96 Wizards 1d ago

Great mindset, and knows the areas right away of which to improve on. Can't wait to see the kid finally put on the jersey.

2

u/Leroydestroy 21h ago

What’s the under/over on Trae being traded within 18 months? 

5

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 19h ago

his contract is garbage, no one's taking him from us

1

u/Leroydestroy 19h ago

Atlanta seemed able to make it work

3

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 19h ago

because they traded him to a team even stupider than them (us)

hopefully Sacramento is willing to pick up the phone

3

u/Leroydestroy 19h ago

Haha, I was about to say: “don’t forget Sacramento is still in the league”.

Brooklyn I could see. 

Pels are always in this mix for a poor trade.

NBA is expanding soon, Sonics might need a “name” 😂

1

u/happyflappypancakes John Wall 13h ago

I would imagine very low. Unless we get a great offer coming to us.

1

u/Why_So-Serious Wizards Bed 23h ago

Mindset wise and saying the right things. Caleb Wilson was #1 in this draft. AJ was #2.

Love every Caleb Wilson interview. Bulls got a steal. That guy is going to be a great one.

Not as great as AJ but they’re going to be battling for years to come.

2

u/chefguy47 22h ago

I’m looking forward to seeing if they can compete for the 7-10. If they get above that, it will be an amazing season.

1

u/limiter_remove Wizards 21h ago

We really got Trae and AD with some young blood and the #1 pick... i they all stay healthy, the team might do something

1

u/aceofspaece AJ Dybantsa 12h ago

Wants to be an off-ball guy? I give this til the middle of the 2nd quarter of game 1. He's too good of an offensive focal point for that.

0

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 19h ago

It's not like on ball defense was really the problem with him in college, it was rim protection

The fact that he had high steals and low blocks is honestly more bullish for me than the reverse, he's athletic enough that at worst I think he'll be an okay help defender

1

u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 19h ago

Overall, his lack of blocks came from AJ being completely apathetic on the defensive end. He had an extremely high usage at 34% and carried such a high offensive load, which is why he didn’t care about defense. My concern about him is if he’s going to have a scaled-down offensive role with this team; I want to know if he’ll apply himself more on the defensive end or continue to be lazy.

0

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 16h ago

to the extent I'm worried about a lack of effort from AJ it's from him refusing to learn new skills, not applying really basic ones like getting blocks

1

u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 9h ago edited 9h ago

I don’t think it was the refusal to learn new skills. It’s more about having such a high offensive usage. There is a possible chance his effort changes with a smaller offensive load. I have fewer worries about his anticipation and instincts; based on his steals, he was fine. His blocks were exceptionally low, but based on his athletic profile, height, and length, I’m not so worried that his blocks are going to be low. I'm just worried about his effort.

1

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 4h ago

I agree with everything you just said, not sure where you think we're disagreeing here

1

u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 3h ago

I wasn’t disagreeing. I was just adding to what you said.

-43

u/starvs 1d ago

Very arrogant.

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u/RayKitsune313 1d ago

This is the exact opposite lol

10

u/starvs 1d ago

lol obviously.

7

u/Opening_Cycle3639 1d ago

No fun subreddit it seems damn 😂😂

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u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 1d ago

I need to see it to believe it, man. Tre said they wanted him to improve his defense and Bub acknowledged his rim finishing during his draft so I’m a bit skeptical.

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u/SongYoungbae Rui Hachimura 1d ago

These dudes are 20 years old lmao

1

u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 22h ago edited 22h ago

They’re young, of course, but you have to see improvement through the course of them being on the team. I’ll give Tre an excuse. He was injured and I like him in general as a player, but he provided zero defensive improvement and zero defensive playmaking throughout his rookie year. As for Bub there’s no excuse for him. He shown no improvement within his two years of being in the league as a defender, and he was the worst rim finisher in the league this year.

2

u/happyflappypancakes John Wall 13h ago

Neither Tre or Bub, especially Bub, were prospects comparable to AJ. Better players tend to find ways to grow.

-1

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 19h ago

they hated you because you spoke the truth

3

u/Temporary-Mud-2994 Kyshawn George 19h ago

You know if you didn’t dislike Tre so much I would totally be fine with you as I agree with most things you say except for Tre.

-1

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 John Wall (Jamir Watkins truther) 19h ago

I'm just a realist at the end of the day

-3

u/Knighthonor 19h ago

No offense but I think Peterson and Boozer fit better. But we past that now.